Anton Philips

Dutch CEO and co-founder of the Royal Philips Electronics N.V..

Anton was the eigth child of Frederik David "Frits" Philips (1 December 1830 1h30, Zaltbommel – 12 June 1900, Zaltbommel) and Maria Heyligers (12 February 1836, Batavia – 10 Augustus 1921, Hilversum) and. They married 20 May 1857 in Zaltbommel and got between the birth of his brother Gerard (9 October 1858 9 AM Zaltbommel - 25 January 1942, Den Haag) and sister Maria (1879) nine children.

His father was a banker in Zaltbommel and active in the tobacco business. With his son Gerard he founded the Philips Company in May 1891 as a family business. In 1912 Anton joined the firm, which they renamed Philips Gloeilampenfabriek N.V. (Philips Lightbulb factory NV).

Anton was an autodidact, who dropped out of the higher civil HBS school. At age 17 his father sent him to the Trade School in Amsterdam, but he left the school after two years. Thereafter he got jobs as a merchant at the Amsterdam stock market and in London.

Anton Philips served as CEO of the company from 1922 to 1939. He was a tough negotiator. During WW2 Anton and part of his Jewish family escaped to the USA, leaving the company in the hands of his son Frits.

Anton and Gerard were socially minded. In Eindhoven they supported education and social programs and facilities, such as the football club Philips Sports Association (PSV). Their father was a nephew of Karl Marx, who wrote during the winter of 1863/54 part of Das Kapital in Zaltbommel. But when Anton approached Lenin to get orders from the Soviets, Lenin was not impressed.

Anton Philips died 7 October 1951 in Eindhoven.

Personal

On 9 June 1898 he married in Rottterdam Anne Henriëtte Elisabeth Maria de Jongh (30 May 1878, Amersfoort – 7 March 1970, Eindhoven). His son Frederik Jacques "Frits" Philips (16 April 1905, Eindhoven - 5 December 2005, Eindhoven) and step-son Henk van Riemsdijk (10 January 1911, Aerdenhout – 8 November 2005, Waalre) would follow him up.