Just a few months after Neil Armstrong took the first step on the moon, Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn in San Francisco take a step destined to alter the global economy: In 1969, they founded the company DHL - the three letters stand for the initials of their last names.
Their new business idea formed the cornerstone for a globally operating enterprise. At first, the company founders personally transported cargo documents from San Francisco to Honolulu by plane. This made it possible to begin customs processing of a ship's cargo before the actual arrival of the shipment, thereby significantly reducing waiting times in the harbor.
Customers saved a great deal of time as a result. The founding of DHL also represented the creation of a new sector of industry: international air express service - rapid transport of documents and cargo papers by plane.
DHL became a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Post in 2002.
