BAS

Basf SE

One of the world's largest chemical companies, BASF supplies ingredients and materials that end up inside everyday products people use — from shampoos, soaps and detergents to sunscreens, fertilizers and plastics. It was founded in 1865 in Germany by Friedrich Engelhorn, originally as the Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik (Baden Aniline and Soda Factory), a maker of synthetic dyes from coal tar, and its headquarters still stand in Ludwigshafen. The name is a happy accident: despite "Baden" in its title, the factory was actually built across the Rhine in Ludwigshafen, not in the Baden region it was named for.