Kuhn Loeb

Kuhn, Loeb & Co

Type	Partnership
Industry	Investment services
Fate	Merged with Lehman Brothers in 1977
Founded	1867; 150 years ago (1867)
Headquarters	New York City, United States
Key people	John M. Schiff Chairman Harvey M. Krueger President and CEO
Products	Financial Services Investment Banking Investment Management
Number of employees	550 (1977)
Website	www.kuhnloeb.com

Kuhn, Loeb & Co. was a bulge bracket investment bank founded in 1867 by Abraham Kuhn(b. June 20, 1819, d. May 30, 1892 in Frankfurt, Darmstadt) and Solomon Loeb. Under the leadership of Jacob H. Schiff, it grew to be one of the most influential investment banks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, financing America's expanding railways and growth companies, including Western Union and Westinghouse, and thereby becoming the principal rival of J.P. Morgan & Co.

In the years following Schiff's death in 1920, the firm was led by Otto Kahn and Felix Warburg, men who had already solidified their roles as Schiff's able successors. However, the firm's fortunes began to fade following World War II, when it failed to keep pace with a rapidly changing investment banking industry, where Kuhn, Loeb's old-world, genteel ways, did not seem to fit; the days of the gentleman-banker had passed.

The firm lost its independence in 1977 when it merged with Lehman Brothers, creating Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb Inc. The combined firm was itself acquired in 1984 by American Express, forming Shearson Lehman/American Express and with that, the Kuhn, Loeb name was lost.

Kuhn, Loeb & Co. was an investment bank located in New York City. It was founded in 1867, by Abraham Kuhn and Solomon Loeb. Kuhn and Loeb had created a successful merchandising business in Cincinnati, Ohio, when they decided to move east, to New York, to take advantage of the country's burgeoning economic expansion. Company records indicate that by the time Kuhn and Loeb established their partnership, they were able to capitalize it at $500,000 (equivalent of about $8.6 million in 2016). On January 1, 1875, Jacob Schiff (1847–1920), Solomon Loeb's son-in-law, joined the firm. He eventually became its leader and grew the firm into the second most prestigious investment bank in the United States behind J. Pierpont Morgan's J.P. Morgan & Co.