It all started in the basement of a modest Kansas City home back in 1950. That’s where Ewing Kauffman followed his entrepreneurial instincts, with a $5,000 investment, to form his own pharmaceuticals company. He named it Marion Laboratories, using his middle name rather than his last name so his customers wouldn’t think he was running a one-man operation.
In 1962, Marion introduced its first blockbuster drug, PAVABID, a sustained-release drug that relaxed blood vessels and aided blood flow to the brain for neurology patients. A few years later, Marion Labs went public, and by 1969 it graduated to the New York Stock Exchange.
Kauffman and his associates eventually grew Marion Labs into a pharmaceutical giant with nearly $1 billion in sales and employing 3,400 associates.
Ewing Kauffman also stepped up to the plate to bring Major League Baseball back to his city when he established the Kansas City Royals in 1968. He brought an unconventional approach to the game and built a model professional sports franchise. With Kauffman at the helm, the Royals won six division titles, two American League pennants and the 1985 World Series.
Kauffman’s most enduring legacy to this community and the world is the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which is devoted to advancing educational achievement and entrepreneurial success.