Terex

The story of Terex begins not with Terex, but with the Euclid Company, founded in 1933 in Ohio by the Armington brothers, led by George Armington. They specialized in building heavy-duty, off-highway haul trucks for the mining and construction industries, quickly establishing a strong reputation. Their success attracted the attention of a giant: General Motors. In 1953, GM acquired Euclid, which then dominated the U.S. off-highway truck market. However, this market dominance led to an antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice. As a result, GM was forced to divest parts of the business and was barred from using the Euclid name in the U.S. for a period. This pivotal event led to a rebranding. In 1970, GM created the name "Terex" from the Latin words "terra" (earth) and "rex" (king). The company's journey saw several ownership changes. GM sold Terex to a German firm in the early 1980s, but reacquired it after the firm's collapse. The modern Terex Corporation truly began to take shape in the mid-1980s when it was purchased by entrepreneur Randolph W. Lenz. Under new leadership, the company, renamed Terex Corporation in 1988, went public with a listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 1991. This marked the start of a period of aggressive growth through numerous acquisitions, significantly expanding its product lines into cranes, mining equipment, and eventually, aerial work platforms with the major acquisition of Genie Industries in 2002.