Charles E. Merrill
Encyclopedia
Charles Edward Merrill was an America
n philanthropist
, stockbroker and co-founder, with Edmund C. Lynch
of Merrill Lynch & Company (previously called Charles E. Merrill & Co.).
, Florida
where he spent his early childhood. In 1898 the family briefly moved to Knoxville, Tennessee
but within the year returned to Florida to settle in Jacksonville
. After the school Merrill had been attending was damaged in the Great Fire of 1901
, his parents decided to send him to the college preparatory academy operated by
John B. Stetson University
. Merrill studied there from 1901 till 1903 and then in 1903 for the final year of high school was transferred to Worcester Academy
. After two years at Amherst College
, Merrill spent time at the University of Michigan Law School
from 1906 to 1907; worked at Patchogue-Plymouth Mills from 1907–09; at George H. Burr & Co., New York City
, from 1909–13; then established Charles E. Merrill & Co. in 1914, changing the name to Merrill Lynch & Company.
, created Merrill Lynch in 1915. Merrill made his money by investing. He orchestrated the 1926 merger which created the Safeway
food chain, and Merrill Lynch provided investment banking services to Safeway to finance the acquisition of other chains, growing Safeway to more than 3,500 stores across the United States by 1931.
Merrill anticipated the Stock market crash
of 1929, and divested many of his holdings before the Great Depression
. Merrill merged his retail brokerage and wire operations with E.A. Pierce and Co., thereby restructuring Merrill Lynch and Co. to focus upon investment banking. Additionally, Merrill was known to have pleaded with President
Calvin Coolidge
(like Merrill, an Amherst alumnus) to speak out against speculation
, but Coolidge did not listen to him.
Following the 1930 restructuring, Merrill was able to spend more time focusing upon the further growth of Safeway, where he remained the largest shareholder and defacto CFO; in time, his son-in-law and grandson would also run the firm. Merrill was also a major investor in the S. S. Kresge Corporation, the forerunner of Kmart
.
In 1939, immediately preceding the boom caused by World War II
, Merrill was approached by Edward A. Pierce
to merge the struggling brokerage E.A. Pierce & Co.
back together with Merrill Lynch. Merrill agreed to do so, but insisted that the combined firm retain the Pierce. Following a simultaneous acquisition of Philadelphia-based Cassatt & Co., the firm was reopened as Merrill Lynch, E.A. Pierce and Cassatt. Merrill was convinced that the average American who wanted to invest should be able to buy shares in the stock market
, which was previously a playground for the wealthy. He instructed his employees to hold seminars at which husbands and wives could leave their children with child care providers while the parents learned how they, too, could invest.
All three of Merrill's children were wealthy from unbreakable trusts made early in childhood. In 1926, he purchased the James L. Breese House
at Southampton
in Suffolk County, New York
. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1980.
Merrill was the father of educator and philanthropist Charles E. Merrill Jr.
(b. 1920) (author and founder of the Thomas Jefferson School
, Commonwealth School
, and former chairman of the board of trustees of Morehouse College
); San Francisco philanthropist Doris Merrill Magowan (1914–2001); and poet James Ingram Merrill
(1926–1995). Merrill's grandson, Peter A. Magowan, was President and CEO of Safeway Inc.
and also the former managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants
.
, supporting the Merrill Science Center at Amherst College
and Merrill College
at the University of California, Santa Cruz
, built in 1968.
Mr. Merrill was inducted into the Junior Achievement
U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1976.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, stockbroker and co-founder, with Edmund C. Lynch
Edmund C. Lynch
Edmund Calvert Lynch and his friend, Charles E. Merrill, formed Merrill Lynch on October 15, 1915.-Early years:Edmund Lynch was born on May 19, 1885 in Baltimore, Maryland to Richard Lynch and Jennie Vernon Smith Lynch...
of Merrill Lynch & Company (previously called Charles E. Merrill & Co.).
Early years
Charles E. Merrill, the son of physician Dr. Charles Merrill and Octavia (Wilson) Merrill, was born in Green Cove SpringsGreen Cove Springs, Florida
Green Cove Springs is a city in Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 6,908. It is the county seat of Clay County....
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
where he spent his early childhood. In 1898 the family briefly moved to Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
but within the year returned to Florida to settle in Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. After the school Merrill had been attending was damaged in the Great Fire of 1901
Great Fire of 1901
The Great Fire of 1901 in Jacksonville, Florida was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the largest urban fire in the Southeast. It was similar in scale and destruction to the 1871 Great Chicago Fire.-Origin:...
, his parents decided to send him to the college preparatory academy operated by
John B. Stetson University
Stetson University
Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I-4 corridor in Central Florida. The primary undergraduate campus is located in DeLand, Florida, USA. In the 2012 U.S...
. Merrill studied there from 1901 till 1903 and then in 1903 for the final year of high school was transferred to Worcester Academy
Worcester Academy
Worcester Academy is an independent coeducational preparatory school spread over in Worcester, Massachusetts in the United States. The school is divided into a middle school, serving approximately 150 students in grades six to eight, and an upper school, serving approximately 500 students in...
. After two years at Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, Merrill spent time at the University of Michigan Law School
University of Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws degrees, although the school also offers a Doctor of Juridical...
from 1906 to 1907; worked at Patchogue-Plymouth Mills from 1907–09; at George H. Burr & Co., New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, from 1909–13; then established Charles E. Merrill & Co. in 1914, changing the name to Merrill Lynch & Company.
Merrill Lynch
Merrill and his friend, Edmund C. LynchEdmund C. Lynch
Edmund Calvert Lynch and his friend, Charles E. Merrill, formed Merrill Lynch on October 15, 1915.-Early years:Edmund Lynch was born on May 19, 1885 in Baltimore, Maryland to Richard Lynch and Jennie Vernon Smith Lynch...
, created Merrill Lynch in 1915. Merrill made his money by investing. He orchestrated the 1926 merger which created the Safeway
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
food chain, and Merrill Lynch provided investment banking services to Safeway to finance the acquisition of other chains, growing Safeway to more than 3,500 stores across the United States by 1931.
Merrill anticipated the Stock market crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
of 1929, and divested many of his holdings before the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Merrill merged his retail brokerage and wire operations with E.A. Pierce and Co., thereby restructuring Merrill Lynch and Co. to focus upon investment banking. Additionally, Merrill was known to have pleaded with President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
(like Merrill, an Amherst alumnus) to speak out against speculation
Speculation
In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
, but Coolidge did not listen to him.
Following the 1930 restructuring, Merrill was able to spend more time focusing upon the further growth of Safeway, where he remained the largest shareholder and defacto CFO; in time, his son-in-law and grandson would also run the firm. Merrill was also a major investor in the S. S. Kresge Corporation, the forerunner of Kmart
Kmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
.
In 1939, immediately preceding the boom caused by World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Merrill was approached by Edward A. Pierce
Edward A. Pierce
Edward A. Pierce was an American businessman and stock broker. Pierce was most notable for leading the firm of A.A. Housman & Company through the 1920s and 1930s and turning the firm into the largest brokerage in the U.S. The firm, which was renamed E.A. Pierce & Co...
to merge the struggling brokerage E.A. Pierce & Co.
E.A. Pierce & Co.
E.A. Pierce & Co. was a securities brokerage firm based in New York City. Originally founded as A.A. Housman & Co., the firm was renamed for Edward A. Pierce in 1927. In 1930, following the stock market crash of 1929 E.A. Pierce acquired the brokerage business of Merrill Lynch. Ten years later,...
back together with Merrill Lynch. Merrill agreed to do so, but insisted that the combined firm retain the Pierce. Following a simultaneous acquisition of Philadelphia-based Cassatt & Co., the firm was reopened as Merrill Lynch, E.A. Pierce and Cassatt. Merrill was convinced that the average American who wanted to invest should be able to buy shares in the stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
, which was previously a playground for the wealthy. He instructed his employees to hold seminars at which husbands and wives could leave their children with child care providers while the parents learned how they, too, could invest.
Personal life and family
Merrill was a well-known bon vivant. Married three times, Merrill was nicknamed "Good Time Charlie" by his friends and was described in 1998 by Time magazine as a "short, self-absorbed, prideful, flamboyant fellow" who "made the gossip pages as regularly as the financial pages." Merrill was known for his many extramarital affairs, which he referred to as "recharging my batteries."All three of Merrill's children were wealthy from unbreakable trusts made early in childhood. In 1926, he purchased the James L. Breese House
James L. Breese House
James L. Breese House is a historic home located at Southampton in Suffolk County, New York. It was designed as a summer residence between 1897 and 1906 by the prominent architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White in the Colonial Revival style. An 1858 house original to the site was incorporated...
at Southampton
Southampton (village), New York
Southampton is a village in Suffolk County, New York, USA. The village is named after the Earl of Southampton. The Village of Southampton is in the southeast part of the county in the Town of Southampton...
in Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...
. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1980.
Merrill was the father of educator and philanthropist Charles E. Merrill Jr.
Charles E. Merrill Jr.
Charles E. Merrill Jr. , is an American educator, author and philanthropist, best-known for supporting historically black colleges and founding the Commonwealth School in Boston.-Early life:...
(b. 1920) (author and founder of the Thomas Jefferson School
Thomas Jefferson School
Thomas Jefferson School is a small coeducational boarding and day school located in St. Louis, Missouri, and consistently rated among the United States' top boarding schools for academic standards and college matriculation.-School history:...
, Commonwealth School
Commonwealth School
Commonwealth School is an independent high school of about 155 students and 35 faculty members located at 151 Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States.-History:...
, and former chairman of the board of trustees of Morehouse College
Morehouse College
Morehouse College is a private, all-male, liberal arts, historically black college located in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Wabash College, Morehouse is one of three remaining traditional men's colleges in the United States....
); San Francisco philanthropist Doris Merrill Magowan (1914–2001); and poet James Ingram Merrill
James Merrill
James Ingram Merrill was an American poet whose awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Divine Comedies...
(1926–1995). Merrill's grandson, Peter A. Magowan, was President and CEO of Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
and also the former managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
.
Other affiliations
Merrill's estate funded the Charles E. Merrill Trust, an engine of philanthropyPhilanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
, supporting the Merrill Science Center at Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
and Merrill College
Merrill College
Merrill College is a residential college at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The theme of the college, and the name of its freshman core course, is "cultural identities and global consciousness."-Location:...
at the University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
, built in 1968.
Mr. Merrill was inducted into the Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement or JA or JA Worldwide is a non-profit youth organization that was founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and senator Winthrop M. Crane. JA focuses on educating kids in K-12 about the free enterprise system...
U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1976.