Who founded the U.S. insurer Prudential Insurance Company of America in 1875?

John Fairfield Dryden founded the U.S. insurer Prudential Insurance Company of America in 1875.

Dryden established the company in Newark, New Jersey, originally as the Widows and Orphans Friendly Society. The organization focused on industrial life insurance, a form of coverage designed to make small policies accessible to working people. Premiums were often collected weekly, sometimes by agents visiting policyholders at home.

The company later adopted the Prudential name and expanded beyond its original industrial-life business. Its familiar Rock of Gibraltar symbol became associated with financial strength and protection, although the symbol itself is separate from the company’s founding story.

Dryden also entered politics and served as a United States senator from New Jersey. Prudential should not be confused with the British Prudential Assurance Company, founded in London in 1848. The two organizations developed independently and have different corporate histories, despite sharing the Prudential name.