Dun and Bradstreet

A Brief History

First established as The Mercantile Agency in New York City on July 20, 1841 by Lewis Tappan, the purpose of this organization was to establish a network of correspondents that would function as a source of reliable, consistent and objective credit information. It was one of the first organizations formed for the sole purpose of providing customers with trusted business information. At the time, a credit reporter was a new and unheard of profession. However, working as a credit reporter was a respected position that provided strong training in sound business practices. Among the reporters who went on to great success were four U.S. presidents: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland and William McKinley.

Benjamin Douglass enters the business. To grow the business, Tappan turned the Agency over to Benjamin Douglass in 1849, a former clerk. Douglass capitalized on the improved transportation and communication of the time by expanding his network of offices, essentially providing the Agency with both new customers and superb information.

Around the same time, a rival business named M. Bradstreet Company was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio. Two years later, the Bradstreet organization popularized the use of credit ratings with publication of the first book of commercial ratings. Eventually in 1859, Benjamin Douglass turned over the Agency to his brother-in-law, Robert Graham Dun. The rivalry between The John M. Bradstreet Company and Douglass' agency intensified as the the 20th century fast approached.

As America entered the 1930's, the effects of rivalry and economic depression on both R.G. Dun and The Bradstreet Companies could no longer be ignored. In 1933, the arch competitors merged to form D&B. The merger was engineered by Dun's CEO Arthur Whiteside. Using his first-rate diplomatic skills, Whiteside was able to broker a deal with the company's long-lasting and foremost competitor. Whereas previously both companies sold "products," Whiteside increasingly emphasized "service." With great leadership, he led D&B out of the depression and into the Information Age.

During the post-war era, the rapid development of computing and communications technology in had been central to the growth of D&B. Increases in the speed and volume of cross-border communications has influenced D&b’s evolution from a provider of credit reports to a leader in the international information industry.

In the 60's and 70's, Whiteside's successor, J. Wilson Newman, recognized that D&B needed to take risks and increase its range of products and services. Overall, D&B expanded dramatically during the 1960's by engineering ways to apply new technologies to evolving operations. In 1963, the introduction of the Data Universal Numbering System -- The D&B D-U-N-S® Number -- used to identify businesses numerically for data-processing purposes -- helped bring business information into the computer age. This unique business identification system proved so useful that today the D&B D-U-N-S Number has become a standard business identifier for the United Nations, the European Commission and the U.S. Government.

Today, Dun & Bradstreet has grown to become the largest and most detailed database of information on businesses in the world as they expand into providing services via the Internet.

Quirky Fact:

Lewis Tappan's strong belief in business ethics and sound judgment extended to his personal life as well. Tappan brought the first civil rights case in U.S. history to the attention of the national abolitionist movement and was primarily responsible for raising the funds used to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. Amistad, a Steven Spielberg film released in late 1997, covers the story of Lewis Tappan and his crusade to defend the rights of slaves.