Daniel Schulman - The Money Kings: The Epic Story of the Jewish Immigrants Who Transformed Wall Street and Shaped Modern America

Joseph Seligman arrived in the United States in 1837 with $100 sewn into his pants. Following him were the Lehman brothers, who opened a general store in Alabama, and Solomon Loeb and Marcus Goldman, fleeing anti-Semitic Germany. These immigrants quickly transitioned from peddling goods to founding major investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Kuhn Loeb, Lehman Brothers, and J. & W. Seligman & Co. They interacted with tycoons like J. P. Morgan and E. H. Harriman and played pivotal roles in transforming the U.S. into a financial superpower, underwriting companies like General Motors, Macy’s, and Sears. The Money Kings, illustrates the rise of these financial dynasties, amid the antisemitism of the Gilded Age, the Civil War, World War I, and the Zionist movement. Their story is intertwined with the destiny of millions of Eastern European Jews arriving in New York Harbor in the early 1900s, including Schulman’s grandparents. 

Sponsored by: Townsend Foundation / Judy Nadell & John Langan