King allowed Diffrient to follow his design instincts, for the standard 3%-of-sales royalty deal.

FORBES: The Chair Men

Diffrient, now 75, happened to have a crude prototype for a new office chair.

FORBES: The Chair Men

Six years ago, when Robert King met Niels Diffrient, King was struggling to lift Humanscale, a small maker of ergonomic products for the office, to the next level.

FORBES: The Chair Men

Diffrient now devotes himself exclusively to projects for Humanscale.

FORBES: The Chair Men

The Diffrient chair's slightly sinister-looking exposed backbone looked futuristic.

FORBES: The Chair Men

Diffrient, meantime, had problems of his own.

FORBES: The Chair Men

Diffrient was a frustrated industrial designer with pioneering achievements, including the first chair whose height could be adjusted via a gas piston and spring, and a fold-up office table that replaced screws and plates with simple interlocking hinges.

FORBES: The Chair Men