Thread: When Coca Cola had the chance of buying PepsiCo not Once, Twice but Thrice & rejected them!

Pepsi-Cola was 1st developed by Caleb Bradham (CB) in 1894. It was initially known as ‘Brad’s Drink’.

By 1910, Pepsi had their presence in around 24 States in the US.

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• In 1920, Pepsi couldn’t cope up with the high Sugar Prices amid the 1st World War. Eventually they became bankrupt.

CB then tried to sell Pepsi to Coca Cola. But they outright rejected his offer.

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• A Famous Wall Street Financer, Roy Megargel bought Pepsi from CB & rebranded them.

All was going well until the Great Depression in 1929. Again, Pepsi was on the verge of Bankruptcy.

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• In 1931, RM tried to sell Pepsi again to Coca Cola. But, this time too the offer was rejected.

Charles Guth was heading Loft Candy Stores. He sold Coke via his stories. Once he wanted a bulk discount from CC to sell their Coke.

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However, he did not get any responses. This made him frustated. He knew Pepsi was on the verge of Bankruptcy so he called RM & offered to buy Pepsi COMPANY from him!

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In August 1931, he replaced CC with Pepsi in ALL his Stores. This was the start of a famous battle between the 2 companies.

• CC tried to sue Charles for replacing Coke in all his stores. They slashed my lawsuits on him.

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He became frustated & wanted to sell Pepsi & finish it for once & all. He made an offer to CC for $50k. They refused, for the THIRD time!

Charles wanted to make CC pay for their arrogance. CC was selling 190 mL for 5 Cents.

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Charles started selling 350 mL for 5 Cents! They became instant hit in US!

They had revenues of $450k & profits of $90k in 1934!

This was the beginning of their massive success.

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Fun fact : Pepsi owned Pizza Hut, Taco Bell & KFC before selling them!

A company which was on the verge of Bankruptcy twice became a $180Bn+ Conglomerate!

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