John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913)[1] was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

[7][9] Junius soon became a senior partner at the rechristened Mather Morgan & Co.[10] In September 1851, he passed the entrance exam for The English High School of Boston, which specialized in mathematics for careers in commerce.

[16] Through his father's reputation and his position as the obvious successor to the Peabody house, he was quickly among the most sought-after young men on Wall Street and enjoyed the company of many of New York's leading citizens.

[16] At the time Morgan entered the firm, Peabody & Co. was struggling in the wake of the Panic of 1857, a rash of business failures which dramatically hurt investor confidence in American securities.

[14] The house's creditors, including Baring Brothers, demanded payment; Peabody defied them, daring his rivals to put him out of business, and turned to the Bank of England for a loan in November 1857.

[14] The loan secured the house's survival and the London office was stabilized, but Duncan Sherman came under criticism on Wall Street, and the Mercantile Agency recommended its dissolution.

"[14] While at Duncan Sherman, Morgan gained early experience in the financing and reorganization of railroads, including the major Ohio & Mississippi and Illinois Central lines, for which he personally negotiated the loans.

Most of his work involved collecting and transmitting interest and dividend payments, executing orders on the New York Stock Exchange, and conducting credit checks on mercantile houses doing business with Peabody & Co.[17][16] Starting in early January 1859, Morgan spent several months in the South to visit the firm's correspondents in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana and to improve his knowledge of the cotton trade.

[20] The Civil War radically altered Morgan's focus by virtually eliminating his cotton business and drastically reducing iron imports for American railroads in favor of securities and foreign exchange operations.

[21] The Morgans also expanded their trade in European securities during a period of industrial expansion, financed by a large deposit from W. W. Corcoran after he liquidated his American holdings out of sympathy for the Confederate cause.

In October 1863, he and Edward B. Ketchum transferred $1.15 million (equivalent to $22,355,000 in 2023) in gold to England, forcing a price spike and allowing both men to sell their holdings at a large profit.

Critics have long considered the deal a speculative effort to corner the American gold market and evidence of Morgan's insensitivity to the nation's financial situation, although the economic consequences were ultimately minor.

[24] The carbines in question were developed by John H. Hall and manufactured by Simeon North, purchased by the U.S. government, and resold to arms dealer Arthur M. Eastman for $3.50 apiece in June 1861 (equivalent to $119 in 2023).

After the Union defeat at Bull Run placed a premium on arms, Stevens used the Morgan loan to purchase the rifles from Eastman at $11.50 apiece and immediately resold them to Frémont, a longtime acquaintance, at $22 each.

"[24] Matthew Josephson, who popularized the term "robber baron", asserted that Morgan certainly did know of the scheme, because he had presented the government with a bill for $58,175 before he delivered the remaining rifles that were being held as collateral.

[31] Dabney Morgan traded globally in a variety of commodities, including iron rails, American cotton, Philippine tobacco, Brazilian coffee, and Peruvian guano.

Beginning on the advice of Levi P. Morton in 1865, J. P. Morgan secured an exclusive four-year contract with the Peruvian government to export guano, used in the production of fertilizer and gunpowder, at a two-and-a-half percent commission.

They formed Drexel Morgan & Co.[32] This new merchant banking partnership, based in New York, served as an agent for European investment in the United States and assumed the leading role in financing America's railroads and stabilizing and revitalizing American securities markets.

[35] Rather than participating solely as a financier, he actively managed and reorganized the railroad corporations, increasing efficiency[36] and acting as an early pioneer in the practice of private equity investing, a process that became known as "Morganization.

Almost as soon as the letter of agreement was signed Tesla decided to scale up the facility to include his ideas of terrestrial wireless power transmission to make what he thought was a more competitive system.

The parties ran into unexpected opposition from President Theodore Roosevelt, who considered the merger bad for consumers and a violation of the seldom enforced Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.

Morgan hoped to dominate transatlantic shipping through interlocking directorates and contractual arrangements with the railroads, but that proved impossible because of the unscheduled nature of sea transport, American antitrust legislation, and an agreement with the British government.

[citation needed] Morgan had booked a luxury suite with a private promenade deck on the RMS Titanic and scheduled to sail on the ill-fated maiden voyage of the ship, which was owned by an IMMC subsidiary, White Star Line, but those plans were later changed.

[61] A delicate issue arose regarding the brokerage firm of Moore and Schley, which was deeply invested in the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (TCI).

[61] While conservatives hailed Morgan for civic responsibility, strengthening the national economy, and devotion to the arts and religion, critics of banking and consolidation viewed him as one of the leading figures in the system they rejected.

[81] Morgan was appointed as one of the first laymen on the committee that created the 1892 revision of the Book of Common Prayer, where he petitioned for the creation of a special limited collectible printing that he later financed.

Morgan offered to acquire a 75-by-100-foot (23 by 30 m) plot on 44th Street in midtown Manhattan [90][91] if the NYYC raised its annual membership dues from $25 to $50 and the new clubhouse occupied the entire site.

[96] The well-known quote, "If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it" is commonly attributed to Morgan in response to a question about the cost of maintaining a yacht, although the story is unconfirmed.

[104] It is said in the newspaper on March 31, 1913, that Morgan fell ill to "a long sinking spell" which included symptoms of extreme weakness, nervousness after his realization of the inability to take in food due to a paralysis of the muscles in his throat; no other organic trouble was present.

[106] Flags on Wall Street flew at half-staff, and in an honor usually reserved for heads of state, the stock market closed for two hours when his body passed through New York City.