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The Daily Insight Hub

Did the Wright brothers sell their company?

Author

Daniel Santos

Updated on January 17, 2026

Wilbur Wright died in 1912, and on October 15, 1915, Orville Wright sold the company, which in 1916 merged with the Glenn L. Martin Company to form the Wright-Martin Company.

Who bought the Wright Brothers company?

In October 1915 Orville sold the Wright Company to a group of investors for a reported $1.5 million. A year later Wright was merged with the Glenn L. Martin Company to become the Wright-Martin Company.

When did Orville Wright sell the Wright Company?

1915
Wilbur had drawn Orville into aeronautics and had taken the lead in business matters since 1905. Upon Wilbur’s decease, Orville assumed leadership of the Wright Company, remaining with the firm until 1915, when he sold his interest in the company to a group of financiers.

Was the Wright Company successful?

Their aircraft company did not prosper; it struggled along for six hard years until it was finally sold. During that time, it lost it’s technological lead and Wright airplanes became hopelessly obsolete. The brothers alienated much of the aviation community with their patent law suits.

Were the Wright brothers rich or poor?

The Wright brothers’ extraordinary success led to contracts in both Europe and the United States, and they soon became wealthy business owners. They began building a grand family home in Dayton, where they had spent much of their childhood.

Did Wright Brothers get rich?

What did Wilbur Wright die of?

Typhoid fever
Wilbur Wright/Cause of death

Who was first in flight?

Yes, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, powered aircraft flights at Kitty Hawk on North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Dec. 17, 1903.

Wilbur Wright died in 1912, and on October 15, 1915, Orville Wright sold the company, which in 1916 merged with the Glenn L. Martin Company to form the Wright-Martin Company. Orville Wright, who had purchased 97% of the outstanding company stock in 1914 as he prepared to leave the business world, estimated…

How old was Wilbur Wright when he sold the company?

That, combined with the death of Wilbur, caused Orville to lose whatever interest he had in the competitive world of business. On August 26, 1915, at 45 years of age, Orville sold the six-year old Wright Company to a group of New York investors for $250,000, just one-quarter of its initial capitalization.

Who was the founder of the Wright Company?

Successor Wright-Martin Founded 22 November 1909 Defunct 1916 Fate Merged with Glenn L. Martin Company in 1 Headquarters New York, New York, Dayton, Ohio

When did the Wright brothers merge with Martin?

The following year, the original Wright Company merged with the Glen L. Martin Company and became the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation. In 1917, the company headquarters was moved to New Jersey and evolved into the Wright Aeronautical Corporation. Thus, Boeing is the current legacy of the original Wright Company.