Saint-Gobain, a publicly owned company headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie, France, was founded in 1665 in Paris as the Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs and operates with approximately 36,320 employees. The company, originally a mirror manufacturer, specializes today in producing a variety of construction, high-performance, moderate-performance, and other materials, and maintains a presence in 76 countries.