Albert H. Wiggin
Albert Henry Wiggin | |
|---|---|
| File:Alber Henry Wiggins ca1913.jpg Wiggin circa 1913 | |
| Born | Template:Birth date Medfield, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | May 21, 1951 (aged 83) Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S. |
Albert Henry Wiggin (February 21, 1868 – May 21, 1951) was a prominent American banker. Described by General Electric's Owen D. Young as "the most colorful and attractive figure in the commercial banking world" of his time, Wiggin held the position of Director at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York between 1932 and 1933. He remains notable as the sole Federal Reserve Bank member subjected to specific legislation—the so-called "Wiggin Provision"—following his compelled resignation after it was revealed that he had engaged in short-selling shares of his own bank.
Biography
Born in Medfield, Massachusetts, Wiggin was the son of Unitarian clergyman James Henry Wiggin and Laura Newton. He had a sibling named Langley Wiggin.
After completing his studies at the English High School of Boston in 1885, Wiggin embarked on his banking profession at J.B Moors & Company, later working as a bookkeeper for the National Bank of the Commonwealth, which was managed by his uncle. By age 23, he had risen to become assistant national bank examiner in Boston. He married Jessie Duncan Hayden in 1892, and the couple had two daughters. By 1894, Wiggin held the role of assistant cashier at the Third National Bank of Boston.
Beginning in 1911, Wiggin amassed an extensive collection of art prints and books featuring artists such as Henri Fantin-Latour, Francisco Goya, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. In 1941, he donated thousands of these items to the Boston Public Library, while additional pieces were acquired by the New York Public Library and the Baltimore Museum of Art. He also served as a lifelong board member of MIT's Charles Hayden Memorial Library.
Wiggin was active in philanthropy, founding the Albert Henry Wiggin Memorial Scholarship Fund at Middlebury College and creating the Albert H. and Jessie D. Wiggin Foundation, which supported organizations including the United Hospital Fund and Columbia University's Department of Medicine. In 1939, he and his wife contributed $250,000 to establish the Boys Club of Greenwich.
Banking career
In June 1899, Wiggin was appointed vice president of New York’s esteemed National Park Bank and held comparable positions at Mutual Bank and Mount Morris Bank. By his early thirties, he had gained recognition on Wall Street as a key organizer behind Bankers Trust. He became Chase National Bank’s youngest vice president in 1904 and succeeded Henry W. Cannon as its president in 1911.
During his tenure, Wiggin significantly expanded Chase’s commercial and industrial clientele, driving deposits from $91 million in 1910 to $2.074 billion by 1930. The bank’s capital and surplus increased from $13 million to $358 million, while its shareholder base grew from twenty individuals in 1904 to 89,000 by 1933.
Under his leadership, Chase grew rapidly through acquisitions and by launching a securities division, positioning itself as second only to National City Bank. Named chairman in 1917, Wiggin served on more than fifty major corporate boards and attracted investments from the Rockefeller family. By 1918, Chase ranked as the fourth largest bank in the United States.
Wiggin also spearheaded Chase’s international expansion with a London office established in 1923 that provided loans directly to European governments and businesses. He further developed foreign banking operations across Paris, Rome, Panama City, and Berlin. Advocating for free trade with some limitations, he endorsed the 1926 round robin declaration promoting tariff reductions among European nations.
Great Depression
In the aftermath of the 1929 Wall Street collapse, Wiggin collaborated with other leading bankers to stabilize the market by collectively purchasing shares at artificially high prices. Initially praised as a savior, subsequent inquiries uncovered that Wiggin had concurrently shorted more than 42,000 Chase shares, generating personal profits exceeding $4 million through a Canadian shell corporation—conduct later condemned by the Pecora Commission as unethical. This scandal resulted in the enactment of the "Wiggin Provision," which prohibits corporate directors from short-selling their own company’s stock.
Serving as the leader of a prominent banking institution, Wiggin counseled the Hoover Administration on responses to the Great Depression and voiced opposition to the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. In 1949, he divested his 24% ownership in American Express under terms that prevented both its dissolution and acquisition by Chase. Although no laws were broken, Wiggin stepped down amid pressure after more than thirty years in the banking industry.
Albert Wiggin passed away on May 21, 1951, at 83 years old, at his summer residence in Greenwich, Connecticut, following a lengthy illness.