Gibson
Orville Gibson founded the company in 1902 as the "Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd." in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to make mandolin-family instruments. Gibson invented archtop guitars by constructing the same type of carved, arched tops used on violins. By the 1930s, the company was also making flattop acoustic guitars, as well as one of the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars, used and popularized by Charlie Christian. In 1944, Gibson was bought by Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI), which was acquired in 1969 by Panama-based conglomerate Ecuadorian Company Limited (ECL), that changed its name in the same year to Norlin Corporation. Gibson was owned by Norlin Corporation from 1969 to 1986. In 1986, the company was acquired by a group led by Henry Juszkiewicz and David H. Berryman.
Gibson Energy
Gibsons was founded with the incorporation of its predecessor in 1953. It was initially a subsidiary of Hunting plc, a British firm in the same business. Gibsons was sold by Hunting plc to an energy industry focused private equity fund managed by Riverstone Holdings in December 2008, for C$1.2 billion. It was later listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange on June 14, 2011.