John Pierpont – JP Morgan might be the greatest single financial person in history. By the end of his, life he had amassed millions, created General Electric and US Steel, accrued the largest private collection of art in the world, bailed out the US Treasury twice and created a bank that is still a powerhouse today.
Born the grandson of the man who founded Aetna Insurance, Pierpont matriculated to Europe where he learned banking, French and the Arts. He returned to New York where he and his father created Guaranty Trust, eventually called JP Morgan & Co. The Morgan’s had strong ties with London financiers. The bank grew in importance through solid business decisions by Pierpont. Many of these were around the dynamic railroad stocks of the time.
At the beginning of the 20th Century, the bank brokered the creation of General Electric. Next he created US Steel which became the first-ever billion-dollar company. In 1893, the United States Treasury was running out of gold. Morgan organized his vast network of foreign investors to pump in more gold and keep the government from collapse. He repeated his magic, in a different way, in 1907.
Robber Baron?
During this run Morgan became the target of President Teddy Roosevelt’s grass-roots attack as a ‘Robber Baron of Wall Street.’ Despite the backlash in America, Morgan stood as a national hero in England as a wise and benevolent financial leader.
Philanthropy
Later in his life, Morgan donated heavily – money and amazing artworks – to the Met, helping it attain its eventual grand reputation. He also sat on the board of, and the largest donor to, the Natural History Museum. Through him, the museum acquired innumerable artifacts. Finally, Pierpont worked diligently with his Episcopalian Church, even taking part of the revision of the Book of Common Prayer. He donated millions to help build the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Though he doesn’t appear in the book, his ‘House of Morgan’ does, in a big way in “Speaker of the Street.”