Uniform Bank Performance Report - Anderson School of Management

Another important heritage institution of JPMorgan Chase was the Waterbury Bank, located in
Connecticut, founded in 1848. This bank would go on to evolve into Citytrust Bancorp, which would
merge with Chase Manhattan Bank in 1991, contributing greatly to the success of the Chase Bank.
The rise of JPMorgan & Co.
In 1871, JPMorgan Chase’s namesake predecessor, J.P. Morgan & Co., was founded in New York as
Drexel, Morgan & Co. by J. Pierpont Morgan and his partner Anthony Drexel. 3 Over the next decades,
Morgan would become well known throughout the financial world for his success in raising capital for
American development. Having become senior partner in Drexel Morgan & Co., Morgan renamed the
company JPMorgan & Co. in 1895. This Manhattan firm quickly became a major player in the rapidly
developing financial world, both domestically and internationally. The majority of JPMorgan & Co.’s
initial success stemmed from its substantial contributions to the growth of the United States by enabling
Europeans to invest in the country. It was also engaged as a primary financier for the booming US
Railroad developments.
During the last mercantile and credit crisis of the 19 th Century, JPMorgan & Co. was incremental in
rescuing the U.S. government from default, and salvaging the gold standard. Working with President
Cleveland and learning from European and American bankers, Morgan and his associates formed a
syndicate to buy gold in Europe and bring it back to America, briefly managing to control the flow of
gold in an out of the U.S. In 1901, JPMorgan & Co. created the world’s first billion‐dollar corporation by
buying out industrialist Andrew Carnegie and combining some 33 companies to create U.S. Steel 4 . In
1904 the company helped finance the Panama Canal by raising $40 million for the U.S. Government to
buy land rights from a bankrupt French company. 5
Needless to say, by 1906, J.P. Morgan had become a world‐class businessman. The world‐class bank he
owned, JPMorgan & Co., was growing faster than ever and had been a central player in the creation of
many American business giants, such as U.S. Steel, GE, and AT&T. During the financial panic of 1907,
JPMorgan & Co. saved several trust companies and a leading brokerage house from insolvency, bailed
3 "The History of JPMorgan Chase and Co.; 200 Years in Leadership.", pg. 7
4 http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company‐histories/JP‐Morgan‐Chase‐amp%3B‐Co‐Company‐History.html
5 "The History of JPMorgan Chase and Co.; 200 Years in Leadership.", pg. 8