Henry Villard Biography

(born April 10, 1835, Speyer, Bavaria—died Nov. 12, 1900, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., U.S.) German-born U.S. journalist and financier. In 1853 he immigrated to the U.S., where he first found work with German-language newspapers. During the Civil War he was a correspondent for two New York City newspapers. In 1881 he purchased the Nation magazine and the New York Evening Post. In the 1870s he organized several railroads in Oregon, and from 1881 to 1884 he was president of the Northern Pacific, a transcontinental railroad completed under his management despite large cost overruns; he later served as chairman of the board (1888–93). He bought two Edison companies and created the Edison General Electric Co. in 1889, serving as president until its reorganization in 1892 as the General Electric Co.

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