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Max McGraw (1 February 1883 – 26 October 1964) was an American entrepreneur who founded McGraw-Edison and Centel. He financed marketing of the first domestic toaster, the Toastmaster. He was also a conservationist and hunter.
In the summer of 1900, aged 17, McGraw entered business as an electrician. He called his enterprise the McGraw Electric Company. Most of his early work was wiring houses that were converting from gas to electricity. The business struggled at first, but in the second year gained profitable contracts from the Stockyards and the Peavey Grand Opera House in Sioux City. In 1902 the McGraw Electric Company moved into larger premises on Fifth Street, Sioux City. In 1903 McGraw organized the Interstate Supply Company in partnership with his father and four others, selling mill, railroad and electrical equipment. This business grew rapidly. McGraw married Frances Schaaf on 16 August 1904. They had two daughters and a son.
In 1907 McGraw founded the Interstate Electric Manufacturing Company, which manufactured magnetos, telephones and power switchboards. In 1910 he merged the supply and manufacturing companies into the Interstate Supply and Manufacturing Company. In 1912 he bought the Lehmer Company, a mill supply and electrical equipment manufacturer which he had used as a model for his earlier enterprises. He merged this company and the Interstate Supply and Manufacturing Company into the McGraw Electric Company, taking the position of President. The combined business had sales of more than $2 million that year.
McGraw Electric grew steadily through acquisitions. McGraw used to say, "Never buy a company unless it is making money or seems about to go broke," a philosophy that served him well. In 1948 McGraw bought Bersted Manufacturing a second time, and made Al Bersted president. Eventually Bersted became CEO of the company. By 1955 McGraw Electric had thirty one divisions, with gross annual sales of nearly $300 million. In 1956 McGraw arranged a merger with Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated. The combined McGraw-Edison Company was launched in January 1957.
McGraw was primarily concerned with cash flow and capital expenditure, which was controlled from head office, and otherwise gave his division heads considerable latitude. He said in 1955, "Each division president is responsible. His ingenuity, judgement, and ability are expected to produce profits. He is judged according to his showing. He hires and fires, determines salaries and wage rates within a general acceptable pattern, and he has freedom within reasonable limits to establish his division's organizational pattern."
In 1959 McGraw named Al Bersted president of the McGraw-Edison Company, retaining the position of chairman of the executive committee.
Max McGraw died suddenly on 26 October 1964 in Utah while on a hunting trip. He was aged 81, and was still chairman of the companies he had founded. The McGraw Foundation was established in Northbrook, Illinois in 1948 with funding by Max McGraw and other friends and family members. It supports various causes, including higher education related to science and the environment, and provides significant funding to the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation. The mission of the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation is "Secure the future of hunting, fishing and land management through programs of science, education, demonstration and communication". The McGraw Foundation has provided a $1.2 million endowment to the University of Michigan to fund the Max McGraw Professorship on Corporate Environmental Management.
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