Founder Profile
Ezra Cornell
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is Ezra Cornell?
Ezra Cornell is a founder of The Western Union Company, which was founded in 1851 with Hiram Sibley, Samuel Selden and Jeptha Wade.
- Company founded
- The Western Union Company
- Founded
- 1851
- Co-founders
- Hiram Sibley, Samuel Selden and Jeptha Wade
Background
Telegraph line builder who had worked with Samuel Morse before building lines of his own.
Founding Story
Ezra Cornell (1807-1874) built early telegraph lines and merged his holdings into the 1856 consolidation that formed Western Union. He became one of its largest shareholders and later used that wealth to co-found Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Cornell was born on January 11, 1807 and died on December 9, 1874. He co-founded Cornell University and served as president of the New York Agriculture Society and as a New York State Senator. Ezra Cornell was born in 1807.