Main Ideas from the Book House of Morgan - Essay Example

Peabody did not have a family and therefore had no heirs.  He left his banking empire to a man named Junius Morgan.  On his inheritance of the financial empire, he called it J.P. Morgan since he was not able to continue to call it ‘George Peabody’ as it had been previously named.

          The bank which we know as J.P. Morgan has not only established itself globally as a financial powerhouse but is also the bank of royalty and governments.  The bank of J.P. Morgan is incidentally, the bank of choice of the Vatican.  The journey from the Morgan family’s inheritance of the empire in the early eighteen hundreds to today is long and arduous, and not without difficulty at times.  During the Second World War, J.P. Morgan and the company face the possibility of non-payment from a newly invaded Austria.  In essence, J.P. Morgan is a company that originated in the new America but was routed in English ancestry.  After Morgan inherited the company, his children and grandchildren would illustrate just how integral the company’s ties to England really were.  Jack Morgan, Junius’s son, was fond of living both in England and America, while many of the Morgans had close ties with the royal family back in England.

          Having a professional relationship with the company of J.P. Morgan was not only coveted but a privilege reserved only for the wealthiest of people who had a reputation that preceded them. 

          The great depression of the 1930s did not find the house of Morgan to be immune, even with a net worth of $118 million.  Due to the severity of the depression and global unrest caused by the Second World War, decision-makers in the U.S. government under the Hoover regime were not prepared for the type of strategizing required to dig America out of the resulting financial rut.  The house of Morgan’s net worth surfaced after the depression at about $59 million which means that it was diminished to half of its original value.  Interestingly enough, as powerful and prestigious as the Morgan empire had become, it was not able to withstand the crippling effects of the depression of the 1930s leaving little hope for the financial empires of today in our current economic crisis.

          The Morgan company often had ties with presidential candidates or other important figureheads, making them seemingly in control of the fate of nations.  It was rumored at one time that a partner of the J.P. Morgan company would be paid a minimum of $1 million a year.  The position of partner or affiliate within the J.P. Morgan company was one of the most prestigious if not the most prestigious position on Wall Street.