Who Founded JPMorgan Chase?

Aaron Burr, the New York lawyer and politician who later served as U.S. vice president, led the 1799 effort to charter the Manhattan Company. The charter was framed around supplying clean water to New York City, but a clause let the company use surplus capital for other lawful business, which it used to open the Bank of the Manhattan Company. That bank is the oldest predecessor in JPMorgan Chase's corporate history and merged with Chase National Bank in 1955. Aaron Burr was born in 1756.

Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, is linked to JPMorgan Chase's history through his involvement in the 1799 Manhattan Company charter effort alongside Aaron Burr. He is better known for founding the Bank of New York in 1784, which is now part of BNY rather than JPMorgan Chase. He is listed here as a historical figure connected to the predecessor charter, not as a founder of the modern firm. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

J. Pierpont Morgan co-founded Drexel, Morgan & Co. with Anthony Drexel in 1871, the partnership that became J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1895. The firm financed railroads and organized industrial combinations such as U.S. Steel in 1901. Morgan also arranged a 1895 gold loan to the U.S. Treasury and coordinated private support for banks during the Panic of 1907. J.P. Morgan & Co. merged with Chase Manhattan in 2000 to form today's JPMorgan Chase. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).