American banker and financier.
Born April 17, 1837, in Hartford, Connecticut, John Pierpont (J. P.) Morgan grew up in a wealthy family. His father controlled J. S. Morgan and Company, an international banking
enterprise that invested British funds in the United States and
that provided a $50 million loan to the French government
during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871). As a young
man, J. P. Morgan studied in Europe before working for Duncan, Sherman and Company, a New York banking firm. In
1860 he became his father’s agent in London. In 1869, the
younger Morgan took on Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, gaining control over their Albany and Susquehanna Railroad. From there,
Morgan targeted the railroad monopoly of Jay Cooke, who received funds from the United States government for the construction of his railways. Morgan’s mastery of reorganization
allowed him to consolidate control of the railroads and, in
1901, of the U.S. Steel Corporation. By 1890 Morgan had assumed control over the family business after his father’s death.
His accumulation of wealth on such an unprecedented
scale made Morgan the banker of last resort for the federal
government. In 1895 and in 1907, Morgan provided loans to
the United States, for which he was widely criticized because
of the profit he gained from the transactions. During the
trust-busting activity of the Progressive Era at the beginning
of the twentieth century, Congress investigated the money
trust (bankers who controlled the financial markets), targeting Morgan personally. In addition to his business activities,
Morgan also engaged in philanthropy through donations designed to benefit the public and supported civic organizations. He also actively promoted the rights of women during
his lifetime. He died March 31, 1913, leaving his extensive library and art collection to the people of New York. The items
are housed in the Pierpont Morgan Library.
—Cynthia Clark Northrup
References
Forbes, John Douglas. J. P. Morgan, Jr., 1867–1943.
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1981.