Halle & Stieglitz

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Halle & Stieglitz
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1890
FounderStanley J. Halle
Area served
Paris
Lugano
Switzerland
Key people
Jacques S. Halle (co-founder)
Roy Neuberger

The 1890s-founded Halle & Stieglitz brokerage, was described in 1970 as having "an extensive brokerage and underwriting business ... switched from a partnership to a corporation."[1] About three years later they absorbed another brokerage and became Halle & Stieglitz, Filor Bullard Inc.[2]

The merger more than doubled their count of domestic offices, which went from eight[1] to eighteen,[2] "and foreign offices in Paris and Lugano, Switzerland."[3]

Partnership[edit]

The New York Times reported on the growth of the firm, as it added partners.[4][5]

Corporation[edit]

When the firm became a corporation in 1970,[1] it named Stanley J. Halle,[6] a son of the firm's co-founder Jacques S. Halle, as honorary chairman of the board. The son had joined the firm decades prior, becoming "a general partner in 1915 and senior partner in 1950."[7]

Timing[edit]

Stanley Halle became a general partner a year before his father died,[8] and was appointed honorary chairman 2 years before he died.[7]

Lawsuit by them against Empress[edit]

In 1977, the company filed a lawsuit, Halle & Stieglitz, Filor, Bullard Inc. v. Empress Int'l, Ltd[9] accusing Empress of having taken "advantage of ... the public stockholders" in what was described as "... coercive ... and intrinsically unfair."

The firm was able to cut some of their losses, but went ahead anyway. Several hundred public investors who held Empress stock but were unlikely to fight individually benefitted from Halle & Stieglitz taking this case to court,[10] and they persisted even though the federal judge seemed to be unwilling to intervene.[11]

Empress was founded essentially as a family trust fund, but expanded to take in money from outside investors, and then turned around to cut losses, seemingly, according to the lawsuit,[12] to benefit themselves at the expense of the outsiders.[9] The loss was significant: the stock had opened at $14.50 per share and Empress was offering to buy it back at $4.50/share.

Other fame[edit]

Roy Neuberger, hired by Halle & Stieglitz in 1929 as a "runner" for $15 per week,[13] met his future wife in 1930, a year later, as a fellow employee.[14]

80th anniversary[edit]

Economist Milton Friedman spoke in 1970 on the occasion of the firm's 80th anniversary.[15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c John J. Abele (January 6, 1970). "Financier Becomes Chief Executive". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b "Halle and Filor Merge". NYTimes.com. December 27, 1972. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  3. ^ By 1972 the Times reported a third foreign office
  4. ^ 1951: "Joining Halle & Stieglitz". The New York Times. December 17, 1951. p. B47.
  5. ^ 1955: "New Halle & Stieglitz Partner". The New York Times. 9 December 1955.
  6. ^ Stanley Jacques: "Stanley Jacques Halle (1891 - 1972)".
  7. ^ a b "Stanley J. Halle, stockbroker, 81". The New York Times. July 18, 1972.
  8. ^ "Jacques S. Halle dies". New York Herald. December 2, 1916. p. 5.
  9. ^ a b "HALLE & STIEGLITZ, FILOR, ETC. v. Empress Intern., Ltd., 442 F. Supp. 217 (D. Del. 1977)". November 2, 1977.
  10. ^ "to bring this action on behalf of all shareholders of Empress, other than defendants"
  11. ^ limiting his right to rule as "confined to cases that pose questions of true federal significance." In effect, sometimes people lose money, and even if something wrong was done, the stock market is not meant to always help money.
  12. ^ Edward P. Welch; Robert S. Saunders; Allison L. Land (2016). Folk on the Delaware General Corporation Law: Fundamentals, 2017 Edition. ISBN 978-1454872450.
  13. ^ Edward Wyatt (December 24, 2010). "Roy R. Neuberger Dies at 107; Applied a Stock Trader's Acumen to Art". The New York Times.
  14. ^ "20th century financial titan Neuberger dies at 107". Reuters. December 25, 2010. .. met .. Marie Salant, an economics graduate of Bryn Mawr College, at .. Halle & Stieglitz Co
  15. ^ "Address commemorating the 80th Anniversary of Halle & Stieglitz". March 5, 1970.
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