I thought this was well known, but maybe just a rumor. But my understanding is that at one point someone who worked for a capacitor company stole the formula fo

I thought this was well known, but maybe just a rumor. But my understanding is that at one point someone who worked for a capacitor company stole the formula for making electrolytic capacitors and started their own company. Unfortunately they didn't quite get it right, and they had what was called "capacitor plague."