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banker John Pierpont 'J.P.' Morgan
[1837-1913]
 |
short profile |
"Gold is money. Everything else is credit." (in 1912)
"A man generally has two reasons for doing a thing. One that sounds good, and a real one."
"Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you'll be able to see farther."
"No problem can be solved until it is reduced to some simple form. The changing of a vague difficulty
into a specific, concrete form is a very essential element in thinking."
"If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it."
— John Pierpont Morgan
B I O
t e x t
h e r e
J.P. Morgan entry at Wikipedia
search books for keywords 'J.P. Morgan' {returns 300+ titles} at Amazon
J.P. Morgan's credits [since 1913] at Internet Movie Database
Legacy Companies
J.P.'s father’s firm, Peabody & Co. [1851-1890] in London, U.K.
Founded in 1851 by American merchant banker George Peabody [1795-1869]; took on Junius Spencer Morgan [1813-1890] as partner in 1854; Peabody retired in 1864 and demanded company name be changed, became J.S. Morgan & Co.; when Junius died in 1890, J.P. & other family owned 50%, and the name was changed to Morgan Grenfell & Co., honoring senior London partner Edward Charles Grenfell [1870-1941]; J.P. participated in the London business while also purchasing European art.
Morgan Grenfell & Co. [1890-1990]
Purchased in 1990 for $1.48B by Deutsche Bank; name changed to Deutsche Morgan Grenfell in 1995; fully merged in 1999.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan,_Grenfell_%26_Co.
investment bank Drexel, Morgan & Co. [1864-1893] in partnership with Anthony Drexel [1826-1893], a banker from Philadelphia.
J.P. Morgan and Co. [est. 1864, renamed 1893]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.P._Morgan_%26_Co.
J.P. was president of his bank from 1893 to 1913
JPMorgan Chase [merger 2000]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.P._Morgan_%26_Co.#JPMorgan_Chase
 | "Fool's Gold: How The Bold Dream of A Small Tribe At J.P. Morgan Was Corrupted By Wall Street Greed and Unleashed A Catastrophe" [2009] New York Times & Wall Street Journal bestseller by Gillian Tett Free Press 8½x6½ pb [4/2010] for $11.29 Abacus pb [5/2010] out of print/used Little, Brown export edition 9¼x6 pb [3/2009] - overpriced Free Press 9x6 hardcover [5/2009] for $23.90 "Gusha No O'gon: Daibo'so' o Unda Kin'yu' Gijutsu" Japanese-language edition [2009] Translated by Koji Hirao & Nami Hijikata Nihon Keizai Shinbun Shuppansha 7½x5½ tankoban pb [10/2009] for $61.44 "L'Or des Fous" French-language edition [2011] Kindle Edition from Jardin Des Livres [5/2015] for $9.99 Jardin Des Livres 9¼x5¾ pb [1/2013] for $25.16 |
Morgan Stanley [est. 9/1935, merger 1997]
split off from the J.P. Morgan bank due to enactment of Glass-Steagall
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Stanley
http://www.morganstanley.com/
General Electric [est. 1889, merger 1892]
banker Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Electric
Intl. Harvester [1902-1986]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Harvester
International Mercantile Marine Company [1902-1936] holding company that owned White Star Line [1845-1934]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mercantile_Marine
U.S. Steel was formed in 1901 by merger of Federal Steel and Carnegie Steel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Steel_Corporation
banker Morgan was involved in two dozen railroads, and directly owned or controlled the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad; Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad;
New York Central Railroad; New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railroad; Northern Pacific Railway; and the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad.
Colleagues
"Ambassador From Wall Street: The Story of Thomas W. Lamont, J.P. Morgan's Chief Executive" [Nov 24, 1993] by Edward M. Lamont
http://www.amazon.com/Ambassador-Wall-Street-Morgans-Executive/dp/1568330189/
librarian Belle da Costa Green [1879-1950]
short bio at The Morgan Library & Museum •
entry at Wikipedia
The Morgan Library & Museum [built 1902-1906], 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, in Manhattan, NYC
 | "The Personal Librarian: A Novel" New York Times bestseller [2021] by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray Tells the story of an extraordinary woman - birth name Belle Marion Greener, the daughter of the first Afro-American to graduate from Harvard - famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she wen to - for the protection of her family and of her legacy - to preserve her care-fully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lived. Kindle Edition from Berkley [6/2021] for $8.99 Berkley 8¼x5½ pb [6/2022] for $10.99 Berkley 9¼x6½ hardcover [6/2021] for $17.60 |
Movies, Stageplays, Other Media
J.P. Morgan's credits [since 1913] at Internet Movie Database
"Mutual Weekly, No. 3" newsreel [Gaumont/Mutual Jan 1913] /tt4344468/
"American Steel: Built to Last" [Jan 1998] /tt0853895/
season 4 episode 1 of "Modern Marvels" documentary TV series []
http://www.amazon.com/Mdrn-Mar-american-Steel-Buil/dp/B002KBG5GU/
http://www.amazon.com/History-Modern-Marvels-American-Steel/dp/B001CUAY80/
"J.P. Morgan: The Most Revealing Look At The American Financier" [1999] on "C-SPAN2 Books" cable series [since 1998]
lecture at the Morgan Library by Jean Strouse, author of "Morgan: American Financier" {see below}
watch full 1999 lecture [4/2016 upload; 1:05:37] online at YouTube
"The Napoleon of Wall Street: J.P. Morgan's Tumultuous Life" [1999] on "C-SPAN Booknotes" cable series [1989-2004]
Brian Lamb interviews Jean Strouse, author of "Morgan: American Financier" {see below}
watch full 1999 interview [3/2016 upload; 57:36] online at YouTube
 | "Money & Power" TV special [Showtime Networks March 2001] 2-hour TV documentary about some of the greatest innovators in the history of business Co-produced & directed by David Grubin; narrated by Jason Robards Jr.; featuring Cosimo de Medici, Henry Ford, Bill Gates (Microsoft), King Philip II, Henry Luce (Time, Inc.), J.P. Morgan, the Rockefellers, the Rothschilds, the XIIth Century monk St. Godric, the Warner Brothers, James Watt & Matthew Boulton, Robert Woodruff (Coca-Cola), and others VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • bare credits at IMDb |
 | "Money and Power: The History of Business" [2001] by Howard Means, Foreword by David Grubin based on the Showtime/CNBC documentary TV special Wiley 8¾x5½ pb [4/2002] out of print/40+ used Wiley 9¾x6½ hardcover [1/2001] out of print/60+ used |
"The American Experience: J.P. Morgan" [PBS Jan 2018]
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/1900/peopleevents/pande10.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/gilded-age-jp-morgan-financier/
Video for american experience jp morgan? 43:59
The story of the 19th century power broker who once controlled 70 percent of all steel and 60 percent of all stocks
"Suppressed Inventions [March 2019] /tt10584646/ Season 2 | Episode 11 of "Top 10 Secrets and Mysteries" documentary TV series [2016-2019]
first segment features Project Wardenclyffe, Nikola Tesla & J.P. Morgan
"True Story: JP Morgan - Finance Documentary" [2019]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEwenAjPtcc [43.58]
® ®
"J.P Morgan Saves The Nation" musical stageplay [2000] by Jeffrey M. Jones
http://www.amazon.com/Morgan-Saves-Nation-Moon-Classics/dp/1557132569/
After a resolution in 1912 introduced by Congressman Charles Lindbergh Sr. (the aviator's father) for a probe on Wall Street power, Congress formed a subcommittee
of the House Committee on Banking and Currency led by Congressman Arsène Pujo [1861-1939] of Louisiana to investigate the so-called 'money trust', a community of
Wall Street bankers and financiers that exerted powerful control over the nation's finances. Banker J.P. Morgan [1837-1913] was among those called to testify. The committee's
findings, over 1,000 pages released in 1913-1914, inspired public support for ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment that authorized a federal income tax, passage of
the Federal Reserve Act, and passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act.
full text of the committee report online at the St. Louis Fed
Wall Street quickly published the text of J.P. Morgan's Congressional testimony, calling it "The Justification of Wall Street".
Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [8/2016] for $2.95
online .PDF version of 55-page original at Library of Congress
Works About J.P. Morgan
search books for keywords 'J.P. Morgan' {returns 300+ titles} at Amazon
"Nineteen Nineteen" [1932], second volume of John Dos Passos' "U.S.A. Trilogy"
book is a literary biography of J.P. Morgan [1837-1913] used as an allegory for the financial environment in America after World War I.
 | "The Robber Barons: The Great American Capitalists, 1861-1901" [1934 classic] by Matthew Josephson Classic study of American capitalists who boldly seized economic power in America after the Civil War, including Carnegie, Frick, Gould, Morgan, Rockefeller & Vanderbilt Harcourt 8x5½ pb [6/62] for $12.75 Amereon 8¾x5¾ hardcover [6/40] for $34.95 |
"J. Pierpont Morgan: An Intimate Portrait, 1837-1913" [1939] by Herbert L. Satterlee
http://www.amazon.com/J-Pierpont-Morgan-Intimate-Portrait/dp/B00134TCYW
"Pierpont Morgan and Friends: The Anatomy of a Myth" [Prentice-Hall, 1973] by George Wheeler ISBN 0136761488
"J.P. Morgan" biography [11/1983] by Stanley Jackson
http://www.amazon.com/J-P-Morgan-Stanley-Jackson/dp/0812828240/
"The Morgans: Private International Bankers, 1854–1913" [Harvard Univ Press, 1987] by Vincent P. Carosso ISBN 978-0-674-58729-8
http://www.amazon.com/Morgans-Private-International-1854-1913-Business/dp/0674587294/
"J.P. Morgan: The Financier As Collector" [Harry N. Abrams, 1990] by Louis Auchincloss ISBN 0-8109-3610-0
"The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance" [1990] by Ron Chernow ISBN 0-8021-3829-2
http://www.amazon.com/House-Morgan-American-Banking-Dynasty/dp/0802144659/
"Morgan: American Financier" [1999] by Jean Stroude
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812987047/
JPMorganAmericanFinancierJS.jpg
"Masters of Enterprise: Giants of American Business from John Jacob Astor and J.P. Morgan to Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey" [1999] by H.W. Brands
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Enterprise-American-Business-Winfrey/dp/0684854732/
"J.P. Morgan: Banker to a Growing Nation" [Morgan Reynolds Publng, 2001] by Jeremy Bryman ISBN 1-883846-60-9, for middle schools
http://www.amazon.com/J-P-Morgan-Jeremy-Byman/dp/3922669476/
 | "Barons of Business: Their Lives and Lifestyles" [2002] by William G. Scheller Moguls on display (170 photos) include John Jacob Astor, Andrew Carnegie, Jim Clark, Walt Disney, George Eastman, Larry Ellison, Henry Clay Frick, Bill Gates, John Hancock, J.P. Morgan, Steven Spielberg, and Cornelius Vanderbilt Universe 13x11 hardcover [10/2002] out of print/used |
 | "The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan Invented The American Supereconomy" [2005] by Charles R. Morris Holt 8x5½ pb [10/2006] for $12.24 Times Books 9½x6¼ hardcover [9/2005] out of print/many used |
 | "The Money Men: Capitalism, Democracy, and The Hundred Years' War Over The American Dollar" [2006] by H.W. Brands featuring five key players in American financial history: Alexander Hamilton; Nicholas Biddle (versus President Andrew Jackson); Jay Cooke; Jay Gould; and J.P. Morgan Kindle Edition from W.W. Norton [11/2010] for $9.07 W.W. Norton 8x5½ pb [10/2007] for $9.55 W.W. Norton 8¼x5¾ hardcover [10/2006] out of print/50+ used |
 | "American Entrepreneur: The Fascinating Stories of The People Who Defined Business In The United States" [2009] by Larry Schweikart, PhD & Lynne Pierson Doti, PhD entrepreneur subjects include Warren Buffett, Asa Candler, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, W.K. Kellogg, Michael Milken, banker J.P. Morgan, J.C. Penney, Martha Stewart & Eli Whitney Amacom 9x6½ hardcover [9/2009] for $19.85 |
"J.P. Morgan's Way" [Pearson Education, 2010] by - retrieved September 21, 2015
"J.P. Morgan and the Transportation Kings: The Titanic and Other Disasters" [March 2012] by Steven H. Gittelman
http://www.amazon.com/J-P-Morgan-Transportation-Kings-Disasters-ebook/dp/B0087GZDP6/
"Pierpont Morgan: Banker" [3/2014] by The Morgan Library & Museum - retrieved May 4, 2020
"The Capitalist and the Critic: J.P. Morgan, Roger Fry, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art" [3/2016] by Charles Molesworth
http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Molesworth/dp/1477308407/
Image Gallery
Family & Friends
father Junius Spencer Morgan [1813-1890]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_family#Junius_Spencer_Morgan_Branch
mother Juliet Pierpont Morgan [1816-1884]
son John Pierpont Morgan was born in 1837 in Hartford, Connecticut
sister Sarah Spencer Morgan (1839-1896) m. George Hale Morgan (1840-1911)
nephew Junius Spencer Morgan II (1867-1932)[27] m. Josephine Adams Perry (1869-1963) - was a profl art scholar
neice Sarah Spencer Morgan (1893-1949) m. Henry B. Gardner (1891-1932)
neice Alexander Perry Morgan (1900-1968) m. Janet Croll (1901-1985)
sister Mary Lyman Morgan (1844-1919) m. Walter Hayes Burns (1838-1897)
brother Junius Spencer Morgan, Jr. [1846-1858] - died at age 11
sister Juliet Pierpont Morgan (1847-1923)
nephew John Junius Morgan (d. 1952)
first wife Amelia 'Mimi' Sturges Morgan [?-1862] - married 10/1861, died of TB 2/1862 in Italy
second wife Francis Louisa 'Fanny' Tracy Morgan [] - married 1864
oldest daughter Louisa Pierpont Morgan Satterlee [1866-1946] - married 11/1900
son-in-law & friend Herbert Livingston Satterlee [1863-1947]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_L._Satterlee
granddaughter Mabel Morgan Satterlee Ingalls [1901-1993] - married Francis Abbott Ingalls II [1895-1978], brother of aviator Laura Ingalls, in 1925.
granddaughter Eleanor Morgan Satterlee Gibbs [1905-1951 - married Milo Sargent Gibbs [1892-1984] in 1929.
son J.P. 'Jack' Morgan Jr. [1867-1943]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._Morgan_Jr.#Social
"J.P. Morgan Jr., 1867-1943" biography [1981] by John Douglas Forbes
http://www.amazon.com/J-P-Morgan-1867-1943-John-Douglas-Forbes/dp/0813908892/
daughter Juliet Pierpont Morgan Hamilton [1870-1952], married William Pierson Hamilton [1869-1950]
daughter Anne Tracy Morgan (1873-1952), philanthropist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Morgan_(philanthropist)
long-term relationship with visionary Nikola Tesla [1856-1943]
longtime partner Bessie Marbury
longtime partner Dr. Anne Murray Dike [1878-1929] joined Anne Morgan in France in 1917 at an estate in Blérancourt.
mistresses
mistress Mrs. Adelaide Douglas [1853-1935]
J.P. hired Horace Trumbauer in 1909 to design and build a house for her on Park Avenue between 37 and 38th Streets.
Trumbauer created a six story, 25-foot-wide mansion of limestone and granite in the style of 18th Century France.
not to be confused with Judge J.P. Morgan
Missouri Courts - State of Missouri http://www.courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=121114
L i n k s
J.P. Morgan entry at Wikipedia
J.P. Morgan's credits [since 1913] at Internet Movie Database
"J. Pierpont Morgan" on the Federal Reserve History website
http://www.federalreservehistory.org/people/j_pierpont_morgan
Residences & Properties
London residence at #13 Princess Gate
rental near Union Square circa 1860 at 45 West 17th Street
6 East 40th Street in 1879
purchased brownstone at Madison Avenue & 36th Street in 1880, renovated it, moved in in 1882
The Morgan Library & Museum [built for $1.2M 1902-1906], 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, in Manhattan, NYC
1999 video says 29 East 36th Street
Summer home in Greenwich
country estate, 'Cragston' in Highland Falls, near West Point.
yacht Corsair I - built by William Cramp and Sons for Charles J. Osborn and bought by J. P. Morgan in 1882
yacht Corsair II - built for J. P. Morgan in 1891, which served as USS Gloucester during the Spanish–American War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gloucester_(1891)
yacht Corsair III - built in 1898 for J. P. Morgan, served the US Navy in World Wars I and II, in the latter as USS Oceanographer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Oceanographer_(AGS-3)
yacht Corsair IV - built for J.P. Morgan Jr. in 1930, the largest built in the United States
here on the John Pierpont 'J.P.' Morgan [1837-1913] Page at Spirit of America Bookstore
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