Draft:Theodore Weicker

Theodore Weicker or Johann Adam Theodor Wilhelm Weicker was a German-American pharmacist. He is noted for opening the American branch of the German company, Merck & Co. He was also a co-founder and president of the Squibb Co.

Biography

Weicker was born in Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany. He was the eldest son of Ludwig Christian Weicker and Anna Marie Elisabeth Momberger.

He relocated to the United States in 1887 to head the Merck branch office in New York. After moving to the United States and becoming an American citizen, Weicker studied at Columbia University’s College of Pharmacy.

By 1891, the Merck family decided to send George Merck, Heinrich Merck's grandson, to start tending the business in the US. There he established Merck & Co with Weicker as one of the partners. In 1903, Weicker sold his shares of the business after a bitter power struggle with Merck. Using the money from the sale, he bought E.R. Squibb & Sons from the two sons of its founder.