Company: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife, Inc.)

Founder: -

Industry: Finance and Insurance

History:

The origins of Metlife can be traced back to 1863, when a group of New York City-based businessmen pooled $100,000 to form the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company. It catered to Civil War soldiers and sailors, offering them insurance against disabilities caused by sickness, wounds, and accidents.

In 1868, Metlife endured several restructuring efforts due to financial crises that dogged it for five years, the corporate entity started to focus more on the life insurance business; they formed a new enterprise that was designed to offer insurance packages to the middle class.

On March 25, 1868, they issued the first policy that bore with it the label “Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.” The company had issued 1,477 policies by the closing of business in 1868; the total worth was $4,340,000.

In 1907, the company commissioned the construction of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower; this would be the company’s headquarters in Lower Manhattan until 2005. It held the status as the world’s tallest edifice until 1913 when Woolworth Building eclipsed it in terms of vertical height.

Upon the onset of the ‘30s, the company diversified its goals to encompass not only promoting the health of individuals but also to support national economic and social goals. In the same decade, the company was firmly entrenched in its status as the leader of the insurance industry; it virtually insured every fifth child, woman, and man, in the U.S. and Canada.

In 2001, MetLife pioneered as the first company in the insurance industry to form a financial holding enterprise with a nationally chartered bank. It launched MetLife Bank. With this, it ventured into the banking industry.

Currently, MetLife is the biggest life insurer in the U.S. and has 83,800 employees.

Leadership:

· C. Robert Henrikson – Chairman, President, and CEO

· William J. Wheeler – EVP and CFO

· Steven L. Sheinheit – EVP and CIO