In 1912, Dillon met William A. Read, founder of the Wall Street bond broker firm William A. Read & Company through an introduction by his Harvard classmate, William A. Phillips. Dillon joined Read's Chicago office in that year, later moving to the firm's New York office in 1914. Following Read's death in 1916, Dillon bought a majority interest in the firm and was chosen to head the company. In 1921, the company's name was changed to Dillon, Read & Co. In 1921, Dillon focused on the beleaguered Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company which was in receivership. He succeeded in crafting a settlement with Goodyear's bankers, creditors, and stockholders as was raising more than $100 million in funding in an extremely difficult credit market. In 1925, only four years later, Dillon bought the Dodge Brothers Company for $146 million in cash which was the largest such transaction in industrial history at the time. After the acquisition of Dodge, Dillon merged the company with the Chrysler Corporation in 1927 resulting in Chrysler's becoming one of the Big three in the automobile industry. A number of Dillon, Read & Co. partners served in senior roles in government, including Dillon and his right-hand man, James Forrestal, who served as Secretary of the Navy, and later, Secretary of Defense. During World War I, Bernard Baruch, Chairman of the War Industries Board, asked Dillon to be Assistant Chairman of the War Industries Board.
Hobbies
Dillon was a Francophile both because he had French origins and for his own personal tastes. In 1929, he purchased an apartment in Paris where he stayed a part of each year until he was well into his 80s. An oenophile as well. Dillon negotiated for months to purchase Château Haut-Brion from Bordeaux businessman André Gibert who had controlled the French wine producer since 1923. Dillon ultimately made the acquisition on May 13, 1935 for 2,300,000 francs. Dillon made Seymour Weller, who was the son of his wife's sister, president of the new company, Société Vinicole de la Gironde,. Weller retired as President of the company in 1975. Dillon is said to have purchased Château Haut-Brion because it was his favorite wine. However Haut-Brion is also near Bordeaux, and good riding and hunting land surrounds the estate. Clarence purchased show dog Fontclair Festoon from Dody Jenkins. This dog would go on to win best-in-show at the Westminster Kennel Club in 1959. The dog was handled by Anne Rogers Clark.
Personal life
On February 4, 1908, Dillon married Anne McEldin Douglass in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Anne was the daughter of George Douglass and his wife and second cousin Susan Virginia Dun. Together, Clarence and Anne were the parents of a son and daughter:
Clarence Douglass Dillon, who served as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1961–65 and the U.S. Ambassador to France. He married Phyllis Chess Ellsworth in 1931. After her death in 1982, he married Susan Sage in 1983. They remained married until his death in 2003.
Dorothy Anne Dillon, who married Philip Elsworth Allen in 1934. After their divorce, she married Dr. Sydney Shepherd Spivack, a sociologist, in 1965. After his death in 1969, she married Eric Eweson in 1976, who died in 1988.
