Henry Baldwin Hyde
Encyclopedia
Henry Baldwin Hyde, founded The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States in 1859. It became, by the year of Hyde's death, the largest life insurance company in the world.
Hyde sought to guarantee that his son James Hazen Hyde
would continue the family’s control of the company after his death. James Hazen Hyde was twenty-three when he inherited the majority shares in the billion-dollar Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1899. Five years later, at the pinnacle of social and financial success, he made one fatal miscalculation, and set in motion the first great Wall Street
scandal of the twentieth century.
On the last night of January 1905, James Hazen Hyde
(vice president of Equitable from 1899 to 1905) gave one of the most fabulous costume balls of the Gilded Age
. Falsely accused through a media smear campaign
initiated by board directors E. H. Harriman
, Henry Clay Frick
, J.P. Morgan, and company President James Waddel Alexander
of charging the $200,000 party to his company, Hyde soon found himself drawn into a maelstrom of allegations of his corporate malfeasance. The shocking revelations almost caused a Wall Street panic and resulted in an investigation of the entire insurance industry by the State of New York
.
Frick attempted to wheedle James Hazen Hyde's removal from the United States to France by seeking an appointment for him to become United States Ambassador to France
. Frick had engaged a similar stratagem when orchestrating the ouster of John George Alexander Leishman
from the presidency of Carnegie Steel a decade beforehand. In that instance, Leishman had chosen to accept the post as ambassador to Switzerland. Hyde, however, rebuffed Frick's plan. Hyde did, nonetheless, remove to France where he served as an ambulance driver during World War I and lived until the outbreak of World War II. Ironically, while in France, Hyde married Leishman's eldest daughter, Marthe.
The Equitable Life Assurance Society was renamed AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company
in September 2004, after it was purchased by the French financial giant AXA
.
AXA Equitable is still one of the nation's premier providers of life insurance, annuities and other financial instruments.
Hyde sought to guarantee that his son James Hazen Hyde
James Hazen Hyde
James Hazen Hyde was the son of Henry Baldwin Hyde, the founder of The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. James Hazen Hyde was twenty-three when he inherited the majority shares in the billion-dollar Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1899...
would continue the family’s control of the company after his death. James Hazen Hyde was twenty-three when he inherited the majority shares in the billion-dollar Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1899. Five years later, at the pinnacle of social and financial success, he made one fatal miscalculation, and set in motion the first great Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
scandal of the twentieth century.
On the last night of January 1905, James Hazen Hyde
James Hazen Hyde
James Hazen Hyde was the son of Henry Baldwin Hyde, the founder of The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. James Hazen Hyde was twenty-three when he inherited the majority shares in the billion-dollar Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1899...
(vice president of Equitable from 1899 to 1905) gave one of the most fabulous costume balls of the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
. Falsely accused through a media smear campaign
Smear campaign
A smear campaign, smear tactic or simply smear is a metaphor for activity that can harm an individual or group's reputation by conflation with a stigmatized group...
initiated by board directors E. H. Harriman
E. H. Harriman
Edward Henry Harriman was an American railroad executive.-Early years:Harriman was born in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman, an Episcopal clergyman, and Cornelia Neilson...
, Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel steel manufacturing concern...
, J.P. Morgan, and company President James Waddel Alexander
James Waddel Alexander
James Waddel Alexander was an American Presbyterian minister and theologian who followed in the footsteps of his father, Rev. Archibald Alexander.-Early life:...
of charging the $200,000 party to his company, Hyde soon found himself drawn into a maelstrom of allegations of his corporate malfeasance. The shocking revelations almost caused a Wall Street panic and resulted in an investigation of the entire insurance industry by the State of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Frick attempted to wheedle James Hazen Hyde's removal from the United States to France by seeking an appointment for him to become United States Ambassador to France
United States Ambassador to France
This article is about the United States Ambassador to France. There has been a United States Ambassador to France since the American Revolution. The United States sent its first envoys to France in 1776, towards the end of the four-centuries-old Bourbon dynasty...
. Frick had engaged a similar stratagem when orchestrating the ouster of John George Alexander Leishman
John George Alexander Leishman
John George Alexander Leishman was an American businessman and diplomat. He worked in various executive positions at Carnegie Steel Company and later served as an ambassador for the United States.-Biography:...
from the presidency of Carnegie Steel a decade beforehand. In that instance, Leishman had chosen to accept the post as ambassador to Switzerland. Hyde, however, rebuffed Frick's plan. Hyde did, nonetheless, remove to France where he served as an ambulance driver during World War I and lived until the outbreak of World War II. Ironically, while in France, Hyde married Leishman's eldest daughter, Marthe.
The Equitable Life Assurance Society was renamed AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company
AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company
AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, formerly The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, also known as The Equitable, was founded by Henry Baldwin Hyde in 1859. In 1991, AXA, a French insurance company, acquired majority control of The Equitable...
in September 2004, after it was purchased by the French financial giant AXA
AXA
AXA S.A. is a French global insurance group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. AXA is a conglomerate of independently run businesses, operated according to the laws and regulations of many different countries. The AXA group of companies engage in life, health and other forms of...
.
AXA Equitable is still one of the nation's premier providers of life insurance, annuities and other financial instruments.