Procter & Gamble was founded in 1839 by William Procter and James Gamble and became a major consumer-goods corporation.
William Procter was a candlemaker and James Gamble was a soapmaker. They became brothers-in-law and formed Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 31, 1837; the partnership was incorporated in 1839. Soap and candles were its original products.
The company later built a broad portfolio of household, personal-care, and family brands. Products associated with P&G include Tide, Pampers, Gillette, Oral-B, Head & Shoulders, and Crest. Brand ownership can change through acquisitions and divestitures, so a product’s current corporate parent should be checked separately.
P&G is a publicly traded company whose market value reflects expected future earnings, not merely the retail value of its brands. It is often compared with Unilever, another multinational consumer-goods group, but the two are separate companies.