Name That Company

My CEO dropped out of college because his entrepreneurial activities were bringing in too much money. He believed in customizing products and in direct delivery, principles that have helped me grow to roughly $10 billion in annual revenue. I sell mainly to businesses, governments and schools, and I’d be pretty hollow without Microsoft or Intel. I went public in 1988, and my stock has risen an astonishing 120-fold since then. Who am I?

Know the answer? Send it to us with “Foolish Trivia” at the top and you’ll be entered in a drawing for a nifty prize!

*

Last week’s Trivia Answer

A 42-year-old high school dropout founded me 96 years ago to manufacture saccharin along a mighty river. He didn’t want his employer to know what he was up to, so he gave me the madien name of his wife, Olga M. Queeny, instead of his own name. In my early years, I produced caffeine, vanillin and the antiseptc phenol, used in World War I. Today I rake in nearly $10 billion per year selling chemicals, agricultural products, pharmaceuticals and food ingredients. I developed Astroturf, and my brands include Ortho, Roundup, NutraSweet, Simplesse and Equal. Who am I?

(Answer: Monsanto)

Our Los Angeles Times winner is...

Toshiko S. Yoshida of Los Angeles, who wins a “Chuck Carlson’s 60-Second Investor” and an L.A. Times baseball cap.

Write! Send questions for Ask the Fool, Dumbest (or Smartest) Investments (up to 100 words) and your trivia entries to LATFool@fool.com or by regular mail, with the first line of the address as “Fool Trivia,” “Fool Investment” or “Ask the Fool,” c/o Business Section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. E-mail trivia entries must be received by Thursday night, but for snail-mail entries, we’ll wait until Friday morning’s delivery. In any case, you must include full name and mailing address.