Michael Smith

Michael J Smith (13th November 1899 - 6th December 1976) was the founder and CEO of Buy 'n' Large Inc. from 1937 until his death in 1976.

Early Life (1899 - 1936)
Michael was born on 13th November 1899 in London, United Kingdom. He went to school until age fifteen, when he was forced by his parents to fight in the British Army during World War I between 1914 and 1918. After the war ended, his parents then sent him to a cigarette factory to work there. Working there, he met Richard Davis (1902 - 1997), and they became long time friends.

Early Start in Business (1936 - 1950s)
In 1936, Michael and Richard quit their jobs, working at the cigarette factory to start their own cigarette factory. They both managed to hire at least twenty people to work at the factory, and by mid-1937, the company was launched, selling cigarettes. He and Richard grew up to be quite successful over the next few years, especially during World War II (1939 - 1945). In 1949, Michael and Richard received a large supply of coal, water and fuel, and began offering to sell it to a railway company. By the 1950s, many railway companies were begging for the railway supplies.

In 1953, Michael and Richard approached Sir Topham Hatt I (1880 - 1956), the controller of the North Western Railway at the time, with a contract to be allowed to settle on Sodor and to sell all railway supplies needed, and to handle the repair shops. Topham Hatt refused and ripped up the contract, sending them out of his office.

Successful Agreement (1967)
In 1967, Michael and Richard approached the NWR controller again, who at the time was Sir Charles Topham Hatt (1914 - 1997), and this time was successful. Charles happily made the agreement and the company moved from West Sussex, England to Crovan's Gate, Sodor. They demolished the old works and built Buy 'n' Large's Sodor Steamworks, hiring most of the staff that worked in the old works. The company grew up to be very successful.

Legal Lawsuits (1968)
In 1968, he and Richard built an experimental diesel with a claw, - the project known as "Project D-10" - leading to British Railways threatening to file a lawsuit against the company for plagiarism if they didn't remove the diesel from the public transport. The company then filed a lawsuit against British Railways, claiming that someone who used to work at BnL copied some blueprints of an experimental diesel and sold them to the designers at British Railways, leading to the creation of the Class 42 diesel built in 1958, ten years prior. This was a total lie, but never the less, the company won the case and British Railways left court almost in debt.

Great Success and Death (1970 - 1976)
By 1970, BnL became the richest company in Europe. Michael wrote a bestselling book in 1972, titled The Success of Michael and Richard, which was an autobiography, filing all events of the partners' success. In 1976, Michael died of a stroke, and his son, Roger Smith (1955 - ), took over operations with Richard still helping out.

Publications

 * The Success of Michael and Richard (published by Sudrian Publishing in 1972)

Trivia

 * Compared to Roger Smith, who's a corrupted businessman, Michael was a calm person most of the time, and wasn't interested in manipulating people.