Prof. Robert Cade the inventor of Gatorade has died.
He was the stuff of legends in business organizations class on the issue of duty of loyalty.
Off the field, Dr. Cade faced more complicated challenges. When he first approached university officials about marketing the drink, they declined. So he sold the formula to Stokely-Van Camp. The deal gave him and his associates a cut of the royalties. A few years later, when these reached $200,000, Florida Trend [a Florida Business Publication] said, the university noticed.
“They told me it belonged to them and all the royalties were theirs,” Dr. Cade said. “I told them to go to hell. So they sued us.”
After a 31-month legal battle, the parties settled. The product was later sold to Quaker Oats. which merged with Pepsico , and royalties continued to flow to Dr. Cade’s group and the university. He donated some of his to the university.
He offered Gatorade to the University, but they turned him down because they were an educational institution and not in business for money. (How has the world changed!).
Here is more, including old Gatorade commercials. Some are really good.
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