Charles R. Blyth
| Charles R. Blyth | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 31, 1883 Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | August 25, 1959 (aged 76) Hillsborough, California |
| Alma mater | Amherst College |
| Children | 4 |
Charles R. Blyth (July 31, 1883 – August 25, 1959) was an investment banker, a co-founder of Blyth, Witter & Co., the first investment bank in the Western United States, which later became Blyth, Eastman Dillon & Co.. He was a patron of the arts and a political fund raiser.
Blyth was born in Ohio, and in 1905 he graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts. In 1908, he moved to California. In 1922, Blyth returned briefly to the East Coast to serve as a pallbearer at the funeral for Amherst's president George Harris.
Blyth worked for financier Louis Sloss & Co. in 1910, where he met coworker Dean G. Witter. The Federal Reserve Act of December 1913 made Sloss unprofitable, and the company filed bankruptcy on April 1, 1914. One week later, Witter and Blyth formed the investment banking partnership Blyth Witter & Co., and asked other Sloss coworkers George Leib and Roy Shurtleff to join them as partners. Blyth, Witter and Shurtleff each owned two shares in the company, at $100 per share. Sloss colleague John D. "Jack" Hartigan was hired as an employee, to sell bonds. The company's young file clerk, Frank Weeden, would later pioneer the "Third market" of over-the-counter trading. The initial funding was composed of $50,000 loaned from the Bank of California, $10,000 loaned from Witter's mother, and whatever price Blyth got for selling his car. Blyth Witter was formally established on April 18, 1914, based out of offices in the Merchants Exchange Building in San Francisco. Sloss aided the new firm with a gift of his office furniture and his customer files.
Blyth Witter initially funded public utilities such as Mt. Whitney Power and Electric. In 1915 the company reformed itself based on $100,000 of capital investment. Blyth and Witter each held 35% of the stock while junior partners each held 10%. Witter's cousin Jean Carter Witter joined the company in 1916 after he graduated from the University of California.
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