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Anthony DrexelAmerican banker
Date of Birth: 13.09.1826
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Anthony Drexel
Early Life and CareerAnthony Drexel was born on September 13, 1826, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He came from a family of bankers, with both his brothers, Francis Anthony Drexel and Joseph William Drexel, also being prominent figures in the banking industry. His niece, Katharine Mary Drexel, went on to become a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Anthony married Ellen B. Rozet, and together they had nine children.
At the age of thirteen, Anthony began working at his father's bank, Francis Martin Drexel, which had been founded three years prior. In 1847, he became an employee of 'Drexel & Company,' the predecessor to 'Drexel Burnham Lambert.'
Banking Career
After his father's death in 1863, Anthony closed the Chicago branch of 'Drexel & Company' and transformed the New York branch, 'Read, Drexel & Co.,' into a new banking firm called 'Drexel Winthrop.' In 1867, Anthony, along with his partners John H. Harjes and Eugene Winthrop, established the Paris-based firm 'Drexel, Harjes & Co.' to cater to the European market.
In 1871, at the request of Junius Spencer Morgan, Anthony became the mentor to his son, John Pierpont Morgan, and together they founded a new partnership in New York called 'Drexel, Morgan & Co.' This banking organization played a pivotal role in financing the construction of the American railway system and stabilizing the chaotic securities market on Wall Street. It helped establish a national capital market for industrial enterprises.
During times of economic crisis, 'Drexel Morgan' provided financial support to the United States Army when Congress refused to do so in 1877. They also aided the U.S. government during the panic of 1895 and saved the New York Stock Exchange during the panic of 1907.
Legacy and Later Years
With the establishment of 'Drexel, Morgan & Co.,' the foreign partnership 'Drexel Harjes' became the French branch of an international banking firm with offices in London, Philadelphia, New York, and Paris. This firm eventually changed its name to 'J.P. Morgan & Co.' after Anthony's death.
Anthony Drexel passed away on June 30, 1893, from a heart attack in Karlsbad, a resort town in Bohemia, which was then part of the Austrian Empire. His body was returned to Philadelphia, where he was laid to rest.
Following Drexel's death, 'Drexel, Morgan & Co.' was renamed 'J.P. Morgan & Co.,' which eventually evolved into 'JPMorgan Chase & Co.,' one of the world's largest and oldest financial conglomerates. In 1901, the bank financed the creation of the 'United States Steel Corporation,' the world's first billion-dollar corporation, which consolidated enterprises owned by Andrew Carnegie and others.
