James Speyer

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James Speyer
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James Joseph Speyer (born July 22, 1861 in New York City , † October 31, 1941 ) was an American banker from New York City. Speyer was a well known Wall Street figure . His company Speyer & Co. was known until it was dissolved in 1939. Speyer was active in many social, educational, and cultural associations in New York City.

Life

Speyer came from the Frankfurt part of the Speyer banking family . He was trained in Frankfurt am Main and in 1883 became a partner in the Lazard Speyer-Ellissen family bank. He then worked in the branches in Paris and London before joining the Speyer & Co. Bank in New York in 1885. He became chairman of the family business in 1899 and served on the boards of many other banks and trust companies. In 1897 he married Ellin Lowery. Speyer worked at Collis P. Huntington, where he took care of railroad business in Mexico , London and the Philippines .

After the First World War, Speyer & Co. began to decline. As a German who also stood up for Germany, the branch in London had to close. During the interwar period , the decline in the value of railroad shares, the role of the USA as a creditor nation and anti-Semitism in Germany caused the decline. Speyer's authoritarian management style and his many interests, which left him little time for banking, also contributed. In 1938 he retired. In 1939 the New York branch ceased operations.

Patronage

Speyer was a patron of the Provident Loan Society, the Museum of the City of New York and the Tammany Hall organization .

He co-founded the Economic Club of New York in 1907 and the American Museum of Safety in 1911. During the First World War, Speyer and his wife campaigned for soldiers in New York. Other sponsored institutions included the Ellin Prince Animal Hospital, the United Hospital Fund, and the 1939 New York World's Fair , where he was on the finance committee.

Speyer was an opponent of prohibition in the United States . This attitude stood in opposition to his work for the Salvation Army , which categorically rejected alcohol.

literature

  • BC Forbes: Men who are making America . BC Forbes Publishing Co., New York 1917, James Speyer, p. 360-367 ( online ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Herman E. Krooss: Speyer, James Joseph . In: Dictionary of American Biography . tape 3 (1941-1945) . Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
  2. ^ A b c Rines, George Edwin: Speyer, James . In: Encyclopedia Americana . 1920 ( online ).
  3. ^ Notable People of the Jewish Community in New York. The History Box, accessed September 30, 2015 .
  4. ↑ James Speyer papers , New York Public Library Archives
  5. ↑ Evangeline Booth Bars James Speyer . In: The New York Times . April 8, 1922.
personal data
SURNAME Speyer, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Speyer, James Joseph (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American banker
DATE OF BIRTH July 22, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1941
Place of death New York City