John Pierpont Morgan, Jr. biography

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Financier and philanthropist. Born John Pierpont Morgan, Jr., on September 7, 1867, in Irvington, New York. The son of the legendary financier, Morgan followed his father's steps. Shortly after graduating from Harvard in 1889, he went to work in his father's firm, J. P. Morgan & Company, and then moved to London to take a position at his grandfather's company, J. S. Morgan & Company.

After his father died in 1913, Morgan inherited approximately $50 million and became the head of J. P. Morgan & Company. One of his biggest deals was helping the company become the only munitions purchaser for British and French governments during World War I. The orders totaled more than $3 billion worth of supplies and Morgan's company earned a 1 percent commission on the sale of those materials. His work for the war, however, nearly cost him his life. An intruder broke into his Glen Cove, Long Island, home on July 3, 1915, and shot Morgan twice. The shooter, Frank Holt, wanted Morgan to stop exporting weapons. Fortunately, Morgan recovered from his injuries.

Morgan did a lot of financing deals with foreign governments after the war. He helped several countries, such as Great Britain, France, and Germany, issue bonds. He also served on a committee about German reparations in Paris in 1922 and was a delegate for the United States to a reparations conference in 1929. At home, he tried, but failed, to stop the financial panic that led to the Great Depression that same year.

Besides his work in banking and finance, Morgan supported many organizations, including the Red Cross, the Episcopal Church, and the New York Lying-In Hospital, during his lifetime. He also provided an endowment to create a museum for the rare book and manuscript collection of the Morgan Library, many of which were donated by his father.

Married to Jane Norton Grew in 1890, Morgan and his wife had four children: Junius Spencer, Jane Norton, Frances Tracy, and Henry Sturgis.

Morgan died of a stroke on March 13, 1943, at a resort in Florida. While he was a successful financier on his own terms, Morgan is best remembered as the son of the business giant and the continuation of a banking dynasty.

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