J. P. Morgan

From Freepedia

(Redirected from J.P. Morgan)

Image:JohnPierpontMorgan.jpg John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913), American financier and banker, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, a son of Junius Spencer Morgan (1813–1890), who was a partner of George Peabody and the founder of the house of J. S. Morgan & Co. in London. At the turn of the century (1901), J. P. Morgan was one of the wealthiest men in America.

Contents

Early years

Morgan was educated at the English High School of Boston and at the University of Göttingen. Morgan was a prominent member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Business years

From 1857 to 1861 Morgan worked in the New York City banking house of Duncan, Sherman & Co. and, from 1860 to 1864, he was an agent and attorney in New York for George Peabody & Co. of London. Afterwards, for its successor, J. S. Morgan & Co. he became it's head. From 1864–1871, the firm of Dabney, Morgan & Co. accepted Morgan as a member. In 1871, he entered the firm of Drexel, Morgan & Co., in which he was associated with Anthony J. Drexel, of Philadelphia, upon whose death in 1893 he became senior partner.

In 1895 the firm became J. P. Morgan & Co. Closely associated with Drexel & Co. of Philadelphia, Morgan, Harjes & Co. (successors to Drexel, Harjes & Co.) of Paris, and, Morgan, Grenfell & Co. (before 1910 J. S. Morgan & Co.) of London. J. P. Morgan & Co. became one of the most powerful banking houses in the world. Its accomplishments were numerous. J. P. Morgan & Co. financed the formation of the United States Steel Corporation, which took over the business of Andrew Carnegie and others and was the world's first billion-dollar corporation. In 1912, the Pujo Committee, a subcommittee of the House Banking and Currency committee, found that J.P. Morgan & Co. had aggregate resources of $22,245,000,000. Louis Brandeis, the former U.S. Supreme Court Justice, compared this sum to the value of all the property in the twenty-two states west of the Mississippi River (which excluded Alaska and Hawaii).

In 1891 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric.

In 1895, J. P. Morgan & Co. supplied the United States government with $62 million in gold to float a bond issue and restore the treasury surplus of $100 million. In 1902, J. P. Morgan & Co. purchased the Leyland line of Atlantic steamships and other British lines, creating an Atlantic shipping combine, the International Mercantile Marine Company, which eventually became the owner of White Star Line, builder and operator of RMS Titanic. In addition, J P Morgan & Co (or the banking houses which it succeeded) reorganised a large number of railroads between 1869 and 1899.

Image:Jpmorgan.jpg

An enthusiastic yachtsman, Morgan's Columbia defeated the Shamrock in 1899 and 1901 for the America's Cup.

A chronic skin disease, (Rosacea), plagued Morgan's nose, causing it to appear purple; a popular rhyme ran: "Johnny Morgan's nasal organ has a purple hue..."

In his satirical history of the United States, It All Started with Columbus, Richard Armour commented that "Morgan, who was a direct sort of person, made his money in money... He became immensely wealthy because of his financial interests, most of which were around eight or ten percent... This Morgan is usually spoken of as 'J.P.' to distinguish him from Henry Morgan, the pirate."

Notable patronage

In 1900, Morgan financed inventor and engineer, Nikola Tesla and his Wardenclyffe Tower facility (which was a wireless facility). Morgan invested over $75,000 into the project. However, in 1903, when the tower structure was near completion, it was still not yet functional due to a design error. When Morgan wanted to know "Where can I put the meter?", Tesla had no answer. Tesla's vision of free power did not agree with Morgan's worldview. Construction costs eventually exceeded the money provided by Morgan, and additional financiers were reluctant to come forth (since Tesla fell out of favor with Morgan).

By July 1904, Morgan (and the other investors) finally decided they would not provide any additional financing. Morgan also encouraged other investors to avoid the project. The tower was finally dismantled for scrap during wartime. Newspapers of the time labeled Wardenclyffe "Tesla's million-dollar folly."

Morgan was also a patron to photographer Edward S. Curtis offering Curtis $75,000, in 1906, for a series on the North American Indian.

Philanthropy

Morgan was a notable collector of books, pictures, and, other art objects, many loaned or given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (of which he was president), and many housed in his London house and in his private library on 36th Street, near Madison Avenue in New York City. His son created the Pierpont Morgan Library in 1924 as a memorial to his father and kept Belle da Costa Greene, who had been his private librarian, as its first director. He was a benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard University (especially its medical school), the Lying-in Hospital of the City of New York and the New York trade schools.

Morgan's son John, known as J. P. Morgan, Jr., inherited his father's banking business.

References

  • J.P. Morgan : The Financier as Collector Publisher: By Auchincloss, Louis Harry N Abrams (September 1, 1990) ISBN 0810936100
  • Brandeis, Louis D. Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use It. Ed. Melvin I. Urofsky. New York: Bedford Books, 1995. ISBN 031210314X
  • J. P. Morgan: Banker to a Growing Nation (American Business Leaders) By Bryman Jeremy Publisher: Morgan Reynolds Publishing (June 1, 2001) ISBN 1883846609
  • The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance, By Chernow, Ron Publisher: Publishers Group West 1st edition (October 15, 2001) ISBN 0802138292
  • J.P. Morgan by Jackson, Stanley Publisher: Stein & Day Pub (November 1, 1983) ISBN 0812828240
  • J. P. Morgan Saves the Nation (Sun and Moon Classics) By Jones M., Jeffrey Larson, Johnathan

Further reading

  • The Death of the Banker : The Decline and Fall of the Great Financial Dynasties and the Triumph of the Small Investor By Ron Chernow Publisher: Vintage; 1st edition (July 14, 1997) ISBN 0375700374
  • The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy by Charles R. Morris Publisher: Times Books 2005 ISBN: 0805075992
  • The New York Evening Post for March 31, 1913.

See Also

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/J._P._Morgan.html"


Views
Personal tools
In other languages
Similar Links