WD-40: A recipe so secret it's 'moved under police escort'
The changeover of a corporate leader seldom involves the level of high security as that seen at the WD-40 company.
If you've ever got your hands dirty doing maintenance or mechanical work, you may well know about WD-40 鈥� it's the special oil in the blue and yellow can with the red top. The global brand worth billions of dollars is changing chief executive - and with that there will be a high security handover of the company's secret formula.
The outgoing boss of the company, Garry Ridge, has been at the company for 25 year and told Newsday the rumour is true that the company's original recipe - invented in 1953 - really is handwritten on a notepad and kept in a high security vault.
"That's absolutely true. It is locked in a vault in San Diego. It was never patented so we've never had to disclose it."
"At our fiftieth anniversary I actually rode a horse in a suit of armour into Times Square in New York with the formula to open the Nasdaq stock exchange to reflect on how this formula has created so much value for so many people over time."
(Pic: Man spraying WD-40 onto a metal hinge; Credit: WD-40 Company)
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