Born on April 17, 1837, in Hartford, Connecticut, J.P. Morgan would later become one of the most famous financiers in business history.
1871,
Morgan started his own private banking company, which later became known
as J.P. Morgan & Co., one of the largest financial firms in the United States.
One of his first ventures, in 1891, was to arrange the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric,
which became the dominant electrical-equipment manufacturing firm in
the United States.
Morgan, in 1901, joined in merging it with the giant Carnegie Steel Company and other steel companies to form United States Steel Corporation, which was the world's first billion-dollar company.
In 1902, Morgan brought together several of the leading agricultural-equipment manufacturers to form the International Harvester Company.
Morgan was one of the greatest art and book collectors of his day, and he donated many works of art to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
One not so common fact about Morgan is he had a deformed purple nose, caused by rosacea, which resulted in a disease called rhinophyma.
J.P. Morgan died on March 31st, 1913 in Rome, Italy.