Edmund Calvert Lynch (May 19, 1885 – May 12, 1938) and his friend,

Charles E. Merrill Charles Edward Merrill (October 19, 1885 – October 6, 1956) was an American philanthropist, stockbroker, and co-founder, with Edmund C. Lynch, of Merrill Lynch (previously called Charles E. Merrill & Co.). Early years Charles E. Merrill, th ...

, formed Merrill Lynch on October 15, 1915.

Early years

Edmund Lynch was born on May 19, 1885 in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

to Richard H. Lynch and Jennie Vernon Smith Lynch. Edmund Calvert Lynch attended the

Boys' Latin School of Maryland Boys' Latin School of Maryland is an all-boys, university-preparatory school located in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1844, it is the oldest independent, nonsectarian secondary school in the state of Maryland. The school is divided into Lower, ...

in Baltimore and graduated from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

in 1907.

Merrill and Lynch

Edmund Lynch met

when Lynch was a stockbroker on Wall Street. In 1907,

Merrill Merrill may refer to: Places in the United States * Merrill Field, Anchorage, Alaska * Merrill, Iowa *Merrill, Maine * Merrill, Michigan *Merrill, Mississippi, an unincorporated community near Lucedale in George County *Merrill, Oregon *Merrill, W ...

moved into Lynch's room at the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

's boarding house while trying to find a place to live in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The two men shared their ideas of starting a brokerage, and became great friends. On October 15, 1914,

and Lynch started Merrill Lynch. Lynch was especially known for helping create, finance, and broker many large chain-stores in the United States, including S.S. Kresge Corporation (now

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

), J. C. Penney, and

Safeway Inc. Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...

Lynch also purchased the pioneering French movie company

Pathé Exchange Pathé Exchange, commonly known as Pathé, was an American film production and distribution company, largely of Hollywood's silent era. Known for its groundbreaking newsreel and wide array of shorts, it grew out of the American division of the m ...

in 1921, and later rebranded it to Keith-Orpheum ( RKO Pictures).

Predicting the 1929 Stock Market Crash

Edmund C. Lynch gained special notoriety when he foresaw the impending

Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...

, and advised Merrill Lynch's clients to sell many of their stock holdings in 1928. As many Americans were enjoying the soaring stock market in 1928, Lynch was convinced a disaster was near. His famous letter to all of Merrill Lynch's clients warned:

Now is the time to get out of debt. We think you should know that with a few exceptions all the larger companies financed by us today have no funded debt. This is not the result of luck but of carefully considered plans on the part of their managements and ourselves to place these companies in an impregnable position. The advice that we have given important corporations can be followed to advantage by all classes of investors. We do not urge you to sell securities indiscriminately, but we advise you in no uncertain terms that you take advantage of present high prices and put your own financial house in order. We recommend that you sell enough securities to lighten your obligations, or better yet, pay them entirely.

Lynch's concern for the bullish stock market was so strong that he went to the White House in 1928 and warned President Calvin Coolidge of his intuition. During his meeting with the President, Lynch famously even offered to make President Coolidge a partner of his firm, but the President turned down his offer. When later asked of his incredible foresight in 1933, Lynch told the ''New York Times'', "The lesson that I had learned--when stocks are too high they come down--stood me in good stead in 1928-29." It is estimated that Lynch's intuition saved his clients over $83 million (approx. $1.3B adjusted for inflation).

Personal life

Edmund Lynch married Signa Janney Fornaris in 1923 with whom he had three children: Vernon, Edmund Calvert Jr. (who later joined his father's firm), and Signa Janney. Vernon married Robert G. Merrill, whose father was Joseph Merrill. Vernon and Robert had six children: Lynn Gray, Gail Merrill, Edmund Merrill, Douglas Merrill, Signa Hermann, and Nina Merrill. They also have nine grandchildren: Kelli Merrill, Austen (Baron) Gray, Dustin Merrill, Lily Gray, Nick Merrill, Merrill Hermann, Taylor Ogan, Robert Hermann III, and Chase Merrill.

Death and legacy

He died in London, England while on business, on May 12, 1938. Upon his death, he bequeathed $59,000 to Johns Hopkins medical school in the name of his brother.''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', May 26, 1938

References

External links

Merrill Lynch Timeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Edmund C. 1885 births 1938 deaths American investment bankers Merrill (company) people Johns Hopkins University alumni