Description
Book SynopsisThe fascinating story behind the company that revolutionized the financial world Catching Lightning in a Bottle traces the complete history of Merrill Lynch and the company''s substantial impact on the world of finance, from the birth of the once-mighty company to its inauspicious end. Throughout its ninety-four year history, Merrill Lynch revolutionized finance by bringing Wall Street to Main Street, operating under a series of guidelines known as the Principles. These values allowed the company to gain the trust of small investors by putting the clients'' interests first, driving a business trajectory that expanded capital markets and fueled the growth of the American post-war economy. Written by the son of Merrill Lynch co-founder Winthrop H. Smith, this book describes the creation and evolution of the company from Charlie Merrill''s one-man shop in 1914 to its acquisition by Bank of America in 2008.
Author Winthrop H. Smith Jr. spent twenty-eight years at t
Trade Review
what a page-turner (Here is the City, October 2014) "I thoroughly enjoyed reading Catching Lightning in a Bottle" (Business Money, November 2014)
Table of Contents
Author’s Note 1
Prologue 5
Part One
chapter one Little Doc (1885–1907) 13
chapter two The Odd Couple (1907–1915) 29
chapter three Mr. Smith Goes to Wall Street (1915–1929) 61
chapter four The Grocer (1929–1940) 101
Part Two
chapter five Wall Street to Main Street (1940–1942) 137
chapter six Investigate Before You Invest (1942–1957) 171
chapter seven Good-bye, Beane—Hello, Smith (1957–1970) 227
chapter eight Bullish on America (1970–1980) 271
chapter nine Mr. Integrity (1980–1985) 337
chapter ten The Eternal Optimist (1985–1993) 355
chapter eleven Cementing the Principles (1993–1997) 415
Part Three
chapter twelve It Should Have Been a Solid Legacy (1997–2001) 457
chapter thirteen The Day My Father Wept (2001) 497
chapter fourteen The Death of Mother Merrill (2002–2007) 511
chapter fifteen Catching Lightning in a Bottle (2008) 549
Epilogue 565
Index 578
