Activist Investor Peltz Hastens DuPont’s Divorce From Wilmington

(Bloomberg) -- Standing on the deck of Delaware’s oldest DuPont estate, Suzanne West peers down a tree-lined hill at mills that once transformed a small gunpowder maker into an industrial giant.

Built in 1802, the stately house eventually became a clubhouse for DuPont workers -- the sort of perk that greeted West’s husband when he was changing jobs and moved from New York in the 1980s.

“When Mike came on, they flew you down, wined and dined you,” West says, touring what is now the Hagley Museum with a couple of friends. “Back then, people of Wilmington still talked about ‘Uncle Dupee.’ How ‘Uncle Dupee’ will look after you.”

These days, she’s hearing a different kind of chatter. “I don’t know what’s happening to DuPont,” she says. “It’s just falling apart as far as I can tell.”

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