J.P.+Morgan

=John "Superman"* Pierpont Morgan= =General Information=
 * (1837 - 1913)**


 * "Of all forms of tyranny, the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of plutocracy." - J. P. Morgan**

John Pierpont Morgan was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on April 17, 1837 to a wealthy family. Unlike many of the other robber barons, Morgan never had to endure poverty. While his father, Junius Spencer Morgan, worked in London, young Morgan attended schools in Germany and Switzerland. Junius Morgan taught Morgan to speak, act, and think as a banker from a young age, preparing Morgan for a partnership in Junius Morgan's firm. Morgan attended Boston's English High School, enrolled in a private school and then studied mathematics at the University of Gottingen in Germany. At the age of twenty Morgan graduated from Gottingen and then moved to New York to begin his career as a financier. In 1860, Morgan married Amelia Sturges, who died a few months later of tuberculosis. He remarried in 1865 to Frances Tracy and they had four children-- one son J.P Morgan Jr. and three daughters Louisa, Juliet, and Anne. Morgan died in Rome on March 31 of 1913; he was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut.

=**Railroads**=


 * "The wise man bridges the gap by laying out the path by means of which he can get from where he is to where he wants to go." - J. P. Morgan**

Morgan started off in the railroad business in the mid 1880s and by 1900 he owned more than 5,000 miles of track. His regulations and standards were new and proved to be very successful in the industry. In 1879, Morgan sold $25 million worth of New York Central stock in England. Morgan, then assumed an influential position on the railroad's board of directors. Morgan had control of Albany and Susquehanna Railroad by 1869. In 1885, Morgan organized a trust between the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central railroads. After the crash of 1893, many railroad lines were failing and they turned to Morgan for help; Morgan helped them out and also earned a little control in all of these rail lines. In total he owned or sat on the board of New York Central, New Haven and Hartford, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, Reading, Erie, Southern, Chesapeake and Ohio, and the Northern rail systems. In order to make his railroad business more successful and because steel was a huge part of his railroads Morgan merged Carnegie Steel with several other steel companies to create the U.S. Steel Company in 1901.

=**Steel**=

The steel market was rising under Carnegie until 1900 when a sharp market break lead to the deterioration of the company. Morgan's own steel tube and pipe company (National Tube) was looking to merge with a steel company so that they could control primary resources. As soon as Morgan heard about Carnegie's downfall he gave Carnegie an offer which left Carnegie with no option but to sell the company to him. However, Carnegie was afraid of Morgan (actually, probably his nose. Everyone was.) so Morgan met with Carnegie's second-in-command instead. In January of 1901 Morgan purchased the company for 480 million, fully monopolizing the steel industry. With the consolidation of these two major companies, the world's first billion-dollar corporation was born. Completing this domination of the steel market was his purchase of one of the world's largest ore companies from Rockefeller.

=**Electricity**=


 * "Where you expect things to happen - strangely enough - they do happen." - J. P. Morgan**

During the late 1870's, Morgan took notice of Thomas Edison and invested a lot of money into Edison's work, against his father's wishes. This was a bit reckless, as the electric industry was just beginning; however, this showed to the world that Morgan was a modern man. Morgan, along with Cornelius Vanderbilt, helped to create Edison General Electric in 1889. In 1891 Morgan merged Edison General Electric and Thompson-Hudson Electric company, as well as four smaller companies to form General Electric. General Electric became the country's main electrical equipment manufacturing company. Modernization was really important to Morgan and his house was the first in the city to be electrically lit.

=**The American Government**=


 * "A man always has two reasons for doing anything -- a good reason and a real reason." - J. P. Morgan**

The gold reserve in the government treasury was running out due to the amount of gold bonds sold to foreign countries. In 1895 the government finally asked Morgan and the Rothschild family for help. After a series of negotiations Morgan cabled the treasury saying that he had worked out a package, however he received word the next day that the government refused his offer saying that they would manage the crisis on their own. Refusing to take no for an answer Morgan came to Washington, President Cleveland denied Morgan entrance, but Morgan bullied his way into the president's office where a meeting was being held on the topic of the crisis. As dire reports kept coming in about the lack of gold the conclusion was reached that the Treasury held only $9 million dollars in gold. Morgan announced that he had $10 million in gold that he could lend to them that day. In return Morgan wanted a guarantee that he could manage the sterling (equivalent of gold) to dollar bill exchange rate. Both the loan and the exchange were carried out successfully, although not without leaving some fear of another impending crisis.
 * 1893-1895 - The Gold Panic**

In 1907 Morgan was 70 and semi-retired when Wall Street came crashing down. People blamed the government, Roosevelt, for the crash because of Roosevelt's anti- trust policy. In reality however the markets had been crashing for several years before Roosevelt's presidency. Morgan was called on for help to fix the issue despite his age and semi-retiredness. Morgan summoned all the presidents of the banks and chairmen on the committees of these banks, and in an extraordinary demonstration of power forced the president to admit that without trusts the economy would not ever improve. When the people found out that Morgan had almost single-handedly saved the country from ruin, they were shocked at the amount of power a single man could have. However there is no legitimacy to the argument that Morgan did this out of personal gain or anything other than a sense of public duty.
 * 1907 - Stock Market Crash**

=Banking=


 * "Well I don't know as I want a lawyer to tell me what I cannot do. I hire him to tell how to do what I want to do." - J. P. Morgan**

Morgan's first job was as an accountant for the banking firm Duncan, Sherman & Co., which had strong ties to a bank in London -- an part of Morgan's success. In 1871, Morgan, Anthony Drexel, and Junius Morgan started their own banking firm known as Drexel, Morgan & Co. After Drexel and Junius Morgan had passed away Morgan took over the firm and renamed it J.P. Morgan & Co. Morgan's connections in London proved to be extremely advantageous as his bank grew. In 1879, Morgan sold $25 million worth of New York Central, Vanderbuilt's railroad, stock in England. Morgan's bank was very personal and private; he never had any more than eighty employees. Not only did it have a high position in America, but it was also held in high regard in Europe. For example, in 1890, the Barings Banking House, that largest bank in London, failed after a mishap in investments with Argentinian bonds. Morgan's bank was the only bank which had the monetary funds to save the Barings bank from crashing and for five years Morgan helped Barings reestablish their position in society.

=Sippin' Haterade=

[[image:morgans-pujo.jpg align="right" caption="Morgan's public appearance *3"]]

 * "Remember, my son, that any man who is a bear on the future of this country will go broke." - J. P. Morgan**

Morgan's Nose
//Masters of Enterprise// - "By Jupiter"

"Children cried when they saw Morgan in the streets; adults attempted not to look but couldn't help themselves." Morgan had the ugliest nose in New York; the very image "struck terror into the hearts of all who knew him." His deformity caused by a severe case of acne, leaving his nose "chronically inflamed." Called "a 'huge, more or less deformed, sick, bulbous mass in the center of his face,'" Morgan's nose was always a trial to him, to the point where he would not allow painters and photographers to take pictures of it without editing it first. Edward Steichen stated that looking at Morgan reminded him of "standing on a railroad track at night, in the full glare of the headlight of an express train hurtling down on him. He had to blink or turn away lest the train smash and obliterate him."

//The American Pageant// - "Industry Comes of Age" "The chronic skin disorder on his nose inspired the taunt, 'Johnny Morgan's nasal organ has a purple hue.'"

//The Gilded Age: A Reappraisal// - "The Robber Baron in the Gilded Age" "Just as Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin were held later to typify their respective countries, so...the bulbous nose and rotund figure of J.P. Morgan to signify the whole of Wall Street with it's thousands of operators, its ethical flaws, and its business virtues."

**Business Dealings﻿**
//Masters of Enterprise// - "By Jupiter"

"'The House of Morgan was always known as a partner-killer,' said an observer who watched the bodies mount. Morgan obliterated many rivals during his 30 year domination of American finance." He also scared the bejeezus out of his coworkers. "'His partners did not go near him, unless he sent for them, and then they looked alarmed and darted in like office boys.'"

//The American Pageant// - "Industry Comes of Age"

"The imperial Morgan devised still other schemes for eliminating "wasteful" competition. The depression of the 1890's drove into his welcoming arms many bleeding business people, wounded by cutthroat competition."


 * He was definitely Superman. He like pretty much owned the whole world, and saved it too..

=﻿Sources=

Morgan, H. Wayne. //The Gilded Age: A Reappraisal//. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 1963. Print. Charles, Morris R. //The Tycoons//. New York: Henry Holt and, LLC, 2005. Print.

Brands, H. W. //Masters of Enterprise//. New York: Free, 1999. Print. "John Pierpont Morgan Quotes." //ThinkExist//. ThinkExist, 199. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. [].

Miller, William. "Morgan, John Pierpont, Sr. (1837–1913)." //Encyclopedia Americana.// Grolier Online, 2011. Web. 9 Feb. 2011.

Bowen, Liz. "J.P. Morgan." //Fordham University//. Fordham University, 2011. Web. 9 Feb. 2011.

"John Pierpont (J.P.) Morgan." //Connecticut//. NState, LLC, 24 Sept. 2009. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. [].

"Morgan, J.P." //Net Industries//. Net Industries and Its Licensors, 2011. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. [].

Pictures
*1 "J Pierpont Morgan." //The Full Wiki//. Web. 11 Feb. 2011. . *2 "Famous Business Partnerships." //Bloomberg Business Week//. Bloomberg L.P., 2011. Web. 11 Feb. 2011. . *3 "J.P. Morgan & Children." //Life//. See Your World LLC, 2011. Web. 11 Feb. 2011. .

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