For JPMorgan Chase, one of the world’s largest banks by market value, the predecessor bank founded by J. P. Morgan in 1871 was Drexel, Morgan & Co.
J. Pierpont Morgan formed Drexel, Morgan & Co. in New York in 1871 with Philadelphia banker Anthony J. Drexel. The partnership became an important force in American corporate finance, underwriting securities and arranging funding for railroads, industrial companies, and governments.
The firm was renamed J. P. Morgan & Co. after Drexel died in 1893. Its later history is connected to several institutions that eventually became part of JPMorgan Chase, including Chase Manhattan, Chemical Bank, Bank One, and the modern J.P. Morgan investment bank.
A common mix-up is treating J.P. Morgan and JPMorgan Chase as identical organizations throughout history. JPMorgan Chase is a modern financial holding company created through mergers, while J.P. Morgan & Co. was an earlier banking firm. The 1871 partnership is a key starting point in the lineage of the company’s investment-banking business.