DHL’s rise from modest beginnings to become a global leader in logistics is nothing short of remarkable.
In 1969, three friends, Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn, decided to start their delivery business with what little means they had in San Francisco, USA.
Larry Hillblom started his career in global logistics as a law student at the University of California, Berkeley in the late 1960s. Hillblom shuttled packages between airports for Michael’s, Poe & Associates while he was a student. Along with salesman Adrian Dalsey, Hillblom had a quicker delivery service in mind. DHL was founded with their inaugural flight connecting Honolulu and San Francisco. They started DHL with perseverance and a portion of Hillblom’s student loans, rushing to build a worldwide network in record time.
With two of his friends, Adrian Dalsey and Robert Lynn, as partners, Hillblom contributed a portion of his student loans to launch the business, which was named DHL after the initials of their last names combined. They drove around San Francisco in their shared Plymouth Duster to pick up the documents in suitcases, and then they hurried to the airport to make travel arrangements using another relatively new invention: the corporate credit card. They began recruiting new couriers to join the company as the business grew. Max and Blanche Kroll were their first hires; their Hawaii apartment frequently turned into a makeshift flophouse for their couriers.
These young men, in their era, never knew they were going to revolutionize the industry.
Adrian Dalsey and Larry Hillblom personally oversaw the daily operations until its eventual bankruptcy closed doors in 1983. At its peak, DHL Air Cargo employed just over 100 workers, management and pilots.
In the 1970s, DHL’s services expanded throughout the world.
Although its founders are dead, this year marks 55 years of operations throughout the world, DHL owns 250 aircraft, 32,000 vehicles, and 550,000 employees and is present almost everywhere in the world.
DHL’s revenues are estimated at billions of dollars every year. In 2023, DHL recorded Euro 81.8 Billion, and E94. 4 Billion in 2022.
The DHL Express financial results are published in the Deutsche Post AG annual report. In 2016, this division’s revenue increased by 2.7% to €14 billion. The earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 11.3% over 2015 to €1.5 billion.
DHL is now the global leader in the logistics industry, specializing in international shipping, courier services and transportation throughout the world.
Backstory of founders
Adrian Dalsey was born in 1914 and died in 1994 (79)
He married Marjorie Schutt Dalsey and they had two children together, a boy named Jonathan and a daughter Jennifer. He also fathered another son, Harry Dalsey after divorcing his wife Marjorie.
Robert Lynn was born in 1920 and died in 1998 (78)
He was the last of the three founders to die. He spent most of his life in the United States.
Larry Hillblom was born in 1943 and disappeared in 1995 (52)
After his disappearance, his estate paid $360 million to four impoverished children whom he had fathered as a result of “sex safari” trips in Southeast Asian countries.
