American International Corporation was an American investment trust founded in 1915 by

Frank Vanderlip Frank Arthur Vanderlip Sr. (November 17, 1864 – June 30, 1937) was an American banker and journalist. He was president of the National City Bank of New York (now Citibank) from 1909 to 1919, and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 1 ...

;

Willard Straight Willard Dickerman Straight (January 31, 1880 – December 1, 1918) was an American investment banker, publisher, reporter, diplomat and by marriage, a member of the very wealthy Whitney family. He was a promoter of Chinese arts and investments, an ...

was the key operational leader. Its board and stockholders included a wide range of leading American financiers and industrialists. With an initial capitalization of 50 million

dollars Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...

and located at 120 Broadway in Manhattan, its goals were to invest in foreign companies and projects, especially in China & Russia during France and the United Kingdom's fiscal distress caused by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Its ambitious plans were stymied by opposition from the Wilson administration and the focus of attention on supporting the war effort. Russia fell into civil war and China was chaotic after the death of its leader in 1916. Willard Straight died and Vanderlip was fired. Despite years of planning, construction work was never begun on the Corporation's elaborate projects in Russia and China. The Corporation did set up an network of branch offices for National City. Its international investments were not profitable and it switched to domestic investment. Mazuzan, 1974

References

External links

American International Corporation records
at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

(1917). Reports on iron ore and manganese deposits in South Russia, submitted by American International Corporation engineers Charles Rees and M.A. Neeland. Mutual funds of the United States {{US-finance-company-stub

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Further reading

External links