JP Morgan

The story of today's JPMorgan Chase begins not with one, but many predecessor institutions, the earliest tracing back to 1799. That year, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton were among the founders of The Manhattan Company, chartered to bring clean water to New York City. Burr, however, included a clause allowing surplus funds to be used for banking, and thus the Bank of the Manhattan Company was born. Separately, in 1871, John Pierpont (J.P.) Morgan, with his mentor Anthony Drexel, founded Drexel, Morgan & Co. This firm became J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1895 and was a dominant force in American finance, organizing massive industrial consolidations like the creation of U.S. Steel and General Electric. The firm's power was so immense that J.P. Morgan himself personally intervened to stabilize the American economy during the Panic of 1907. A century of evolution and regulation saw numerous mergers. The Bank of the Manhattan Company acquired Chase National Bank in 1955 to form The Chase Manhattan Bank. Another key player, Chemical Bank, founded in 1823 as a chemical manufacturer, merged with Chase Manhattan in 1996, keeping the Chase name. The capstone event occurred in 2000, when J.P. Morgan & Co. merged with the newly enlarged Chase Manhattan Corporation, creating the modern financial giant, JPMorgan Chase & Co. This was followed by the acquisition of Bank One in 2004, which brought current CEO Jamie Dimon into the company's leadership.