Johnson & Higgins

Johnson & Higgins was one of the largest brokerage firms in the world until it sold out to Marsh & McLennan in 1997.

History

Initially founded in 1845 as Jones & Johnson by Walter Restored Jones, Jr. and Henry Ward Johnson, the company acquired its new name in 1854 when A. Foster Higgins replaced Jones who left to do business on his own. By the 1990s, the company transitioned itself from an established broker of marine and other insurance policies to a provider of a full range of insurance consulting services.

Now over 150 years later the company has around 8,400 employees worldwide and $1 billion in annual revenues, Johnson & Higgins is the fifth-largest insurance brokerage firm in the world and the largest that is privately owned.