JP Morgan Entrepreneur Profile
John Pierpoint Morgan, described as a rational but cold-hearted man, was arguably the most prominent banker in history. More than once, he revived a depressed American economy; and he managed the US Steel organization: the world’s first billion dollar corporation in 1901.
This legendary man was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Junius Spencer Morgan, also a famous tycoon, and Juliet Pierpoint. He studied to become an accountant abroad, mainly in Germany, and after his studies he was able to find work at the New York City banking house of Duncan, Sherman & Company. After 3 years in New York with the banking house, he became an agent for his father’s London firm.
After his father’s death, Morgan was the sole beneficiary of his father’s company. He required a decent amount of leadership as many issues were left unattended when his father died. Morgan proved to be a punctual leader and reorganized his father’s firm, turning it into one of the most prominent banking firms in the country.
Morgan, interestingly, employed a full-time astrology. To become a millionaire you need luck, he said. To become a billionaire you need a good astrology. Morgan, through his father’s company, had strong financial links to the London financial market and was able to provide capital for growing American companies with British funds. With this, many of these companies he sponsored gave him substantial stakes in the company’s leadership, stock, and profits. In the early 1900s, Morgan controlled more than 5,000 miles of railroad track in the United States.
In its later years, journalists criticized JP Morgan’s influence in the country as it focused on buying or merging with other companies. Away from the checks and balances of the bank, Morgan was an avid sailor and won the America’s Cup with his boat, Colombia. With this, he was an art collector; many of his possessions have been donated or loaned by his family to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Finding JP Morgan was a very successful businessman.
