What family owns Chevrolet?
Chevrolet is owned by General Motors (GM), a publicly traded corporation. There is no single family that owns Chevrolet today; ownership is spread among many shareholders, with governance provided by GM’s board and management.
Current ownership status
Key facts about who owns Chevrolet in the present day are summarized below.
- Chevrolet operates as a brand within General Motors (GM), which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker GM.
- Ownership is dispersed among many shareholders, including institutional investors such as asset managers, mutual funds, and individual investors.
- There is no private family with a controlling stake in GM or Chevrolet; decisions are made by GM’s board of directors and executive leadership on behalf of all shareholders.
In practical terms, this means Chevrolet is owned collectively by the public through GM shares, not by a single family.
Historical context
The Chevrolet brand has its origins tied to its co-founder and the early structure of GM, but modern ownership is public and widely dispersed. A family of early investors played a major role in the company’s formation, yet today control rests with a broad base of shareholders.
Louis Chevrolet: the namesake
Louis Chevrolet, a Swiss-born race car driver, co-founded the company with William C. Durant in 1911, and the Chevrolet name was chosen to honor him. His involvement helped launch the brand that would become a core part of GM’s portfolio.
Early ownership and control
William C. Durant and the Durant family were pivotal in GM’s early growth and formation in the early 20th century. Through a series of restructurings and changes in control, ownership shifted away from a single family and toward a broad base of public investors, setting the stage for GM as a publicly traded company.
Summary
Chevrolet is a division of General Motors, a publicly traded company, with ownership distributed among many shareholders rather than held by a single family. While the Durant era and Louis Chevrolet’s namesake left a lasting historical imprint on the brand, today Chevy’s ownership is determined by GM’s board and its broad investor base.
