In 1938, Frederick Krehbiel founded a company in Brookfield that made plastic goods. In the 1940s, led by John Krehbiel, the company moved into electric and electronics products at its Brookfield factory. Annual sales passed $1 million in 1962. Molex became a leading manufacturer of electrical switches and connectors. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Molex, based in Lisle, grossed about $1.7 billion in annual sales and ranked as the world's second leading maker of connectors, with factories and sales offices throughout the world. At the beginning of the century, approximately 1,600 of its 16,000 employees worldwide worked in the Chicago area.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.