Company: Merrill Lynch & Co. (formerly known as Charles E. Merrill and Co.)

Founders: Charles E. Merrill & Edmund C. Lynch

Industry: Finance, Investment banking, and Insurance

History:

In 1914, Charles E. Merrill opened his business under the name Charles E. Merrill and Co. His office was located at 7th Wall Street in New York City. Edmund C. Lynch joined him a few months later and the firm was renamed to Merrill, Lynch & Co. in 1915. Winthrop H. Smith joined ship with Merrill and Lynch around 1916.

One of their first successful investments was the takeover of a motion pictures company, Pathé Exchange, in 1921. The said movie outfit changed its name to RKO Pictures. Another notable venture during the company’s early years was acquiring a majority share of Safeway, a small grocery store franchise which later became the third largest grocery store chain in the United States by the mid-1930s.

By 1940, Merrill Lynch & Co. pooled in with E.A. Pierce and Cassatt and Co. to form Merrill Lynch, E.A. Pierce, and Cassatt. The company’s name underwent several overhauls over the years. When the firm Fenner and Beane joined the firm in 1941, the name was changed to Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Beane. By the time of Edmund Lynch’s death in 1952, the company’s name was again changed, this time to Merrill Lynch & Co., with out the comma between Merrill and Lynch. By 1958, the company’s name was again changed to Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith to honor the man who managed the company since 1940.

In the succeeding years, Merrill Lynch became one of America’s top firms in terms of securities and investment profits as well as brokerage network strength. By 1971, the company went public. In 1978, the dwindling prominence of Merrill Lynch was bolstered by the acquisition of investing bank White Weld and Co.

Merrill Lynch has since operated in more than 40 countries worldwide and is widely recognized because of its sales force.

During the recent years, Merrill Lynch suffered heavy losses under the leadership of CEO Stanley O’Neal. The total cutbacks amounted to $2.24 billion. O’Neal left the company in 2007. He was succeeded by John Thain.

Leadership:

Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. Management Team

• John A.Thain – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
• Rosemary Berkery – Vice Chairman and General Counsel
• Nelson Chai – Chief Financial Officer
• Gregory J. Fleming – President and Chief Operating Officer

Trivia: James Merrill (1926-1995), a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, poet, and writer, is a close relative of Charles E. Merrill.