What's in a Name?

Another interesting tale from that book, The Prize by Daniel Yergin about the history of the oil industry.

Two brothers in London, the Marcuses, got their start in finance based on the success of their father who had built a good business as, of all things, basically a seashell salesman.  Living on an ocean port, he collected seashells from arriving seaman aboard ships and made a variety of products from them.

The Marcus brothers eventually got involved in the oil industry, dealing with Russia.  When they built their first tankers they named each one after a different kind of seashell, in honor of their father.  Later, they struck a deal with oilmen in Texas who make a major discovery there.  At this point, they renamed the new company.

They called it -- Shell.