John Thomas Lupton

John Thomas Lupton (1862–1933) was an American lawyer, industrialist and philanthropist who along with Benjamin Thomas and Joseph Whitehead, obtained exclusive rights from Asa Candler to bottle and sell Coca-Cola.

Early life Lupton was born near Winchester, Virginia, and received his undergraduate degree from Roanoke College in 1884 follow by his law degree from the University of Virginia. After a visit to the home of a fellow student, he settled in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1887.

Lupton soon met Elizabeth Patten, daughter of Chattanooga Medicine Company founder Zeboim Cartter Patten, and they married on November 14, 1889. They had a son, Thomas Cartter Lupton, to whom they left the bulk of their combined wealth.

Career After his marriage, Lupton took a job as legal counsel to the Chattanooga Medicine Company (now Chattem), eventually becoming company vice president and treasurer.

Lupton's grandson, John T. Lupton II, sold the family's bottling operations back to Coca-Cola in 1986 for $1.4 billion in cash.

Philanthropy Lupton was a significant contributor to a number of southern schools, colleges and universities; Baylor School in Chattanooga, Oglethorpe University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga all have named buildings on their campuses in his honor.