J. P. Morgan led the 1907 rescue of the Trust Company of America during the Panic of 1907.
The panic began in October 1907 after an unsuccessful attempt to corner United Copper Company shares triggered a run on the Knickerbocker Trust Company in New York. Fear spread to other banks and trust companies, institutions that held fewer cash reserves than conventional commercial banks.
Morgan, already one of the most powerful figures in American finance, gathered bankers in his library and helped coordinate emergency loans and guarantees. The Trust Company of America was a major focus because its failure could have intensified withdrawals across the financial system. Morgan also helped stabilize the New York Stock Exchange by arranging funding for brokers.
The crisis exposed weaknesses in the U.S. banking system and helped inspire the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. Morgan did not act alone: other bankers, the U.S. Treasury, and New York officials also supplied support. The episode is therefore best understood as a coordinated private-sector rescue led by Morgan, not a one-person bailout.