This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down DuPont. We admire leaders that are in the trenches with their team members; never above any task and willing to share in risks. But, wow, did the Dupont family set a standard in that category. Whether it was Pierre Samuel Du Pont's 1818 death fighting a fire at their powder mill, Alexis Du Pont’s 1857 death in an explosion at a powder yard, or Lammot Du Pont’s famous 1884 death in an explosion while experimenting with nitroglycerines. The Du Pont family pushed the limits.   In the 1900s the company evolved away from their roots in gunpowder and dynamite and it's hard to find an industry they haven’t touched since then. To break down DuPont, we are joined by Seth Goldstein from Morningstar. Seth covers what separates commodity chemicals from specialty chemicals, we get some quick chemistry lessons on what's happening to create these well-known products like Nylon and Tyvek, and why after all of the years as a behemoth in the industry, DuPont has "unbundled" into several independent companies. Please enjoy our Breakdown of DuPont.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best-in-class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. If you're ready to go deeper on any company and you appreciate the value of primary research, head to tegus.co/breakdowns for a free trial.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the trusted transcription provider for the business and investing community. Scribe is designed to accurately transcribe messy, real-world audio and is unique in that it’s optimized for the complexities of enterprise audio, such as company and product names, currencies, accents and numbers. Visit kensho.com/breakdowns to learn more and unlock your free trial.   —--   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt   Show Notes [00:03:38] - [First question] - Key products that define Dupont’s history and where their products show up in our everyday lives [00:06:23] - The science that goes into developing their products and what being a speciality chemicals business looks like [00:08:22] - Where they’re sourcing commodity chemicals from  [00:10:30] - The thought process that went into their merger with Dow in December 2015 [00:13:21] - Commodity chemicals versus speciality chemicals [00:16:01] - The importance of patents and early products that first had them [00:17:38] - How much effort is put into research and development today [00:19:47] - Their economic model and profile and current businesses [00:23:56] - How their EBITDA margins today compare to the business historically [00:25:27] - Overview and duration of their merger supply agreements [00:26:23] - The seasonality and customer base for a business like this [00:27:52] - Producing on a per-order basis or on market speculation [00:30:04] - How many of their chemicals are produced in their own manufacturing facilities [00:31:00] - Stability and internal investment of their cash flow cycle [00:32:28] - History of the Dupont family and key leadership changes [00:34:24] - Thoughts on the bull case for Dupont that will put them back on the pedestal  [00:36:28] - The percentage of the market they represent today and their current competitors [00: