Jacob Henry Schiff (born Jakob Heinrich Schiff; January 10, 1847 – September 25, 1920) was a German Confederation-born American banker, businessman, and philanthropist. Among many other things, he helped finance the expansion of American railroads, and the Japanese military efforts against Tsarist Russia in the Russo-Japanese War.
Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Schiff migrated to the United States after the American Civil War and joined the firm Kuhn, Loeb & Co. From his base on Wall Street, he was the foremost Jewish leader from 1880 to 1920 in what later became known as the "Schiff era", grappling with all major Jewish issues and problems of the day, including the plight of Russian Jews under the Tsar, American and international antisemitism, care of needy Jewish immigrants, and the rise of Zionism. He also became a director of many important corporations, including the National City Bank of New York, Equitable Life Assurance Society, Wells Fargo & Company, and the Union Pacific Railroad. In many of his interests he was associated with E. H. Harriman.
Early life and education
Schiff was born in 1847 in the Judengasse in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to Moses and Clara (née Niederhofheim) Schiff, members of a distinguished Ashkenazi Jewish rabbinical family that traced its lineage in Frankfurt back to 1370. One ancestor, David Tevele Schiff, became lead rabbi in Great Britain and from 1765 until his death was acting head of the London Synagogue. Meir Ben Jacob Schiff, another relative, had become renowned as a Talmudic scholar and commentator in the 14th century. Jacob's father, Moses Schiff, was a broker for the Rothschilds. Schiff was educated in the schools of Frankfurt, and was first employed in the banking and brokerage business as an apprentice in 1861.
After the American Civil War had ended in April 1865, Schiff came to the United States, arriving in New York City on August 6. He became a broker on November 21, 1866, and joined the firm of Budge, Schiff & Company in 1867. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in September 1870.However, Schiff's modern biographer Cohen, says this happened a year later.
Upon the dissolution of Budge, Schiff & Company in 1872, Schiff decided to return to Germany. In 1873, he became manager of the Hamburg branch of the London & Hanseatic Bank. He returned to Frankfurt, however, upon the death of his father later that year. In 1874, Abraham Kuhn of the banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Company invited him to return to New York City and enter the firm. Not long after joining the firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., Schiff was in essence running the business.
Career
Along with H. B. Claflin, Marcellus Hartley, Robert L. Cutting, and Joseph Seligman, he was a founder of the Continental Bank of New York in August 1870.
Kuhn, Loeb & Company
Schiff accepted Kuhn's invitation in January 1875, bringing to Kuhn, Loeb & Company his connections with Sir Ernest Cassel of London, Robert Fleming of Dundee (later of London), and of the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas (Bank of Paris and the Netherlands or Paribas). On May 6, 1875, he married Therese Loeb, daughter of Solomon Loeb. The couple were the parents of a son, Mortimer L. Schiff and a daughter, Frieda.
In 1885, Schiff became head of Kuhn, Loeb & Company. Besides financing Eastern railroads such as the Pennsylvania and the Louisville & Nashville, he took part in the reorganization of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1896–99, and at various times aided the American Smelting & Refining Company (ASARCO), the Westinghouse Electric Company, and the Western Union Telegraph Company. Less fortunate was his share in the reorganization in 1902 of the Metropolitan Street Railway of New York.
He became associated with E. H. Harriman in notable contests with James J. Hill and J.P. Morgan & Company for control of several Western railroads. Schiff served as a director of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, National City Bank of New York, Central Trust Company, Western Union Telegraph Company, Union Pacific Railroad, and Bond & Mortgage Guarantee Company. He was elected a director of Wells Fargo & Company in September 1914 to succeed his brother-in-law, Paul Warburg, who had resigned to accept appointment to the original Federal Reserve Board.