John Pierpont Morgan Jr. (September 7, 1867 – March 13, 1943) was an American banker, finance executive, and philanthropist. He inherited the family fortune and took over the business interests including
J.P. Morgan & Co. after his father
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
died in 1913.
After graduating from
St. Paul's School and
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
, Morgan trained as a finance executive working for his father and grandfather. He became a banking financier, a lending leader, and a director of several companies. He supported New York's
Society for the Lying-In Hospital, the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
, the
Episcopal Church, and endowed the creation of a rare book and manuscript collection at the
Morgan Library
The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th S ...
.
Morgan brokered a deal that positioned his company as the sole munitions and supplies purchaser during
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 ...
for the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
and
French governments, bringing his company a 1% commission on $3 billion ($30 million). He was also a banking broker for financing to foreign governments both during and after the war.
Early life
John Pierpont Morgan Jr, nicknamed Jack, was born on September 7, 1867, in
Irvington, New York
Irvington, sometimes known as Irvington-on-Hudson,Staff (ndg"The Irvington Gazette (Irvington-On-Hudson, N.Y.) 1907-1969"Library of Congress is a suburban village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is loca ...
, to
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
and Frances Louisa Tracy. He graduated from
St. Paul's School, and later in 1886 from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
, where he was a member of the Delphic Club, formerly known as the
Delta Phi
Delta Phi () is a fraternity founded in 1827 at Union College in Schenectady, New York consisting of ten active chapters along the East Coast of the United States. The fraternity also uses the names "St. Elmo," "St. Elmo Hall," or merely "Elmo" ...
.
His siblings included Louisa Pierpont Morgan (1866–1946), who married
Herbert L. Satterlee
Herbert Livingston Satterlee (October 31, 1863 – July 14, 1947) was an American lawyer, writer, and businessman who served as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1908 to 1909.
Early life
Herbert Livingston Satterlee was born in New York Cit ...
(1863–1947), Juliet Pierpont Morgan (1870–1952) who married William Pierson Hamilton (1869–1950), and
Anne Tracy Morgan (1873–1952), a philanthropist. His paternal grandparents were
Junius Spencer Morgan
Junius Spencer Morgan I (April 14, 1813 – April 8, 1890) was an American banker and financier, as well as the father of John Pierpont "J.P." Morgan and patriarch to the Morgan banking house.
In 1864, he established J. S. Morgan & Co. in L ...
(1813–1890)
and Juliet Pierpont (1816–1884), the daughter of
John Pierpont
John Pierpont (April 6, 1785 – August 27, 1866) was an American poet, who was also successively a teacher, lawyer, merchant, and Unitarian minister. His poem '' The Airs of Palestine'' made him one of the best-known poets in the U.S. in his da ...
.
Career
![J](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/J.P._Morgan_and_J.P._Morgan_Jr.png)
The younger Morgan resembled his father in his dislike for publicity and continued his father's
philanthropic
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
policy. In 1905, his father acquired the Guaranty Trust bank as part of his efforts to consolidate banking in New York City. After his father died in 1913, the bank became Jack's base.
World War I
Morgan played a prominent part in financing
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 ...
. Following its outbreak, he made the first loan of $12,000,000 to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. In 1915, a loan of $500,000,000 was made to France and Britain following negotiations by the
Anglo-French Financial Commission
The Anglo-French Financial Commission was a special delegation to the United States from the governments of the United Kingdom and France in 1915 during the First World War. The Commission, led by Lord Reading, secured the single largest loan from ...
. The firm's involvement with British and French interests fueled charges the bank was conspiring to maneuver the United States into supporting the Allies in order to rescue its loans. By 1915, when it became apparent the war was not going to end quickly, the company decided to forge formal relationships with France. Those dealings became strained over the course of the war as a result of poor personal relations with French emissaries, relationships that were heightened in importance by the unexpected duration of the conflict, its costs, and the complications flowing from American neutrality. Contributing to the tensions was the favoritism displayed by Morgan officials to British interests. His personal friendship with
Cecil Spring Rice
Sir Cecil Arthur Spring Rice, (27 February 1859 – 14 February 1918) was a British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1912 to 1918, as which he was responsible for the organisation of British efforts to end A ...
ensured that from 1915 until sometime after the United States entered the war, his firm was the official purchasing agent for the British government, buying cotton, steel, chemicals and food, receiving a 1% commission on all purchases.
Morgan organized a syndicate of about 2200 banks and floated a loan of $500,000,000 to the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
. The British sold off their holdings of American securities and by late 1916 were dependent on unsecured loans for further purchases.
At the beginning of World War I,
US Treasury Secretary
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
William McAdoo and others in the Wilson administration were very suspicious of J. P. Morgan & Co.'s enthusiastic role as British agent for purchasing and banking. When the United States entered the war, this gave way to close collaboration, in the course of which Morgan received financial concessions. From 1914 to 1919, he was a member of the advisory council for the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the State of New York, the 12 northern counties of New ...
.
[
On July 3, 1915, an assassin, ]Eric Muenter
Eric Muenter (March 25, 1871 – July 6, 1915), also known as Erich Münter, Erich Muenter, Erich Holt or Frank Holt, was a German-American activist and would-be assassin. Although employed as a German professor at elite American universitie ...
, entered Morgan's Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
mansion and shot him twice. This was ostensibly to bring about an embargo on arms, and in protest of his profiteering from war. Morgan, however, quickly recovered from his wounds.
Postwar
After World War I and the Versailles Treaty, Morgan Guaranty managed Germany's reparation payments. After the war, Morgan made several trips to Europe to investigate and report on financial conditions there. In 1919 he was for a time chairman of the international committee, composed of American, British and French bankers, for the protection of the holders of Mexican securities. In November 1919, he was made a director of the Foreign Finance Corporation, which was organized to engage in the investment of funds chiefly in foreign enterprises. By the 1920s, Morgan Guaranty had become one of the world's most important banking institutions, as a leading lender to Germany and Europe.[ During the Great Depression he took heavy financial losses. The assets of the House of Morgan fell 40% from $704 million to $425 million. American banking came under heavy attack. Morgan personified banking, and drew attacks from politicians, especially in the U.S. Senate's Pecora hearings of 1932, which "created a tidal wave of anger against Wall Street".
He was a director in numerous corporations, including the ]U.S. Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...
Corp., the Pullman Co., the Aetna Insurance Co., and the Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...
Co.[
He died of a stroke on March 13, 1943, in ]Boca Grande, Florida
Boca Grande is a small residential community on Gasparilla Island in southwest Florida. Gasparilla Island is a part of both Charlotte and Lee counties, while the actual village of Boca Grande, which is home to many seasonal and some year-rou ...
, and was interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut.
Personal life
In 1890, Morgan married Jane Norton Grew (1868–1925), daughter of Boston banker and mill owner Henry Sturgis Grew. She was the aunt of Henry Grew Crosby. The couple raised four children:
* Junius Spencer Morgan III
Junius Spencer Morgan III (March 15, 1892 – October 19, 1960) was an American banker and a director of the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company.
Early life
Junius Spencer Morgan III was born on March 15, 1892, to Jane Norton Grew and Jack Morga ...
(1892–1960), who married Louise Converse (1895–1974), daughter of Frederick Shepherd Converse, in 1915.
* Jane Norton Morgan Nichols (1893–1981), who married George Nichols (1878–1950).
* Frances Tracy Pennoyer (1897–1989), who married Paul Geddes Pennoyer (1890–1970), a lawyer, in 1917.
* Henry Sturgis Morgan
Henry Sturgis Morgan Sr. (October 24, 1900 – February 8, 1982) was an American banker, known for being the co-founder of Morgan Stanley and the president and chairman of the Morgan Library & Museum.
Early life and education
Morgan was b ...
(1900–1982), a founding partner of Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
who married Catherine Lovering Adams (1902–1988), daughter of Charles Francis Adams III
Charles Francis Adams III (August 2, 1866 – June 10, 1954) was an American lawyer and politician, who served as the 44th United States Secretary of the Navy under President Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933. He was skipper of the Resolute which ...
, descendants of the 2nd U.S. President, John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
.
Philanthropy
In 1920, Morgan gave his London residence, 14 Princes Gate (near Imperial College London), to the U.S. government for use as its embassy.
In 1924, Morgan created the Pierpont Morgan Library
The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th ...
as a public institution as a memorial to his father. Belle da Costa Greene
Belle da Costa Greene (November 26, 1879 – May 10, 1950) was an American librarian best known for managing and developing the personal library of J. P. Morgan. After Morgan's death in 1913, Greene continued as librarian for his son, Jack ...
, Morgan's personal librarian, became the first director and continued the aggressive acquisition and expansion of the collections of illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...
s, authors' original manuscripts, incunabula
In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...
, prints, and drawings, early printed Bibles, and many examples of fine bookbinding
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...
. Today the library is a complex of buildings which serve as a museum and scholarly research center.
Morgan donated many valuable works to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
.
Social
A yachtsman, like his father, Morgan served as commodore of the New York Yacht Club
The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...
from 1919 to 1921. In 1930, he built the turbo electric driven yacht ''Corsair IV'' at Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest de ...
in Maine.
Corsair IV
', launched April 10, 1930, was one of the most opulent yachts of its day and the largest built in the United States with an overall length of , beam and . Legend at the shipyard credits the phrase "If you have to ask, you can't afford it" to Morgan, when asked what the yacht cost. However, this quote is most often attributed to his father in connection with the yacht ''Corsair'', launched in 1891. Morgan sold the ''Corsair IV'' to the British Admiralty in 1940 for one dollar to assist with Britain's war effort. After the war the ''Corsair IV'' was sold to Pacific Cruise Lines and, on September 29, 1947, began service as a luxury cruise ship operating between Long Beach, California and Acapulco, Mexico. On November 12, 1949 the yacht struck a rock near the beach in Acapulco and, although all passengers and crew were rescued, was deemed a total loss.
Morgan was a member of the Jekyll Island Club
The Jekyll Island Club was a private club on Jekyll Island, on Georgia's Atlantic coast. It was founded in 1886 when members of an incorporated hunting and recreational club purchased the island for $125,000 (about $3.1 million in 2017) from John E ...
(a.k.a. "The Millionaires' Club") on Jekyll Island, Georgia
Jekyll Island is located off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, in Glynn County. It is one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrier islands. The island is owned by the State of Georgia and run by a self-sustaining, s ...
, as had been his father J. P. Morgan Sr.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
* De Long, J. Bradford. "J.P. Morgan and his money trust." ''Wilson Quarterly'' 16.4 (1992): 16-3
online
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, J. P. Jr.
1867 births
1943 deaths
American bankers
American people of Welsh descent
American people of World War I
Harvard College alumni
House of Morgan
JPMorgan Chase employees
Morgan family
People from Murray Hill, Manhattan
Philanthropists from New York (state)
Old Right (United States)
People from Irvington, New York
St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni