The following are historical highlights of the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust's 70-year evolution from an operating trust to an investment trust:
- The Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust is created after the death of Alfred I. duPont in 1935. The assets placed into the Trust include shares of E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company, seven Florida National Banks, thousands of acres of land in Northwest Florida and the estates of Nemours and Epping Forest. The fair market value is approximately $40 million.
- The duPont Trustees create the St. Joe Paper Company and begin operations of its paper mill in Port St. Joe in 1938. By 1939, the fair market value of the trust is $72.5 million.
- The duPont Trust, through its ownership of St. Joe Paper and led by Edward Ball, continues to acquire land in Northwest Florida. Throughout the 1940s and '50s, St. Joe also acquired a number of corrugated box plants from New Jersey to Texas to Ireland.
- After a protracted legal battle, Ball, on behalf of the duPont Trust, acquires the Florida East Coast Railway Company in 1960. The railroad, founded by Henry Flagler, operates between Jacksonville and Miami.
- A new federal law in 1966 prohibits organizations like the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust to own both banks and operating companies. The duPont Trust decided to sell its ownership of Florida National Banks in order to keep St. Joe Paper and Florida East Coast Railway.
- St. Joe Paper acquires Talisman Sugar Company in Belle Glade, Florida in 1972.
- In 1990, the Trustees of the duPont Trust decide to begin diversifying the Trust's assets. St. Joe shares begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
- By 1995, the duPont Trust is still overly invested in one company; St. Joe represents nearly 70 percent of assets. The sale of the paper mill, paper box plants and a small telephone company commence. The Trust is valued at $1.9 billion in January 1996.
- Former Walt Disney executive Peter Rummell is hired in 1997 to transform St. Joe and its one million acres of Florida land into a real estate operating enterprise. Continuing its diversification strategy, the duPont Trust sells 12 million shares of St. Joe, reducing its ownership of St. Joe to 57 percent. Carl Zellers is named CEO of Florida East Coast Industries. Its holdings include Florida East Coast Railroad and Flagler Development Company, a commercial real estate owner and developer.
- In 2000, the Trust hires David Gonino as Chief Investment Officer to manage the portfolio. The Trust continues selling its shares of St. Joe and Florida East Coast. Trustees adopt a new investment policy: no one investment will represent more than five percent of the Trusts total assets, and the Trust will not own more than five percent of any one company.
- By late 2005, the Alfred I. duPont Trust has reduced its ownership of St. Joe and Florida East Coast to below five percent. The value of its diversified portfolio of investments totals about $4 billion.
- During 2006, the Alfred I. duPont Trust eliminated its ownership of Florida East Coast and further reduced its ownership of St. Joe. At the end of the year the value of its diversified portfolio of investments totals approximately $4.5 billion. During 2006, the Trust adopted a global approach to asset allocation that has futher diversified the Trust’s assets.
