Entrepreneur. He received world-wide recognition, along with his father and older brother, for manufacturing the Philips light bulb. Being financed by his father, Frederik Philips, who was a banker, his older brother Gerald started a company in 1891 in an old textile factory building manufacturing incandescent light bulbs and other electrical products. After schooling, he went to London, England to become a stockbroker before joining the company in 1894. He offered his talent of sales promotion and commercial expertise. Eventually, his other brothers joined the company in management positions. Their father died in 1900 but by then, the company had become the third largest supplier of light bulbs in Europe. In 1912 the company was called “Royal Philips Electronics N.V.,” and by 1913 the company had 2,500 employees with over half being women. During World War I, he used the boycott of German-made goods to increase his sales to other European countries. While his brother's team of researchers were making radio parts, electric shavers and doing pioneering work on the television, he established several subsidiaries. The company became a world-wide empire going to Brazil in 1924, Australia in 1927, India in 1930 and after World War II, to Hong Kong and Israel in 1948 and followed by England and the United States. He also supported product diversification. The company transformed the economy of a part of the Netherlands that had previously been economically backward by providing housing, supported education, and gave health insurance and pensions to their employees. In 1913, a sports club, Philips Sports Association, was started with a soccer team that evolved into one of the best professional teams in Europe. He was born into a large family that had a Jewish heritage but many had converted to Christianity in 1862. His early ancestor, Philip Philips, migrated in 1700s from the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia to the Netherlands becoming a very successful merchant. His father, who gained wealth as a tobacco and coffee merchant, was first cousin to Karl Marx. He married Elisabeth Maria de Jongh and they had one son and two daughters. Since his brother Gerald had no heirs, he brought in his son Fritz and son-in-law Fran Otten into the company. Gerald died in 1942. Many family members escaped the Netherlands to the United States during World War II and the Nazi Occupation of the Netherlands, but returned after the war. Fritz stayed to manage the company. The control of the company stayed in the family until 1977 when Aton's son-in-law, H. Riemsdijk, resigned as Company President to be a board member. Eventually, the family sold all the company's stock. Besides Philips, the firm's products were marketed under the names Norelco and Magnavox. Although not owned or managed by the family, the Philips Company continues to be one of the largest companies in the world, currently focused on healthcare and lighting. A full-size statue of Dr. Anton Philips stands at the main railway station of Eindhovern, Netherlands. The sculpture was commissioned as a work of Oswald Wenckebach in 1951.