Speyer family

The Speyer family is a prominent Jewish family of German descent. It can be traced back to Michael Isaac Speyer (1644–1692), who had briefly been the head of the Jewish community in Frankfurt am Main in 1691–92. The family originates from Speyer in Palatinate, hence the surname. In the late eighteenth century the Speyers were the wealthiest Jewish family in Frankfurt, well above the Rothschild family.

The patriarch of the family, Joseph Lazard Speyer, took over the Ellissen bank, inherited from his wife Jette Ellissen, and renamed it to J. L. Speyer-Elissen in 1818. When their son, Lazard Joseph, got to the helm of family business in 1838, the name was again changed to Lazard Speyer-Ellissen. In 1845, Lazard Joseph's brother Philipp established Philipp Speyer & Co. (after Philipp´s death in 1876 renamed Speyer & Co.) in New York City and his brother Gustav set up Speyer Brothers 1861 in London. Early to realize potential in North America, by the 1870s they were one of the top five issuers of United States and Mexican railroad securities, their nearest rivals being Kuhn, Loeb & Co. and J.P. Morgan & Co..

The London branch of the Speyer business, Speyer Brothers, was liquidated in 1922, when Gustav´s son Edgar Speyer left the United Kingdom for the United States. The Frankfurt branch, Lazard Speyer-Ellissen, was dissolved in 1934, shortly after the Machtergreifung, the coming into power of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The Frankfurt family home, the prominent Villa Speyer was taken away by the National Socialists in 1938. In 1938, James Speyer retired and decided to close Speyer & Co. in New York rather than let his name continue with the remaining partners. Therefore, the last of the three Speyer banking branches was liquidated in 1939.

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