[21][13] The floors at the six-story base cover the entire L-shaped lot, while the 7th through 35th stories (making up the middle section) are shaped in a "U", with two wings of different lengths facing west.

[13] On the Wall Street side, the first floor originally had a central entryway with three bronze-and-glass doors, flanked by numerous entrances to the elevator lobby and the lower banking room.

[41] Like other early-20th-century skyscrapers in the Financial District, the lobby of 40 Wall Street originally was designed with classical elements such as moldings, pilasters, columns, and heavy doorframes.

According to Architecture and Building magazine, the executive offices' furnishings were intended as a "pleasingly striking contrast to the modern severity of the usual treatment of financial district structures".

[59] The pneumatic-tube system delivered mail to and from terminals on the building's mezzanine, precluding the need for messengers to use the elevators or overcrowd the lobby.

[65][66][69] The idea for the current skyscraper was devised by banker George L. Ohrstrom,[70][71][72] who began acquiring land for the building in 1928[65] under the auspices of 36 Wall Street Corporation.

[11][90] The builders intended to spend large sums to reduce the construction period to one year, which would allow rental tenants to move into the building sooner.

[4][92] The "Race into the Sky", as popular media called it at the time, was representative of the country's optimism in the 1920s, fueled by the building boom in major cities.

[65] In June 1929, the government announced that the 40 Wall Street Corporation had placed the highest bid for the lot, bringing the syndicate's total land holding to 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2).

"[125][126] Prior to 40 Wall Street's completion, architect William Van Alen obtained permission to install a 125-foot (38 m) long spire on the Chrysler Building[127][128] and had it constructed secretly.

[131] Disturbed by Chrysler's victory, Shreve & Lamb wrote a newspaper article claiming that their building was the tallest, since it contained the world's highest usable floor.

[167][168] At the time, 40 Wall Street's office space was renting for $4.22 per square foot ($45.4/m2), a relatively high price for a building constructed before air conditioning became popular.

[168] On the evening of May 20, 1946, a Beechcraft C-45F Expediter airplane belonging to the United States Army Air Forces crashed into 40 Wall Street's northern facade.

[146] This crash was the second in New York City in less than a year; an Army B-25 bomber struck the 78th floor of the Empire State Building in July 1945, also caused by fog and poor visibility.

[194] Webb & Knapp had spent $32 million to acquire the building;[28] excluding the auction, the remainder of the cost was used to pay Chase and the Iselin estate.

The other two owners conveyed their combined 20 percent stake to an entity named New Scandic Wall Ltd.[209][210] At the end of 1982, Loeb, Rhoades & Co. sold the leasehold to a holding company;[211] the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda would be revealed as the real buyers in 1985.

[216] In coded cables between the Marcos family and their alleged "front" in Manhattan, Gliceria Tantoco, the 40 Wall Street building was referred to using the secret code-word "Bridgetown".

[225][226] The Bernsteins alleged that they paid $235 million for 40 Wall Street, Herald Center, and the Crown Building,[227][228] but the Philippine government claimed that the sale was never finalized.

[227][228] Khashoggi was subsequently accused of helping the Marcoses hide their stakes in their buildings,[231] although he was acquitted of all racketeering charges in relation to the properties.

[227][235] Federal district court judge Pierre N. Leval ordered a foreclosure sale of the Marcos properties in August 1989;[236][237] the Bailey group hoped that Citigroup would name them as the preferred bidders.

[223][248] The building's maintenance had declined to the point that tenants reported that they frequently waited 20 minutes for an elevator,[249] and many interior spaces had been stripped to the steel frame.

[248] American International Group attempted to acquire Citicorp's stake in the building for $6.5 million, but the negotiations failed in November 1992, in what Crain's New York magazine described as a "collapse of downtown real estate".

[234] In July 1995, real estate developer Donald Trump signed a letter of intent to buy Kinson's lease and spend $100 million on renovations.

[262][265][266] Der Scutt Architects renovated the lobby,[4] and the Trump Organization replaced several hundred windows, refurbished 30 elevator cabs, and added lights to illuminate the roof.

[257] The plan was contingent on the passage of a state law in late 1995, which granted tax exemptions to developers who renovated office buildings in New York into residential and commercial space.

[266][273] Several large tenants, such as American Express, CNA Financial Corporation, Bear Stearns, Nomura Holdings, Country-Wide Insurance Company, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and Union Bank of California, had moved into 40 Wall Street after its renovation.

[284] Following a January 2024 ruling in which the Trump Organization was found liable for civil fraud, New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office was prepared to seize the building if he could not pay a judgment of approximately $355 million.

[75][292] Two years later, W. Parker Chase wrote that "no building ever constructed more thoroughly typifies the American spirit of hustle than does this extraordinary structure".

[295] Eric Nash wrote in his book Manhattan Skyscrapers that 40 Wall Street's impact was blunted by its location in the middle of the block, "surrealistically situated next to the mighty Greek Revival Federal Hall National Memorial".

The AIA Guide to New York City does not even mention the singular ambition, pursued with almost reckless abandon, that forged its construction: to be the world's tallest building.