JP Morgan's Impact on Society (Essay Sample)

J.P. Morgan had a mostly positive impact on society. He saved the economy during the 1907 Wall Street Crisis, created the United States Steel Corporation, funded Nikola Tesla, and funded a photographer capturing Native American culture (“J.P. Morgan,” New World Encyclopedia). He also had a negative impact on society because the businesses he grew were mostly monopolies which made the prices of everyday goods and services higher which negatively affected the average American (“J.P. Morgan’s Impact on Average Americans”).

John Pierpont Morgan was born on April 17, 1837, in Hartford Connecticut and died on March 31, 1913 (“J.P. Morgan,” New World Encyclopedia). He went to school in Boston and went to the University of Gottingen. He started his career in 1867 (“J.P. Morgan,” Encyclopedia Britannica) Throughout his life many people were immigrating to the United States and many others in the country were moving to the city for better opportunities (“Business and the Economy”)

Morgan suffered from acne rosacea his whole life which made his nose extremely red and inflamed. On some days it got so bad that it would even turn purple. Pulitzer published caricatures of him with his nose extremely inflamed which made Morgan upset. He would often get mad at photographers who took pictures of him on the streets unless they touched it up and made his nose look smaller than it was. One time a man called him a liver nose and Morgan blacklisted him from the Union League and New York City Yacht Clubs (“J.P. Morgan, the Robber Baron with the Disturbing Facial Feature”).

In 1895 Drexel, Morgan, and Company’s name changed to J.P. Morgan after the death of Drexel in 1893. The company was, and still is located in New York City. They made money by giving out loans and investing into other businesses. Morgan used the money he personally made from the business and reinvested it into even more companies and individuals innovating.

During his life J.P. Morgan had a reputation of helping unprofitable businesses become large companies and sometimes monopolies. This process was nicknamed “Morganization.” After the completion of the transcontinental railroad the railroad companies were in a financially difficult situation. They decided to hire J.P. Morgan and let him reorganize their businesses which would eventually lead to them being profitable. He also helped the railroad companies sell over 40 million dollars in bonds to fund building even more railroads.

Morgan also helped arrange the merging of companies into large corporations. He was able to convince Andrew Carnegie, the owner of Carnegie Steel, as well as many other small steel companies to merge into the United States Steel Corporation in 1901. He also arranged the merge of Edison General Electric and Thompson-Houston Electric into General Electric which is still around today.

Morgan’s reputation as a banker impressed many business owners and made them want to do work with him. For his work companies would either pay him in money or stocks. William Vanderbilt sold 250,000 shares of stock in the New York Central Railroad to Morgan. For all of his help he also got a seat on the New York Central board of directors

Although Morgan did a lot to help other companies grow it didn’t always affect the average American in a positive way. Some monopolies he built up raised the price of goods which made Americans upset. He also cared more about efficiency over humanity. Steel and miner workers would often get injured or killed on the job while working at Morgan’s facilities. He cut their wages and let workers work in an unsafe environment simply because it would cost him less.

J.P. Morgan had a mostly positive impact on society. He saved the economy during the 1907 Wall Street Crisis, created the United States Steel Corporation, and funded passionate people who needed money to do their work. (“J.P. Morgan,” New World Encyclopedia). He also had a slightly negative impact on society because the businesses he grew were mostly monopolies which made the prices of goods and services higher which negatively affected regular people (“J.P. Morgan’s Impact on Average Americans”). Although J.P. Morgan died over 100 years ago his name still lives on today as his name is recognized in the company J.P. Morgan Chase. This bank is one of the most popular banks in the world and used by millions of people.