The origin of the American Metal Company (AMCO) begins with Metallgesellschaft AG of Germany, one of whose founders, Wilhelm Ralph Merton, tasked one of his cousins, Berthold Hochschild, to supervise its metal-trading business in the United States.

[1] He also expanded AMCO's activities into Mexico with investments in lead, silver, and zinc mining first as an agent for its parent Metallgesellschaft and later as a direct owner during World War I.

[1] Once the US entered the war, the country passed the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, which required German-owned business assets to be held by the Office of Alien Property Custodian.

[1] Despite Merton's efforts to hide Metallgesellschaft's ownership, Loeb reported to the agency that the assets were in reality still owned by their German parent, and the stock was then transferred into a trust supervised by Henry Morgenthau Sr., Berthold Hochschild, and Joseph F.

[1] In 1918, the Alien Property Custodian sold the 51% stake that it had confiscated at a public auction for $5.75 million, with many of the shares being purchased by a syndicate of investors including Ludwig Vogelstein (who had 20%), Berthold Hochschild, and Loeb.

[1] Unfortunately for Merton, the bribes were exposed, and the claim rejected (and President Harding's Attorney General Harry Daugherty was tried twice and acquitted twice for his alleged involvement while Alien Property Custodian Thomas W. Miller was convicted).

[3] In 1934, Harold K. Hochschild was elected president of AMCO,[4] and Otto Sussman succeeded the late Ludwig Vogelstein as chairman of the board.