threads / economy #52

15 newly added in the last 14 days mark read

1. 1871 new

   Drexel, Morgan and Company is founded

   J. Pierpont Morgan partnered with Anthony Drexel to form Drexel, Morgan and Company in 1871. The firm became the base of Morgan's power in American finance and was later renamed J.P. Morgan and Company.

2. 1885 new

   Morgan brokers peace between rival railroads

   In 1885 Morgan mediated a truce between the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads aboard his yacht. Such deals began the practice of Morganization, in which he reorganised and controlled major railroads.

3. 1892 new

   Formation of General Electric

   In 1892 Morgan financed the merger of Edison General Electric with the Thomson-Houston Electric Company to create General Electric. It became one of the largest industrial firms in the world.

4. 1895 new

   Firm renamed J.P. Morgan and Company

   The firm took the name J.P. Morgan and Company in 1895 after the death of Anthony Drexel. It was now the dominant American investment bank.

5. February 1895 new

   Morgan rescues the US Treasury gold reserve

   In February 1895 J.P. Morgan led a banking syndicate that lent gold to the United States Treasury to defend the gold standard during a financial crisis. The deal showed how much power private bankers held over public finance.

6. 2 March 1901 new

   Formation of U.S. Steel

   On 2 March 1901 Morgan merged Carnegie Steel with other firms to create United States Steel. Capitalised at about 1.4 billion dollars, it was the world's first billion-dollar corporation.

7. 1904 new

   Northern Securities antitrust case

   The Supreme Court in 1904 ordered the breakup of Northern Securities, a railroad holding company Morgan had helped form. The case was an early victory for federal trust-busting under President Theodore Roosevelt.

8. October 1907 new

   Morgan halts the Panic of 1907

   During the Panic of 1907 J.P. Morgan organised bankers to pool funds and stop a wave of bank failures. His personal leadership steadied the system and spurred later creation of the Federal Reserve.

9. 1912 to 1913 new

   Pujo Committee money-trust hearings

   A House subcommittee led by Arsene Pujo investigated concentrated control of finance, the so-called money trust, in 1912 and 1913. Morgan testified in December 1912, and the hearings fed support for banking reform.

10. 1913 new

    J.P. Morgan dies in Rome

    Six weeks after the report was issued and just past midnight on March 31, 1913, Morgan died at the Grand Hotel in Rome. His partners attributed the death of the great titan to...

    • Six weeks after the report was issued and just past midnight on March 31, 1913, Morgan died at the Grand Hotel in Rome. His partners attributed the death of the great titan to the stress of the Pujo investigations. There may have been some truth to that, but as Morgan’s biographer Ron Chernow wrote, “Pierpont was seventy-five .

      All the Presidents' Bankers: The Hidden Alliances That Drive American Power
11. 31 March 1913 new

    J.P. Morgan dies in Rome

    John Pierpont Morgan died in Rome in March 1913. Control of the bank passed to his son, J.P. Morgan Jr.

12. 1915 new

    Morgan bank funds Allied war loans

    During the First World War the Morgan bank acted as purchasing agent for Britain and France and arranged large Allied loans in 1915. The role tied American finance closely to the Allied cause.

13. 16 September 1920 new

    Wall Street bombing outside the Morgan bank

    On 16 September 1920 a bomb hidden in a wagon exploded outside the J.P. Morgan headquarters at 23 Wall Street, killing about 38 people. The attack was never solved but was widely blamed on anarchists.

14. 24 October 1929 new

    Morgan bankers try to steady the 1929 crash

    On Black Thursday in October 1929 a group of leading bankers met at the Morgan offices and pooled money to buy shares and calm the market. The effort slowed the fall only briefly before the crash resumed.

15. 16 September 1935 new

    Morgan Stanley splits from J.P. Morgan

    The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 forced banks to separate commercial and investment banking. J.P. Morgan stayed in commercial banking while partners founded the investment bank Morgan Stanley in September 1935.