Wikipedia:

Champion was a founded by Robert A. Stranahan and Frank D. Stranahan in 1908 in Boston and then moved to Toledo, Ohio in 1910 to be close to the Willys-Overland Company.

What, were they sweet on each other?

In 1989, Champion was purchased by Cooper Industries and is now a wholly owned brand of Federal-Mogul Corporation.

That’s a great name for a bureaucratic grandee, but for a conglomerate? I like their original name better: Muzzy-Lyon.