White, Weld & Co. is a privately held global financial services firm engaged in asset management, investment advisory, investment banking and other capital market activities. Relaunched in 2012, the business is headquartered in Chicago. Previously, White, Weld & Co. was a Boston-based

investment bank Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing is ...

, historically managed by Boston Brahmins until its sale to

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

in 1978. The Weld family name can be traced back to the founding of Massachusetts in the 1630s.

History

White, Weld & Co. was founded in Boston in the nineteenth century, originally to finance overseas trade. In 1929 it managed Airstocks, a short-lived venture but important because it was an early financial concern exclusively pertaining to airlines and aviation. It developed into a small, well-connected New York investment bank by the twentieth century and a bastion of the

WASP A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

establishment. For example, George Herbert Walker Jr., uncle of the first President Bush, became an executive of White, Weld when his firm G. H. Walker & Co. was bought by them in the early 1970s. Paul Hallingby was CEO, Nigel S. MacEwan was President, and Charles J. Fuhrmann II, Steve Hammerman, Harold Janeway, Charles C. Lee, Roberts W. Brokaw III, and George G. Montgomery Jr. were Senior Vice Presidents when the company was sold to

. As stock markets became more retail-oriented and investment banking became more capital intensive, the firm decided it could not compete and put itself up for sale. One of the firm's most prominent transactions in its final period was the IPO of

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

in 1970 with Stephens Inc.

Relationship with Credit Suisse

One of its most successful ventures was an international investment banking partnership founded in 1970 by Robert L. Genillard as a Managing Partner of White, Weld & Co, with

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...

, called ''Société Anonyme du Credit Suisse et de White Weld'' – or Credit Suisse White Weld.

Sir John Craven Sir John Anthony Craven (23 October 1940 – 30 March 2022) was a British financier who was chairman of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group plc, and a director of Deutsche Bank and Reuters. Early life Craven was born in Leominster on 23 October 194 ...

, later head of

Morgan Grenfell Morgan, Grenfell & Co. was a leading London-based investment bank regarded as one of the oldest and once most influential British merchant banks. It had its origins in a merchant banking business commenced by George Peabody. Junius Spencer Morgan ...

, led Credit Suisse White Weld from 1975 to 1978. Furthermore, Oswald Gruebel, Credit Suisse chief from 2004 to 2007, began his career in 1970 at Credit Suisse White Weld. When White Weld was purchased by

, it left the partnership with Credit Suisse and was replaced by

First Boston : ''For the company after its acquisition by Credit Suisse, see Credit Suisse First Boston (known as CSFB and CS First Boston)'' The First Boston Corporation was a New York-based bulge bracket investment bank, founded in 1932 and acquired by Cr ...

thus creating the

Credit Suisse First Boston Credit Suisse First Boston (also known as CSFB and CS First Boston) is the investment banking affiliate of Credit Suisse headquartered in New York. The company was created by the merger of First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse Group in 1988 ...

business in London. The Swiss private banking division of White Weld, founded in 1954 as White Weld & Co. AG, became

Clariden Leu Clariden Leu was a Swiss private bank based in Zurich and Geneva Switzerland founded in 2007 by Clariden president Alex Hoffmann and Credit Suisse Group. Until 2007 it was operating as Clariden Bank an independent Private Bank belonging both ...

References

White, Weld & Co.

Clariden, "About Us" {{DEFAULTSORT:White Weld and Co. Merrill (company) Investment banks in the United States Companies based in Boston Companies based in Chicago American companies established in 1895 Financial services companies established in 1895 Financial services companies disestablished in 1978 American companies established in 2012 Financial services companies established in 2012 1895 establishments in Massachusetts 1978 disestablishments in Massachusetts 2012 establishments in Illinois Re-established companies