 In 1892, he became interested in the American Tin Plate Company, owners of an extensive plant at Elwood, Indiana.He and his partner, William B. Leeds, another Richmond native, bought the tin plate mill, with which he eventually combined every tin plate company in the country to form the American Tin Plate Company, with Reid as president.In 1901, J. P. Morgan included the tinplate trust in the giant steel trust, United States Steel Corporation, and reportedly paid $18 million for the company and Reid became the director.