Founder of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), which later became IBM, Flint transformed the landscape of business computing.
In 1868, Charles Flint graduated from the Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn, and in 1871 entered the shipping business as a partner in Gilchrest, Flint & Co., and later W.R. Grace & Co. after a merger. From 1876 to 1879, he served as the Chilean consul at New York City. He also served as consul general to the United States for Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
In 1892, Flint merged several companies to form U. S. Rubber. In 1899 he repeated the same with Adams Chewing Gum, Chiclets, Dentyne, and Beemans to form American Chicle. He was also responsible for the formation of American Woolen in 1899. He negotiated the Wright Brothers' first sales of airplanes overseas.
His biggest achievement came in 1911 when he successfully merged four companies to form the CTR or Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. In 1924, the company was re-christened as International Business Machines and went on to dominate the computer industry in the USA for several decades. Flint served on the board of directors of IBM until 1930, when he retired.
