J.P Morgan became very invested in the American railroad system. He was a major investor and owned a lot of railroad stock-1/6 of the rails in America at one time. His connections to European investors provided the American rail system with the money it needed. He saw the inefficiency of the railroad competitions and believed that consolidation was the only way to go after a failed compromise between rail presidents.
J.P Morgan was also essential to the financial security of the United States. In 1895, a bank he was in charge of lent the federal government 60 million dollars. He also created General Electric by merging two smaller companies. He also made a steel giant by merging the Federal Steel company and Carnegie Steel.
Morgan also made a lucky escape. He was actually booked to sail on the Titanic but had to cancel due to illness. If he hadn't cancelled he may have gotten killed along with many of the others on the ship.
J.P was an avid collector of art and books. He has a public reference library with many of the books he collected.
J.P Morgan died in Rome at the age of 75. The New York stock exchange closed on the day of his death in his honor.
J.P Morgan's legacy lives on today. J.P Morgan, the company he founded, still provides financial support and investing tips, as well as private banking. This iconic financial institution is now under Chase, but J.P Morgan's name continues to live on.
https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/john-pierpont-morgan
https://www.britannica.com/biography/J-P-Morgan
I think this post does well at compiling all the achievements and important facts about J.P. Morgan. After doing some further research, I learned that he was a very important person during the Panic of 1907. This was a major financial crisis after many people tried to withdraw money from large banks but these banks did not have enough money. The panic was so intense that angry mobs erupted on Wall Street. J.P. Morgan helped organize a meeting with bank presidents and created a plan to raise $25 million in ten minutes. He stated that if they did not get the money in time, fifty stock exchange houses would fail. He was able to raise the money, and in less than thirty minutes later, people came rushing to get loan money. Morgan played a critical role in helping to stop the escalation of the Panic of 1907.
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https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14004846
I thought your post did a good job at showing the impact of Morgan's prolific work. It's interesting how many projects he had going on, and how much they played a role in society. Not only did he help stabilize Wall Street during the Panic of 1907, he also helped during the Panic of 1893. He got international investors to supply gold in return for 30-year bonds. I also liked the fact about the Titanic - very interesting!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.biography.com/business-figure/jp-morgan
DeleteHi Cathryn,
ReplyDeleteI like that your post displays various periods of his life including his early life, accomplishments, and legacy. I find it interesting that although he aided in stabilizing US financial markets during times of economic crisis such as the Panic of 1907, there was criticism that he was manipulating the financial system for his personal benefit. Although this could be the case, Morgan made a profound impact on the railroad system and US financial markets, which ultimately brought the country out of its financial crisis.
https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/john-pierpont-morgan
It is fascinating to me that JP Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller were all alive at the same time and all made their fortunes thanks to railroads. Your article details how Morgan came into the world of finance, through his father, which is definitely an advantage over others in the business. I liked how you talked about his life through his birth and all the way to his death and his impact today.
ReplyDeletehttps://cyberomin.github.io/motivation/2018/01/16/the-men-who-built-america.html
It was inconceivable to me, that a man could have so much power and be so wealthy so much so that he was able to fix the economy during the panic of 1907. I guess this is a testament to the mass wealth that these people were able to acquire during the gilded age due to the unregulated economy. To put their wealth into perspective, Rockefeller's asset was worth around 1.5 percent of the economy during the time which is insane. This would equal to about 340 billion dollars today accounting for inflation which is still about 3 times the net worth of some of the wealthiest people today. This just goes to show, how much regulations have increased such as the restrictions of an interlocking directorate. However, there's still a huge disparity of wealth even in today's world.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/carlodonnell/2014/07/11/the-rockefellers-the-legacy-of-historys-richest-man/#4b171d343c26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_figures