Thomas
Ryan,
the son of Irish immigrants, was born
in Lovington, Virginia, on 17th October, 1851. Orphaned at the age
of fourteen, moved to New York in 1872
and two years later began working at the New York Stock Exchange.
In 1892 he helped establish the Metropolitan Street Railway Company
and the Metropolitan Traction Company. Ryan also had interests in
the coal, oil, rubber and lead industries. Through a series of mergers
Ryan developed a controlling interest in the American Tobacco Company
and in 1905 purchased the Equitable Life Assurance Company.
In 1908 Ryan was investigated for corruption but the grand-jury decided
against bringing charges against him. When Thomas Ryan died on 23rd
November, 1928, he left a fortune of more than $200 million.
Last
updated: 26th July, 2002
(1)
Alfred
Henry Lewis wrote about Thomas F. Ryan
in Cosmopolitan
Magazine (April, 1906)
Mayors are his office-boys, governors come and go at his call. He
possesses himself a party and selects a candidate for the presidency.
Tammany Hall is a dog for his hunting, and he breaks city council
to his money-will as folk break horses to harness.
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