Inspirational Quotes by J. P. Morgan (American Financier, Philanthropist)

John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (1837–1913) was an American financier, art collector, and philanthropist. He was one of the world’s leading financial celebrities during the two pre-World War I decades. He helped build a credit bridge between Europe and America, and fiscally rescued the United States government twice. He also reorganized several major railroads and consolidated the United States Steel, International Harvester, and General Electric corporations.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, John Pierpont was the son of financier Junius Spencer Morgan. John Pierpont studied abroad, and after working in a New York City banking house became the New York agent and then sole manager for J. S. Morgan & Company.

Morgan rapidly established a dominant presence in international finance. He developed a railroad empire, financed manufacturing and mining, controlled banks, insurance companies, shipping lines, and communications systems. In 1901, he established U.S. Steel, the world’s first billion-dollar corporation.

Many of Morgan’s commercial ventures, including gold speculation during the Civil War, the sale of obsolete carbines to the Union, and his lending practices and financial dominance during the panics of 1895 and 1897, provoked controversy.

In April 1912, Morgan was booked on the maiden voyage of the British passenger liner Titanic but was forced to cancel, allegedly because of sickness. The ship sank with a significant loss of life.

An avid sportsman, yachtsman, and art collector, Morgan bankrolled many philanthropies. While dominating Wall Street for many years, he accumulated one of the largest private art collections of all time. He left legacies to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum, and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.

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