J.P. Morgan was a highly successful American businessman and financier who died with an estimated net worth between $25 billion and $45 billion when he passed away in 1913.
J.p.Morgan was best known for his many achievements, and the variation in his net worth is largely due to the value of his real estate portfolio and art collection.
When he died, he left behind a fortune of $68.3 million, half of which was attributable to his share in two banks. If he were alive today, that money would be the same as $1.39 billion if calculated using the CPI, which would be worth the same as $25 billion if calculated using the share of gross domestic product.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | John Pierpoint Morgan |
| Net Worth | $25 Billion |
| Date of Birth | Apr 17, 1837 – Mar 31, 1913 |
| Gender | Male |
| Profession | Banker, Financier, Businessperson |
| Nationality | United States of America |
Early Life
John Pierpoint Morgan was born on April 17th, 1837, in Hartford in Connecticut. His father, Junius Spencer Morgan, was from the influential Morgan family. He attended the English High School of Boston, a renowned commerce school where he received his education.
John received his education from the English High School of Boston as well as a renowned commerce school in Switzerland. He then studied French and German at different schools and graduated from Gottingen University.
Personal Life
In 1861, James Pierpont Morgan married Amelia Sturges known as Mimi. After her death in 1866, he married Frances Louisa Tracy known as Fanny. James Pierpont Morgan and Fanny had four children: Louisa Pierpont Morgan, J. P. Morgan Jr., Juliet Pierpont Morgan, and Anna Tracy Morgan. J.P. suffered from rosacea and rhinophyma at the nose due to this.
Morgan was self-conscious about his appearance and disliked being photographed for the press. He was consistently a member of the Episcopal Church his entire life.
Career
Early on, Morgan started working for his father’s company, Peabody, Morgan & Co., which was founded by George Peabody in London in 1857.
After only one year, Morgan moved to New York City and began working for another banking company, Duncan, Sherman & Company. At this point, his father’s company had merged with another company and became part of the Duncan, Sherman & Company banking group.In 1864, Peabody retired, and Morgan’s father’s company was renamed from Peabody, Morgan & Co. to J. S. Morgan & Co.. In this same year, he avoided having to serve in the military by paying a substitute $300 to take his place.
Morgan teamed up with the Drexel family to form a partnership in 1871. Even after Anthony Drexel passed away, the firm was renamed J. P. Morgan & Company in 1895.
J. S. Morgan & Company, as well as other leading firms like Drexel & Company of Philadelphia and Morgan, Harjes & Company of Paris, enjoyed close ties with the young banker.
He devoted time to reorganizing and consolidating the firms under his control, as well as expanding their power. Eventually, by 1900, he had created one of the most powerful banking companies in the world.
He bought businesses that were struggling financially and then restructured them so they could become profitable. This process was sometimes referred to as “Morganization.”
With his relationships in the banking and finance industry, he would use his reputation to raise money for these businesses. He focused much of his attention on the American railroad industry.
President Lincoln is known for reorganizing the railroad systems to make them more efficient. His efforts included taking over many railroads, including the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad, Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, and the Chesapeake & Ohio.
He set up conferences in 1889 and 1890 for railroad presidents to write agreements relating to maintenance, rate setting, and sharing revenue.
After his father’s death in 1890, Morgan took control of the company J. S. Morgan & Co. It was renamed Morgan, Grenfell & Company in 1910. he negotiated a deal with the president of Carnegie Co., Charles M. Schwab, and businessman Andrew Carnegie to buy Carnegie’s business.
Carnegie consolidated several steel and iron businesses to form the massive industrial firm that would later be called the United States Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel). U.S. Steel had an authorized capitalization of $1.4 billion, making it the first company in the world to reach a billion dollars in sales and assets.
J.P. Morgan & Company wrote securities for more than 40 different major corporations in the 1800s through 1913.
Some of the top corporations that have faced bankruptcy over the last few decades include American Telephone & Telegraph, International Mercantile Marine Company (the owners of the White Star Line, which owned and operated the ill-fated RMS Titanic), General Electric, Federal Steel Company, and United States Steel Corporation.
Clumsy Ventures
Morgan was no exception. The occasional poor investment is nothing new for successful businessmen, and Morgan was no exception.
When he was much younger, one of his more notable bad investments involved giving inventor Nikola Tesla $150,000 (the equivalent of $4.609 million in 2019) to build a trans-Atlantic wireless communication system. In exchange for 51% control of the patents, he received $150,000.
Morgan treated Tesla’s changes as a breach of contract. Morgan refused to fund the changes that Tesla made, which ultimately led to the project never became operational. Finally, the project was abandoned.
Even in 1902, Morgan was well-respected and a successful businessman, with his railroad lines being immensely popular. When he proposed building a subway line in London, his competitor, the transit magnate Yerkes, blocked him from proceeding.
Death
On March 31, 1913, Morgan passed away in his sleep at the Grand Hotel Plaza in Rome, Italy, when he was traveling through Europe. He is buried in the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut, the town where he was born.
