Weill's Ride to the Summit He buys firms on the cheap and builds them up 1933 Born in Brooklyn, the son of a Polish immigrant dressmaker. 1955 Graduates from Cornell University and begins his Wall Street career as a low-paid messenger for Bear Stearns Cos. 1960 With three friends, founds the brokerage firm of Carter, Berlind, Potoma & Weill. 1970s Expands by buying prestigious but ailing firms such as Hayden Stone, Shearson Hamill, and Loeb Rhoades. 1981 Sells Shearson Loeb Rhoades to American Express for $930 million in stock. 1983 Becomes AmEx president. 1985 Quits as AmEx president after it becomes clear he will not succeed James Robinson as CEO. Fails in attempt to take over BankAmerica Corp. 1986 Spins off Commercial Credit from Control Data in an IPO worth $850 million. 1988 Acquires Primerica, which includes Smith Barney, a brokerage house, and the A.L. Williams insurance company, for $1.5 billion. Later sells several divisions, such as Fingerhut. 1992 Buys 27% of stock of insurer Travelers for $722 million. 1993 Acquires Shearson brokerage operation from American Express for $1.2 billion. Buys remainder of Travelers with $4 billion in stock. 1996 Buys the property and casualty business of Aetna Life & Casualty for $4 billion. 1997 Weill's daughter, Jessica Bibliowicz, quits a top job at Travelers. Weill agrees to buy Salomon Inc., parent of Salomon Brothers Inc., for more than $9 billion in stock. Return to main story

Updated Sept. 25, 1997 by bwwebmaster
Copyright 1997, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use