Who Really Owns DeWalt Tools?

As DIYers, gardeners, or lawn care enthusiasts can attest, there are a multitude of both manual and power tools necessary for keeping everything in your lawn, garden, and home maintained. They will also likely be quick to suggest their favorite brand of tools. While there are hundreds of different brands available — like the Ryobi lawn tools you'll wish you already had — a few are almost always near the top of those recommendations. One such company is DeWalt, one of the top-selling tool companies in the United States. However, many people are surprised to learn that DeWalt is not an independent company. In fact, it is actually owned by yet another popular tool company, and has been for many decades.

DeWalt tools have been a mainstay in the U.S. for just over a century. However, for over half of its history, it has been a subsidiary of another major tool manufacturer. It was originally founded in 1924 by Raymond DeWalt, who invented the adjustable radial arm saw. However, within that same year, DeWalt sold the company. Under the new owners, Paul Gardner and Isaac Rutt, the company rapidly expanded. Eventually, this led to Black & Decker purchasing DeWalt in 1960.

Although DeWalt was acquired by Black & Decker in 1960, that doesn't fully answer the question of who actually owns DeWalt tools today. That's because in 2010 Black & Decker was acquired by another big name in the tool industry — Stanley. The result of that merger was the Stanley Black & Decker company, which today is the parent company of DeWalt.

Stanley Black & Decker actually own several tool companies, making DeWalt a part of a much larger family of tool companies. In addition to the two namesake companies and DeWalt, Stanley Black & Decker owns Craftsman, which first became popular as part of the Sears lineup. Stanley Black & Decker also owns tool companies that are better known among professional tradesmen, such as Irwin, Bostitch, and Mac Tools, among others.

As part of Black & Decker and now Stanley Black & Decker, DeWalt has expanded its tool offerings well beyond radial arm saws. Now consumers can find an expansive array, ranging from DeWalt fencing pliers to the popular DeWalt 3-in-1 lawn mower. This lineup, along with the company consistently ranking among the top-selling U.S. tool companies, also makes it a common factor in consumer decision making. So, it's not unusual to see consumers deciding between Ryobi or DeWalt surface pressure washers, for instance (Ryobi was number 2 in U.S. market share behind DeWalt in 2025, according to Open Brand). When faced with those decisions, many customers find it useful to know who a company is owned by and whether the two brands they are choosing between are owned by the same parent company, or whether a brand is even owned by a tool company at all these days. In the case of DeWalt, at least the latter is true. Additionally, some consumers may appreciate that DeWalt's parent company is still based in the United States, though all three brands have manufacturing facilities around the world.