In the Panic of 1907, J. P. Morgan organized a rescue of the U.S. banking system.
Morgan brought bankers and trust-company leaders together in New York and used his influence, money, and private information to coordinate emergency lending. He also helped arrange support for solvent institutions and pressured financial leaders to prevent a wider collapse.
The panic began after a failed attempt to corner the stock of United Copper Company. Runs then spread to trust companies, while the New York Stock Exchange faced a severe shortage of funds. Morgan’s intervention helped stabilize the system before Congress created the Federal Reserve in 1913.
Morgan was not the only person involved. Treasury Secretary George B. Cortelyou supplied government funds, and other bankers contributed capital. However, Morgan became the crisis’s best-known private rescuer.