Anthony Drexel
Son of Francis Martin Drexel, who founded the original Drexel & Co. in Philadelphia. Anthony took over the family bank and expanded it into a transatlantic powerhouse, establishing Drexel, Morgan & Co. in 1871 alongside J.P. Morgan. The firm became a primary vehicle for financing U.S. railroads, industrial consolidation, and government debt during the Gilded Age. Prior to the Morgan partnership, Drexel & Co. had already built deep ties to European capital markets through branches in Paris and London. A private and methodical operator, Drexel was known as the operational anchor of the partnership — more risk-averse and less publicly visible than Morgan — while also endowing the Drexel Institute (now Drexel University) in 1891. His firm's 1871 merger with Morgan's shop forms the direct corporate antecedent of today's JPMorgan Chase.













