Alex. Brown & Sons

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Alex. Brown & Sons was the first investment bank in the United States, founded by Alexander Brown in 1800 and based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Contents

[edit] Early history

Alexander Brown
Alexander Brown

Alexander Brown (1764 — 1834), an Irish linen merchant, emigrated in 1800 from Ulster to the United States, settling in Baltimore, Maryland, where he established the first investment banking firm in the U.S.[1] In 1808, the company organized the first initial public offering in the U.S., that of the Baltimore Water Company.[1]

In 1810, Alexander Brown was joined in business by his sons, William, George, John, and James, and the firm was named Alex. Brown and Sons, Inc.[2] By the 1820s, Alexander Brown had expanded his business interests into sterling exchange and international trade.

Brown's sons eventually started related businesses in various locations, beginning with William, who founded William Brown and Company in Liverpool, England. In 1818, John and James started Brown Bros. & Co. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. James subsequently opened a branch in New York City in 1825, a predecessor to Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.[2]

George remained at the firm's Baltimore headquarters, where he took a leading role in the founding of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1827. Upon Alexander Brown's death in 1834, George became the head of Alex. Brown and Sons, which proclaimed itself "America's foremost international banking enterprise in the nineteenth century."[2]

[edit] Integration into Deutsche Bank

Main article: Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown

At the time the oldest privately-held bank in the U.S., Alex. Brown & Sons was bought by Bankers Trust in 1997, which in turn was acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. The Alex Brown name survives as Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown, the brokerage services division of Deutsche Bank Securities.

[edit] Noted personnel

Alex. Brown's chairman in 1998 was A. B. "Buzzy" Krongard, who was appointed Executive Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2001.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Early History of Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown.
  2. ^ a b c Dilts, James D. (1993). The Great Road. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2235-8. 

[edit] External links