When you are the owner of any company you are in the driver seat. Any financial decision with White Star Line is through the company boss. As JP Morgan has brought the White Star Line lock stock & barrel in October 1902. You want to read some the biographies books of Mr JP MORGAN. Like:The House of Morgan and Morgan by Jean Strouse books they all come to the same conclusion. Morgan has paid far too much for the shipping companies in forming IMMC. Remember Morgan is a banker and finance man. What known about the shipping world is not an awful lot! He realise on good sound finical advise. As he done in the past with his railroad, tractors & agricultural, electric and the most expensive companies the steel industrial. But this time he was not to get the best advise in forming IMMC. The man he relied on was Clement Griscom of American Line who is fighting is own battle in trying to get a foot hold in the North Atlantic shipping trade. As it is the European shipping companies that dominate the route. We can see changes happing in Europe too were at one time it was the British who had over 80% of the market. Britain faces fierce competition coming from France and Germany. Especial Germany. With two fast raising shipping companies Hamburg America Line and North Deutschland Lloyd. Its Mr Albert Ballin of Hamburg America is the smartest and shrewdest business man on the planet when coming to the shipping world. The deal Ballin struck with Morgan the profit shearing of the Germany shipping companies was a great deal for them but not for Morgan as lands up subsidising passenger fares. Not only that Morgan will in counting others in the shipping world who known a lot more than that he does when coming to the business end and drive hard bargains at Morgan expensive We can see frustration is boiling over here. As by 1890 the America has become the largest economy in the world, yet so little is been shipped with America shipping companies. Morgan is to run into a political battle with the British Government. The French & Germany Governments make very clear to Morgan that you are not to take over our shipping companies. The deal he struck with the British Government was not the best deal for a private commercial company. Morgan finds too he is to get no help from the America Government who never wanted him to spend so much out side of America. I have study books on Mr JP Morgan life background in detail. To put into a nut shell Morgan is just taking on far too much at the same time with the other business deals. With his age and health starting catch up with him. Remember he is in his mid sixty life expectation in those days you can always added another ten years on. No computers or calculators the quick thinking Morgan with numbers which was very good at is having to deal with younger tycoons who can think quicker that he can.
Morgan face other issues in America as the President William Mc Kinley the man who he paid his party to put there was assassinated and were President Theodore Roosevelt took over and did shear the same point of views. Were Roosevelt and Morgan would fall out quickly followed by nasty battles between the two of them. If that wasn't bad enough Morgan faced a five month coal strike in America which was to have a serious in pack on his railroad, steel and coal companies. We can see a chick in Morgan armoury with the Carnegie steel company. Were that canny Scotsman Andrew Carnegie pull off the deal of the century selling the worlds biggest steel company for a record price of $480 million. Still stands at a record price today of individual to so much for a company. Morgan never made any temp to beat the man down on price to! Which is not like Morgan at all as with so many other companies he never paid the going price. Todays value over $14 billon. It would take another seventy years to better that figure with corporation companies.
Morgan is the largest private banker in the world he also the central and federal bank of America and has control of America Governments gold reservoirs. Of the 112 corporations in America he is the finical adviser for 78 corporations on the board of Directors of 72 companies. But his success come at a price. He his a ruthless, cunning, deceiving ,heartless brutal business man. He has a chilling personal about him. 6ft 3in broad shoulder cold daggered starry eyes with a temper. Very intimidating. As describe when walking into a room it felt like a wind or Gail had blown in. He has awesome power over the America economy to the point of nearly spinning a spider web over the economy. I hope you are getting the flavour of this man and what you will have to put up with. Mr B Ismay position in the White Star Line changes to. As Morgan brought the company Ismay becomes an employee not a employer working for Morgan. All the profits White Star makes are under Morgan control what to with! One can clearly see with so many deals Morgan is involve with how can he think straight any more as a business man. Of all the big deals it is the IMMC takes the longest and most complicated. Morgan come close in backing out of the deal but as he had already starting spending money before forming IMMC and found it hard to walk away. He was in finical trouble from day one with IMMC. The fly in the oil was that Cunard Line not joining his combine. But worse still the British Government gave Cunard a very special loan of £2.6 million interest rate of only 2.75% over a twenty year period to build two new high speed luxury liners. Lusitania and Mauritania. Further more gave Cunard £150,000 per year maintenance cost for the two new super liners. With a further £70,000 per year Royal Mail contract. This is utter gift not to be turn down.
! The two new luxury liners the worlds biggest at the time were the state of art of new technology with steam turbines and modern steering gear. Captured the blue ribbon crossing record by second crossing and held on to it for 22 years. This are the ships that the passengers want to sail on. Taking sales away from White Star. When in business you must always look were the competition and threats are coming from. Clearly Morgan never saw this coming. Mr B Ismay in 1904 becomes the President of IMMC. The job he never wanted in the first place and was Morgan third choice. Morgan had a major shake up with the Directors of IMMC. Were Mr C Giscom was removed and blamed him for the finical mess. Morgan wanted Mr A Ballin of Hamburg America. But he turned down the job. Were poor old Ismay got lumbered with the job. To be a President you need to be out going personality. Ismay was not good at that and was a rather shy man due to his back ground of his overbearing dominating father. There is no doubt Ismay tried his hardest to turn the fortune of IMMC around but was impossible task. White Star with other lines were making a profits. But not enough to recover Morgan investments plan. How many times do I see Mr B Ismay is the owner of the Titanic? If he does not own the shipping company how can he be the owner? The true owner of TITANIC is Mr JP MORGAN.
He is the one who arranged the finical arrangement to build the two new ships Olympic and Titanic.
Mike.