When Giants Meet: The M&A That Connects Two Centuries of Industry

Eaton just dropped an $11.8B acquisition bomb on Cooper Industries this week, and while most people are glued to Meta and Apple news, this deal quietly connects some seriously old money.

Here’s what blew my mind: these aren’t startups. Eaton (founded 1911, 113 years old) is buying Cooper (founded 1833, 191 years old)—basically a company that was making plows and kettles when the U.S. was still a young nation. Both evolved from hardware into power grid and hydraulic systems giants. Cooper literally reinvented itself multiple times.

The Real Plot Twist

But Cooper isn’t even close to the oldest player in this game. Sotheby’s auction house is 280+ years old—it traces back to 1744 and is the oldest publicly traded company on NYSE. The company just flexed by selling Munch’s “The Scream” for $119.9M at auction.

Then there’s DuPont, sitting at 222 years old (founded 1802). Started making gunpowder in Delaware, now churning out chemicals, plastics, crop protection, and seeds.

Why Do These Dinosaurs Keep Winning?

Most companies die. These didn’t. The common thread? Radical reinvention without losing their core DNA. They didn’t cling to “how we’ve always done it.” They pivoted through wars, depressions, tech disruption, and changing consumer taste—and somehow came out stronger.

The Eaton-Cooper deal isn’t just corporate M&A theater. It’s two century-spanning legacy brands merging to dominate industrial infrastructure. That’s the kind of moat that can’t be copied by any VC-backed startup.