John D. Ryan (industrialist)
John D. Ryan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age Hancock, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | February 11, 1933 (aged 68) Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Industrialist |
| Known for | President of Anaconda Copper Mining Company; founder of Montana Power Company |
John Denis Ryan (October 10, 1864 – February 11, 1933) was a prominent American industrialist known for his leadership in copper mining. He held the position of President at the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and played a pivotal role in establishing the Montana Power Company.
Biography
Born in Hancock, Michigan, situated in the Copper Country region, Ryan initially engaged in the sale of lubricating oils across the western United States from Denver, Colorado. Subsequently, he moved to Butte, Montana, where he developed a close relationship with Margaret Daly, widow of mining tycoon Marcus Daly. Through this connection, he acquired a stake in the Daly Bank and Trust Co. located in Anaconda, Montana, eventually becoming its president and managing Mrs. Daly’s financial affairs.
Marcus Daly had partnered with a syndicate led by Standard Oil executives Henry H. Rogers and William Rockefeller to form the Amalgamated Copper Mining Company, which took control of Daly’s Anaconda Copper Co., while Daly maintained an interest in the enterprise.
Amalgamated faced competition from Montana's powerful Copper Kings such as William A. Clark and F. Augustus Heinze. Initially allied with Heinze, Clark later divested his holdings to Amalgamated. Heinze’s operations were merged into the United Copper Company. Although no single entity monopolized copper mining across Montana or other regions like Michigan, Arizona, or international sites, Ryan’s adept negotiation secured Heinze’s withdrawal with considerable financial compensation.
By consolidating all local interests under Amalgamated, Rogers and Rockefeller achieved comprehensive control over Butte’s copper resources. Ryan was appointed president and received a substantial equity stake. His principal collaborator was attorney Cornelius Kelley, who served as vice-president. The company reverted to its original name, Anaconda.
Following Henry Rogers’ death in 1909, William Rockefeller introduced his son Percy Rockefeller into the company’s leadership team. During World War I, Ryan temporarily left Anaconda to serve as Director General of the Red Cross War Relief Program in 1917. In April 1918, President Woodrow Wilson named him head of the Aircraft Production Board; after the war concluded, Ryan resigned and returned to his business roles.
While Ryan was engaged in government service, Kelley acted as Anaconda’s president; after the war, Ryan assumed the Chairman role while Kelley continued as president.
Under the guidance of Percy Rockefeller, Ryan, and Kelley during the 1920s, Anaconda expanded its global footprint and diversified its portfolio to include manganese, zinc, aluminum, uranium, and silver, emerging as the world’s fourth-largest corporation.
Ryan passed away on February 11, 1933, in Manhattan, New York City.
Legacy
In 1928, Ryan alongside Percy Rockefeller conducted aggressive trading strategies involving Anaconda stock that caused share prices to surge during their sales and subsequently collapse when they repurchased shares. This practice is recognized as an early form of "pump and dump" manipulation which was legal at that time. Their "joint account" controlled close to 1.5 million shares of Anaconda stock, inflating prices from $128 in December 1928 down to $40 by March 1929. This led to significant financial losses for smaller investors; Senate investigations estimated public losses exceeding $150 million.
The stock market crash of 1929 severely affected Anaconda’s valuation, further exacerbated by a steep drop in copper prices during the Great Depression. Ryan's personal holdings plummeted from $175 per share to $4. After his death in 1933, Cornelius Kelley assumed Chairmanship in 1940. Later on, in 1977, the company was acquired by Atlantic Richfield Corporation (Arco), which ceased operations by 1982.
Ryan also played a key role in merging regional electric utilities into the formation of Montana Power Company, ensuring affordable electricity supply for Anaconda's mining and smelting activities. As president of Montana Power, he promoted electrification projects for both the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway and mining facilities.
A Senate banking committee report from 1933 condemned Anaconda's stock manipulation activities during the late 1920s as among the most egregious frauds in American financial history and identified them as contributing factors to the economic downturn of the 1930s.
John D. Ryan was ranked ninth among Montana's top 100 influential individuals of the twentieth century and was posthumously honored with induction into the National Mining Hall of Fame in 2005. Historian Carrie Johnson chronicled his ascent in Montana – The Magazine of Western History.