J.P. Morgan & Company merged with the Chase Manhattan Corporation in 2000 to form JPMorgan Chase & Company. The merger combined J.P. Morgan & Company, the Chase Manhattan Corporation, the Chemical Banking Corporation and Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company -- four of the oldest and largest financial banking institutions in New York City. Since then, the company has acquired several additional banks, solidifying its position as one of the four largest banking institutions in the United States.

History

JPMorgan Chase & Company was founded in New York in 1799. It started out as the Manhattan Company underwriting bonds and lending money. By 1895, it was operating under the name J.P. Morgan & Company. By the 1930s, the Glass-Steagall Act required J.P. Morgan & Company to separate its commercial banking from its investment banking operations. This restriction caused the company to focus on its commercial lending and to create a separate company in 1935 to conduct the investment banking operations. The investment banking division merged with the Guaranty Trust Company of New York to form the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company in 1959. In 1988, the company resumed using the J.P. Morgan & Company name exclusively for all its operations.

Bank One Corporation

Bank One Corporation merged with JPMorgan Chase in 2004. James Dimon, who was president of Bank One, was appointed CEO of JPMorgan Chase in 2006. Bank One executives replaced many key executives at JPMorgan Chase after completing the merger. Bank One was founded in 1863 and was the sixth largest bank in the nation.

Bear Stearns

Before JPMorgan Chase acquired Bear Stearns, Bear Stearns was the fifth largest investment bank in the U.S. and one of the nation's largest underwriters of mortgage bonds. In 2007, Bear Stearns reported losses of $854 million and an additional $1.9 billion in mortgages and mortgage-related securities -- the first losses in its 80-year history. In 2008, JPMorgan Chase acquired the company.

Washington Mutual

On September 25, 2008, JPMorgan Chase bought Washington Mutual's deposits and branches for $1.9 million in a deal the federal government brokered. Washington Mutual was on the verge of collapse due to the mortgage crisis and had been trying to find a buyer several weeks before the JPMorgan Chase acquisition. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. fully protected Washington Mutual's depositors in the acquisition. However, the bank's shareholders were not so lucky. Washington Mutual's stock price went from $36.47 in October 2007 to 45 cents.