ADM: Soybean Solvents, the Lysine Cartel Tapes and a Carbon Well Leak

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Archer Daniels Midland began in 1902 when John W. Daniels started a linseed crushing business in Minneapolis, joined the next year by George A. Archer; the company incorporated in 1923. In 1934, its Chicago plant opened ADM's first continuous solvent extraction plant for soybeans, using hexane instead of presses to pull out oil around the clock. ADM moved to Decatur, Illinois, in 1969, and under CEO Dwayne Andreas from 1970, soybean exports grew from $1.5 billion to $7 billion. By 2024 it had $85.5 billion in revenue, more than 44,000 employees and the 35th spot on the Fortune 500.

In the 1993 lysine scandal, ADM executives met competitors in hotel rooms worldwide to divide the market by quota. FBI informant Mark Whitacre, who was embezzling millions from ADM while wearing a wire, recorded leaders calling competitors friends and customers the enemy. Executives went to prison, and ADM paid a record $100 million criminal fine in 1997 and a $400 million class action settlement. Later troubles include $54 million in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act fines in 2013 and a $40 million SEC penalty in January 2026 over inflated results in its nutrition unit, where bonuses were tied to performance.

• ADM was sued under the Sherman Act as early as 1920 over linseed oil price collusion.
• In 2001 it made the first U.S. commercial sale to Cuba since the embargo began, and it later bought Wild Flavors for $3 billion.
• Argentina accused ADM and other grain traders in 2011 of dodging a billion dollars in taxes through transfer mispricing.
• In early 2024 ADM's CFO was suspended and the FBI issued grand jury subpoenas over the nutrition unit's accounting.
• In late 2023 the EPA ordered ADM to halt injections after roughly 8,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and other fluids leaked underground at its Decatur sequestration well.