One of the most powerful bankers of his era, J.P. (John Pierpont) Morgan (1837-1913) financed railroads and helped organize U.S. Steel, General Electric and other major corporations. The Connecticut native followed his wealthy father into the banking business in the late 1850s, and in 1871 formed a partnership with Philadelphia banker Anthony Drexel. In 1895, their firm was reorganized as J.P. Morgan & Company, a predecessor of the modern-day financial giant JPMorgan Chase. Morgan used his influence to help stabilize American financial markets during several economic crises, including the panic of 1907. However, he faced criticism that he had too much power and was accused of manipulating the nation’s financial system for his own gain. The Gilded Age titan spent a significant portion of his wealth amassing a vast art collection.
J.P. Morgan: Early Years and Family
John Pierpont Morgan was born into a distinguished New England family on April 17, 1837, in Hartford, Connecticut. One of his maternal relatives, James Pierpont (1659-1714), was a founder of Yale University; his paternal grandfather was a founder of the Aetna Insurance Company; and his father, Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), ran a successful Hartford dry-goods company before becoming a partner in a London-based merchant banking firm. After graduating from high school in Boston in 1854, Pierpont, as he was known, studied in Europe, where he learned French and German, then returned to New York in 1857 to begin his finance career.
Did you know? "Jingle Bells" was written by James L. Pierpont, the uncle of famed financier J.P. Morgan. The song, originally titled "The One Horse Open Sleigh," was actually written about Thanksgiving, and was considered a failure when first published in 1857.
In 1861, Morgan married Amelia Sturges, the daughter of a wealthy New York businessman. Amelia Morgan died of tuberculosis four months after the couple’s wedding. In 1865, Morgan married Frances Louisa Tracy (1842-1924), the daughter of a New York lawyer, and the pair eventually had four children.
J.P. Morgan: Banking Titan
During the late 19th century, a period when the U.S. railroad industry experienced rapid overexpansion and heated competition (the nation’s first transcontinental rail line was completed in 1869), Morgan was heavily involved in reorganizing and consolidating a number of financially troubled railroads. In the process, he gained control of significant portions of these railroads’ stock and eventually controlled an estimated one-sixth of America’s rail lines.
Titanic, owned by one of the IMM companies, White Star, sank on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg. Morgan, who attended the ship’s christening in 1911, was booked on the ill-fated April 1912 voyage but had to cancel.
During Morgan’s era, the United States had no central bank so he used his influence to help save the nation from disaster during several economic crises. In 1895, Morgan assisted in rescuing America’s gold standard when he headed a banking syndicate that loaned the federal government more than $60 million. In another instance, the financial panic of 1907, Morgan held a meeting of the country’s top financiers at his New York City home and convinced them to bail out various faltering financial institutions in order to stabilize the markets.
Morgan initially was widely commended for leading Wall Street out of the 1907 financial crisis; however, in the ensuing years, the portly banker with the handlebar mustache and gruff manner faced increasing criticism from muckraking journalists, progressive politicians and others that he had too much power and could manipulate the financial system for his own gain. In 1912, Morgan was called to testify before a congressional committee chaired by U.S. Representative Arsene Pujo (1861-1939) of Louisiana that was investigating the existence of a “money trust,” a small cabal of elite Wall Street financiers, including Morgan, who allegedly colluded to control American banking and industry. The Pujo Committee hearings helped bring about the creation of the Federal Reserve System in December 1913 and spurred the passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914.
J.P. Morgan: Art Collection and Final Years
The famous financier died at age 75 on March 31, 1913, in Rome, Italy. On April 14, the day of his funeral, the New York Stock Exchange closed in his honor until noon. He was buried in the Morgan family mausoleum at a Hartford cemetery.
John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.
? Born into a prominent New England family in 1837, J.P. Morgan began his career in the New York financial industry in the late 1850s. He co-founded the banking firm that became J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1871, and in the 1880s he established himself as a power player in the country's railroad industry.
J.P. Morgan (born April 17, 1837, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.—died March 31, 1913, Rome, Italy) was an American financier and industrial organizer, one of the world's foremost financial figures during the two pre-World War I decades.
John Pierpont Morgan ranks among the preeminent financiers in American history. He was born in 1837 and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, heir to two of New England's most distinguished families. Educated in Boston, Switzerland, and Germany, he was groomed by his father for a career in international finance.
The Morgan family fortune was diminished during the Great Depression, and philanthropy further reduced its breadth. As a result, the family's wealth has thinned out among the approximately 200 descendants, Mr. Pennoyer says.
After the 1893 financial panic, he helped the railroad industry recover. He merged railroad companies and became a stockholder in every one of them. He made a fortune in railroads. In 1898, Morgan formed the Federal Steel Company.
In 1907, as several major American financial institutions faced imminent failure that could jeopardize the entire nation, Morgan held a meeting of the nation's leading bankers and financiers. He persuaded them to bail out the failing companies for the sake of the country as a whole.
(JPM) stock is a mix of institutional, retail and individual investors. Approximately 55.44% of the company's stock is owned by Institutional Investors, 2.99% is owned by Insiders and 41.57% is owned by Public Companies and Individual Investors.
JPMorgan estimated that between 1831 and 1865, the two banks accepted approximately 13,000 slaves as collateral and ended up owning about 1,250 slaves. An apology was made in compliance with a rule requiring companies to detail past dealings with the slave trade when doing business with the city of Chicago.
Jack, J.P. Morgan's son, was chairman of J.P. Morgan & Co. when he died in 1943. Grandson Harry Morgan founded the investment bank Morgan Stanley and Co., which today is Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. However, no descendants have been active in JP Morgan since the mid-1970s.
That would change on April 3, 1890, as a startled horse threw Junius Morgan from his carriage. He died a few day later from his injuries. J.P. Morgan inherited his father's $12 million estate, as well as assuming his father's role in the banking empire, which doubled Morgan's fortune overnight.
Welsh (especially Glamorgan): from the medieval Welsh personal name Morgan Morgant (Old Welsh Morcant of uncertain etymology). Irish: importation of the Welsh surname (see 1 above) to which has been assimilated more than one Gaelic surname notably Ó Muireagáin (see Merrigan ).
Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading global financial services firm with $2.6 trillion in assets and operations worldwide.
Sonja was married to John Adams Morgan from 1998 to 2006. In a 2021 episode of RHONY, she felt conflicted about her divorce from the American financier, the heir to J.P. Morgan. “I lost my best friend and a wonderful marriage,” Sonja said in the episode.
Frick sues for the market value of his co*ke, and the case is settled out-of-court. Carnegie allows J.P. Morgan to buy him out for $480 million, a move which allows Morgan to create US Steel, and makes Carnegie the richest man in the world.
Junius Spencer Morgan I (April 14, 1813 – April 8, 1890) was an American banker and financier, as well as the father of John Pierpont "J.P." Morgan and patriarch to the Morgan banking house.
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