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John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) [1] was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.
- J.P. Morgan: Early Years and Family
- J.P. Morgan: Banking Titan
- J.P. Morgan: Congressional Investigation
- J.P. Morgan: Art Collection and Final Years
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.
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.
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.
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Apr 23, 2024 · When John Pierpont Morgan arrived on Wall Street, it was a disorganized jumble of competing interests and one of the many financial centers in a country.
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.
Apr 3, 2014 · J.P. Morgan became one of the wealthiest and most powerful businessmen in the world through his founding of private banks and industrial consolidation in the late 1800s.
J.P. Morgan was one of the organizers of the World Fair held in Chicago in 1893. Despite his label as a robber baron, Morgan felt his investments benefited America. His railroad dealings helped consolidate many smaller, mismanaged firms, resulting in shorter trips and more dependable service.
“No price is too great,” John Pierpont Morgan once declared, “for a work of unquestioned beauty and known authenticity.” Indeed, the financier spent half his fortune on art: Chinese...
