James Hazen Hyde
Encyclopedia
James Hazen Hyde was the son of Henry Baldwin Hyde
, the founder of The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. James Hazen Hyde was twenty-three when he inherited the majority shares in the billion-dollar Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1899. Five years later, at the pinnacle of social and financial success, he set in motion the first great Wall Street
scandal of the twentieth century, which resulted in his loss of the vice-presidency of The Equitable, and his removal to France.
On the last night of January 1905, James Hazen Hyde gave one of the most fabulous costume balls of the Gilded Age
. Falsely accused through a media smear campaign
initiated by board directors E. H. Harriman
, Henry Clay Frick
, J.P. Morgan and company President James Waddell Alexander of charging the $200,000 party to his company, Hyde soon found himself drawn into a maelstrom of allegations of his corporate malfeasance. The shocking revelations almost caused a Wall Street panic and resulted in an investigation of the entire insurance industry by the State of New York.
Hyde served as an ambulance driver during World War I
He was granted an honorary degree by the university of Rennes
in 1920.
Henry Baldwin Hyde
Henry Baldwin Hyde, , founded The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States in 1859. It became, by the year of Hyde's death, the largest life insurance company in the world....
, the founder of The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. James Hazen Hyde was twenty-three when he inherited the majority shares in the billion-dollar Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1899. Five years later, at the pinnacle of social and financial success, he set in motion the first great Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
scandal of the twentieth century, which resulted in his loss of the vice-presidency of The Equitable, and his removal to France.
On the last night of January 1905, James Hazen Hyde gave one of the most fabulous costume balls of the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
. Falsely accused through a media smear campaign
Smear campaign
A smear campaign, smear tactic or simply smear is a metaphor for activity that can harm an individual or group's reputation by conflation with a stigmatized group...
initiated by board directors E. H. Harriman
E. H. Harriman
Edward Henry Harriman was an American railroad executive.-Early years:Harriman was born in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman, an Episcopal clergyman, and Cornelia Neilson...
, Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel steel manufacturing concern...
, J.P. Morgan and company President James Waddell Alexander of charging the $200,000 party to his company, Hyde soon found himself drawn into a maelstrom of allegations of his corporate malfeasance. The shocking revelations almost caused a Wall Street panic and resulted in an investigation of the entire insurance industry by the State of New York.
Hyde served as an ambulance driver during World War I
He was granted an honorary degree by the university of Rennes
University of Rennes
The University of Rennes was a French university located in the city of Rennes. It was established by the union of the 3 faculties of the city in 1885. In 1969, it was divided in two new universities:* the University of Rennes 1...
in 1920.