Financiers
16 people, across 2 fields.
J. P. Morgan 1837–1913Business, Finance & IndustryBanking titan who stabilized the economy during the Panic of 1907 and shaped modern finance.
Cornelius Vanderbilt 1794–1877Business, Finance & IndustryShipping and railroad magnate whose empire made him one of the wealthiest Americans in history.
George Soros b. 1930Business, Finance & IndustryInvestor and founder of the Open Society Foundations, supporting democracy and human rights worldwide.
Bernie Madoff 1938–2021Notorious FiguresFinancier who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history — costing investors tens of billions of dollars.Charles Ponzi 1882–1949Notorious FiguresThe 1920 Boston postal-coupon fraud that gave the Ponzi scheme its name
Andrew W. Mellon 1855–1937Business, Finance & IndustryBanker and art collector whose foundation built the National Gallery of Art.Michael Milken b. 1946Business, Finance & IndustryFinancier who built the modern high-yield bond market at Drexel Burnham Lambert, pleaded guilty to six securities and tax felonies in 1990, and later funded medical research and an economic think tank.
Jamie Dimon b. 1956Business, Finance & IndustryBank executive whose leadership of JPMorgan Chase made him one of the most influential voices in American finance.
Jay Gould 1836–1892Business, Finance & IndustryControlled major railroad and telegraph systems through aggressive stock manipulation.
James J. Hill 1838–1916Business, Finance & IndustryBuilt the Great Northern Railway without federal land grants and shaped northern plains settlement.
David Rockefeller 1915–2017Business, Finance & IndustryBanker and philanthropist who directed the Rockefeller Foundation's global development efforts.Ivan Boesky 1937–2024Business, Finance & IndustryThe 1980s insider trading scandal and the cooperation that brought down Michael Milken
Amadeo Giannini 1870–1949Business, Finance & IndustryFounded Bank of Italy and grew it into Bank of America by lending to ordinary depositors.
Charles Schwab b. 1937Business, Finance & IndustryFounder of the discount brokerage that democratized stock trading for ordinary investors.
Stephen Schwarzman b. 1947Business, Finance & IndustryCo-founder of Blackstone, the world's largest alternative investment firm.
Ferdinand Ward 1851–1925Notorious FiguresFinancier whose Ponzi scheme destroyed the firm bearing Ulysses S. Grant's name and bankrupted him.