22. Coke Could Have Bought Pepsi Multiple Times, But Declined
While Coca-Cola zoomed to the stratosphere, another soft drink concocted in the same era, Pepsi, languished. Pepsi was created in 1893, and for decades, it was a niche drink with a tiny market and was nowhere near Coca-Cola’s league. In short, it posed no challenge to the soft drink giant’s dominance. That began to change in the 1920s. Charles Guth, president of candy manufacturer Loft Inc., asked Coca-Cola for a discount on its syrup, which was used in some of his retails stores’ soda fountains.
Coca-Cola refused to give him what he wanted, so he cast around for alternatives. Pepsi did not have as savvy a business visionary at its head as Coke’s Asa Candler, and in 1923, it went into bankruptcy. Guth swooped in and bought it for $10,500 (roughly $185,000 today), and had chemists rework its formula to come as close to Coke as possible. Over the following decade, Pepsi-Cola was offered to the Coca-Cola Company for purchase on various occasions, but the soda giant declined the offer each time.
