Wilmington, Delaware, United States

🇺🇸 Wilmington is the largest and most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine River, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley metropolitan area.

The Wilmington Metropolitan Division, comprising New Castle County, Delaware, Cecil County, Maryland and Salem County, New Jersey. The Delaware Valley metropolitan area, which includes the cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey.

Economy Much of Wilmington's economy is based on its status as the most populous and readily accessible city in Delaware, a state that made itself attractive to corporations with business-friendly financial laws and a longstanding reputation for a fair and effective judicial system. Contributing to the economic health of the downtown and Wilmington Riverfront regions has been the presence of Wilmington Station, through which 665,000 people passed in 2009.

Wilmington has become a national financial centre for the credit card industry, largely due to regulations enacted by former Governor Pierre S. du Pont IV in 1981. The Financial Center Development Act of 1981, among other things, eliminated the usury laws enacted by most states, thereby removing the cap on interest rates that banks may legally charge customers. Major credit card issuers such as Barclays Bank of Delaware (formerly Juniper Bank), are headquartered in Wilmington. The Dutch banking giant ING Groep N.V. headquartered its U.S. internet banking unit, ING Direct (now Capital One 360), in Wilmington. Wilmington Trust is headquartered in Wilmington at Rodney Square. Barclays and Capital One 360 have very large and prominent locations along the waterfront of the Christina River. In 1988, the Delaware legislature enacted a law which required a would-be acquirer to capture 85 percent of a Delaware chartered corporation's stock in a single transaction or wait three years before proceeding. This law strengthened Delaware's position as a safe haven for corporate charters during an especially turbulent time filled with hostile takeovers.

Wilmington's other notable industries include insurance (American Life Insurance Company [ALICO], Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Delaware), retail banking (including the Delaware headquarters of: Wilmington Trust (now a branch of M&T Bank, after Wilmington Trust merged with M&T in 2011), PNC Bank, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Citizens Bank, Wilmington Savings Fund Society, and Artisans' Bank), and legal services. A General Motors plant was closed in 2009. Wilmington is home to one Fortune 500 company, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Science and Technology are also thriving as companies such as Incyte, Chemours, Corteva, Solenis and ZipCode call Wilmington home. In addition, the city is the corporate domicile of more than 50% of the publicly traded companies in the United States, and over 60% of the Fortune 500.

Delaware chartered corporations rely on the state's Court of Chancery to decide legal disputes, which places legal decisions with a judge instead of a jury. The Court of Chancery, known both nationally and internationally for its speed, competence, and knowledgeable judiciary as a court of equity, is empowered to grant broad relief in the form of injunctions and restraining orders, which is of particular importance when shareholders seek to block or enjoin corporate actions such as mergers or acquisitions. The Court of Chancery, as a state-wide court, may hear cases in any of the state's three counties. A dedicated-use Chancery courthouse was constructed in 2003 in Georgetown, Sussex County. It has hosted high-profile complex corporate trials such as the Disney shareholder litigation.

Because Delaware is the official state of incorporation for so many American companies, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, located in Wilmington, is one of the busiest of the 94 federal bankruptcy courts located around the United States.

Delaware has among the strictest rules in the U.S. regarding out-of-state legal practice, allowing no reciprocity to lawyers who passed the bar in other states.

Top employers According to a recent Report, the top employers in the city include: 1 State of Delaware; 2 ChristianaCare; 3 University of Delaware; 4 Amazon (DE Fulfillment Centers); 5 Nemours (Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware); 6 DuPont Company; 7 AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; 8 YMCA of Delaware; 9 Christina School District; 10 Red Clay School District; 11 Delaware Technical Community College; 12 New Castle County Government; 13 M&T Bank (Wilmington Trust Corp.); 14 Brandywine School District; 15 Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics; 16 Connections Community Support; 17 St. Francis Healthcare; 18 Delaware State University; 19 The Chemours Company; 20 Wilmington VA Medical Center; 21 Delmarva Power; 22 AAA; 23 Blackrock Capital Management, Inc.; 24 WSFS Bank.