TractorData.com - Three-Point Hitch
At least Massey got rich, but I took a lawsuit to do it. $9E6 dollars 70 years ago was a pretty good settlement.
"Massey" didn't "get rich." Massey wasn't involved in the lawsuit.
Henry ("Harry") Ferguson invented the concept of the three-point hitch. Ferguson and Ford had dispute over Ford supplying tractors to Ferguson for sale in England. Ferguson sued Ford for $340M but settled for $9M because, in reality, Ferguson's lawsuit wasn't all that strong.
You have to understand that the Ford family wholly owned Ford Motor Company. There were no stockholders.
The Fords looked at Ferguson's lawsuit as a nuisance, and knew Ferguson's patent was going to run out. Paying Ferguson to go away was easier than becoming involved in a drawn out lawsuit as Ford Motor Company was ramping up production after WWII and didn't want the distraction.
While Ferguson did get $9M ($102M today), that is a small settlement in comparison to the suit that claimed damages of $340M.
Let me put that in better perspective for you. In one year, 1913, before there were income taxes, Henry Ford NETTED $220M in profits. That's equal to $5B today. Ford was the most profitable motor company for years, and at the time of Ferguson's lawsuit, the $9M settlement was, basically, petty cash for Ford Motor Company.
