All language subtitles for Titans.The.Rise.of.Wall.Street.S01E03.CHANGING.OF.THE.GUARD.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-TEPES

- In
just under 50 years,

JP Morgan has
transformed America.

- JP Morgan was the
man at the center

of every major industrial
deal in the United States.

He was the builder of
the American economy.

- After turning
president Teddy Roosevelt

from adversary to ally,

he has reshaped
American industry

and helped the United
States become a world power.

Making Wall Street the
capital of American finance

and Morgan the undisputed ruler.

- JP Morgan was by far the most
powerful banker of the era.

- JP Morgan was known
as Jupiter and Zeus

because he was essentially
the king of Wall Street.

- Now JP Morgan
faces his greatest challenge:

Preparing his son to take over

the Morgan dynasty.

- Now in his 70s,

JP Morgan has
reached the pinnacle;

the most powerful
financier in the world.

But like his father before him,

JP realizes his most important
work is securing his legacy.

- You wanted to see me.

- Morgan
plans to retire

and begins the transfer of power

to his only son,

John Pierpont Morgan Jr.,

better known as Jack.

And though these two
men share a name,

the similarities end there.

- JP Morgan has such an
overpowering personality,

which Jack Morgan did not.

He didn't have that
almost magical quality

that his father had.

- JP and Jack did not have

a close, warm relationship.

In some cases, it was a
relationship of its time.

I don't think there was a lot

of emotional exchange or
emotional warmth between them.

- Despite
their differences,

Jack reveres his father.

Wanting nothing more

than to strengthen
their relationship

and build on his legacy.

- Jack Morgan was
in the situation

of trying to decide
what to do next,

what would be the expansion
on what his father has built.

- JP has
entrusted everything

he's built to his son.

The question remains:

Will Jack succeed
or fail his father?

While many Wall
Street banks wonder

if Jack can build
on JPs legacy...

- Thank you, James.

- At the up and
coming investment bank,

Goldman Sachs, it's
a different story.

Samuel Sachs has no interest

in trying to compete
with the Morgans.

But the firm's other
managing partner is ready

to take them on.

His name is Henry Goldman.

The son of the firm's founder,

Goldman's path to Wall
Street took a detour

when he shocked his family

by dropping out of Harvard

after one year,

taking a job

as a traveling salesman.

- The one part of your inventory

where I can see room for growth:

table linens.

Now, I know that you
carry them, but...

- Henry Goldman was
extremely bright

and he was willing
to take risks.

I think part of that is related

to being a salesman.

As a salesman, you have
to be more outgoing,

you have to look at
things differently.

- From New York to Maine,

they're not able to keep
those on the shelves.

Why should Pennsylvania
be any different?

- Henry Goldman
was the kind of guy

who wouldn't just go
along with the crowd,

but it was always
assumed he would come

into the firm.

- After
finally joining the bank,

Goldman is determined to chart

a new direction for the firm.

- We now have a window
to do whatever we want.

That's what we've
been waiting for.

- I haven't been
waiting for anything.

- Yes, but as partners,

we need to be flexible,
willing to compromise.

That's what my father
would've wanted.

- No, your father
wanted me to keep you

from gambling his
company into ruin.

- Like many
Jewish investment banks,

to be a partner
at Goldman Sachs,

you have to be family.

- Samuel Sachs married
the youngest daughter

of Marcus Goldman.

And when Henry Goldman came into

the Goldman Sachs
banking operation,

Goldman's father had confidence

in Samuel's ability
to manage operations,

and he did not have that
confidence yet with Henry.

- If he asks where I went,

just tell him I went for a walk.

- And why don't you
tell me yourself?

- Because talking with
you exhausts me, Sam.

- Even though Sachs
has married into the family,

he was given more
responsibility,

and now believes he knows
what's best for the firm.

- The relationship
was fraught with

different personality issues.

Henry was much more
willing to take risks,

whereas Samuel Sachs wanted
to just maintain business.

- On top of a
contentious partnership,

as a Jewish firm,

Goldman Sachs faces a struggle:

To break through Wall
Street's old guard.

- Goldman Sachs wasn't
engaged in the kind

of banking operations that

the major financial
institutions were engaged in.

And the establishment
had no interest

in allowing any Jewish
firms to come in.

- At that time, at the
turn of the 20th century,

when many big
industrial companies,

railroads steel
companies, banks,

were raising the capital,

those underwritings were done by

the historically white
Anglo-Saxon Protestant firms,

like JP Morgan,

and firms like Goldman
Sachs were cut out

of those offerings,

and Henry Goldman wanted in.

- Goldman has a plan:

To beat bigger
firms like JP Morgan

at their own game.

In 1905,

Chicago based mail order
company, Sears and Roebuck,

has had its best year yet.

Sears co-owner, Julius
Rosenwald, wants to expand

and grow beyond the company's
rural customer base.

To do that,

he needs a five million
dollar infusion of capital.

But Wall Street's biggest
banks aren't interested

in lending Sears money.

They believe investing in
retail is too speculative

and many look down on it

for other reasons.

- There was a certain amount

of antisemitism
associated with retailers,

and I think that
played a big part,

where even if a retailer

like Sears Roebuck
had significant sales,

they were still shunned by

the major financial
institutions.

- To take
Sears to the next level.

Goldman wants to try something

that's never been done before.

To put his plan into action,

Goldman needs the
approval of Samuel Sachs.

- So what do you think?

- Well, at first glance,

the books seems solid enough,

but there doesn't seem to be
much opportunity for growth.

- That's what I
thought, at first.

Then, I thought again.

I thought different.

- What is that suppose to mean?

- Sears's this opportunity
for growth is limitless

if we take them public.

- Public?

- The value is there, we
just have to unlock it.

- No.

- No?
- No.

I'm not going to let you
risk the firm's money

because you're bored.

- Bored.

My apologies, Julius.

Sometimes, my partner and
I do not see eye to eye.

- Goldman
believes their firm can be

the first Wall Street bank

to take a retail store public,

selling shares on the
New York Stock Exchange

and putting Goldman
Sachs on the same level

as banks like the
House of Morgan.

- Henry Goldman was a visionary.

He had a different idea
of how you value companies

whose value was
not ascertainable

in the same old fashioned
accounting method

that was employed
by the major banks.

- Unlike the
Wall Street establishment,

Goldman believes that retail is

a safe investment.

And he's developed a
system that shows investors

just how profitable
retail stores

like Sears will be.

- One of the reasons
industrial companies were

a little bit more accessible
and easy to value was

the hard assets themselves
served as collateral.

The model that Goldman used
for bringing you Sears public

and really looking at
its future prospects,

as opposed to its
current condition,

is something that
was revolutionary.

- To go out there
to the investors

and convince them to
buy into something based

on the value of
what it could be,

not what it is,

that was revolution.

This idea here that
future value is

what you're really buying.

- Goldman
believes his idea will work

and change the face
of Wall Street.

If Samuel Sachs is
unwilling to take a risk,

Goldman believes he
knows someone who will.

- Philip.
- Henry.

Sorry, I'm late.
- No, not to worry.

Anytime out of the office
these days is a blessing.

- Philip
Lehman is the eldest son

of one of the founding partners

of Lehman brothers,

and now a senior
partner at the firm.

- The Lehman brothers, a
Jewish immigrant family,

starts off with a dry
goods business in Alabama.

Instead of taking money,

sometimes they
would take cotton,

and sell it on a
worldwide market.

And that meant they
got a knowledge

about the financial industry,

leading to the founding
of their bank in New York.

- Heirs
to competing firms,

Goldman and Lehman
should be rivals.

But the two have maintained
a friendship since childhood.

- Philip Lehman and
Henry Goldman were

very, very close friends.

They would dine almost daily.

- I want to take Sears public.

- Really?

- Where's the value?
- It's there.

Maybe not today, but it will be

if we provide the
necessary capital.

- What if you're wrong?
- I'm not.

This sector is a sleeping giant.

And Sears' potential...

I'll just show you the numbers.

I think this is a once in
a lifetime opportunity.

- If this opportunity is
as good as you say it is,

why not do it yourself?

Why get me involved at all?

- Samuel.

- Lehman
doesn't want to get caught

in the middle of
Goldman's feud with Sachs,

but decides it's too good
an opportunity to pass up.

- Philip was also a risk taker

and saw the possibility
of underwriting together

as a very promising opportunity.

- When
rumors surface about

the potential partnership,

Sachs is furious.

One of the company's
rules is that

all partners must
agree on any deal.

- Henry Goldman had to
get Samuel Sachs to agree

to proceed with something
he was not comfortable with.

- Though
Sachs is upset,

Goldman's decision
to bring in Lehman

to share the risk
ends up convincing him

to agree to the deal.

- The fact that he brought
in Philip Lehman allayed

some of Samuel Sachs' concern.

- You can understand
the Sachs' wanting

to share the risk
of doing the deal

because capital was going
to have to be expended,

especially if
something went wrong.

- When the day Sears
goes public finally arrives,

all eyes are on Henry Goldman.

His bold prediction for the
company's future has many

on Wall Street thinking

this could blow up in his face.

- S, that's Sears, that's us.

$20.

- Including
Samuel Sachs.

- Here we go.

- But from the
very start of trading,

Sears is on the rise.

With an unexpectedly heavy
trading volume driving

the price upward,

Sears is outperforming

even the most
optimistic expectations.

At the close of trading,

its price has doubled.

When Rosenwald
approached Goldman,

he was looking for
five million dollars.

The IPO raises over 40 million;

The modern day equivalent
of over $1.2 billion.

Instantly transforming
the company

into one of the world's
biggest retailers.

With the windfall,

Sears purchases of 55 acre lot

in the heart of Chicago;

home to its new headquarters

and distribution center,

where they process 10 times

the inventory they could before.

Utilizing an assembly line
technique so innovative,

Henry Ford pays a
visit to study it.

They also pumped money
into increased advertising

and improved distribution.

- Sears and Roebuck
was absolutely

the Amazon of its time.

You could buy auto supplies,

you could buy appliances,

you could buy clothing,

you could buy school supplies.

You could buy almost
anything you wanted

and then order it from
the catalog at Sears,

and it grew
extraordinarily quickly.

- As
demand increases,

profits soared,

just as Henry Goldman predicted.

And Goldman Sachs
isn't looking back.

- Before the Sears Roebuck IPO,

Goldman Sachs, as we know
it today, just didn't exist.

Convincing a company like Sears

to do its IPO and
do it through him,

it was a huge coup for Goldman,

it was a huge coup
for that company.

- While Goldman
Sachs has been changing

the face of Wall Street,

a different kind
of change has come

to the house of Morgan.

While JP maintained an iron grip

on every facet of
the bank's business,

Jack is less sure of himself,

and delegates many
day-to-day responsibilities

to his partners.

But in a rapidly
changing market,

JP is worried that
Jack's refusal

to take control could cause
the firm to fall behind.

After the Sears deal,

Goldman Sachs and
Lehman dive head first

into the retail market.

They take companies like
May Department Stores,

Underwood Typewriter,
and BF Goodrich public,

bringing in millions of
commissions for the firm.

But it's only the beginning.

Soon, Goldman unveils
his biggest IPO yet;

Woolworth's.

- The Woolworth public
offering went through the roof.

It was extremely successful.

- The $65
million offering sends

the stock price soaring,

up almost 50% the first day.

The massive cash influx
fuels an ambitious expansion

of FW Woolworth's
five and dime empire.

It also pays for
the construction

of an iconic monument
to the company.

- The Woolworth building,

designed by Cass Gilbert,

one of the preeminent
architects of the time,

it was at one point the
tallest building in the world.

At the dinner that
Mr. Woolworth had

to celebrate the opening,

he had Cass Gilbert
on one side of him

and Henry Goldman on the other.

He stood up and said,

"These are the two men that
made this building possible."

- Henry Goldman
is the hottest name

on Wall Street.

Now, everyone is waiting
to see his next move.

- You gotta hear this.

"In every line of endeavor,

"some one product
stands out distinctly

"because of its character,

"its unquestioned superiority.

"In the automobile field,

"that product is
the Studebaker 40."

- Well...

- I know what
you're going to say,

I know you're going to say.

"Jack Morgan passed."

So what?

- So maybe Jack Morgan
knows something.

- He's not God.

He's not even his father.

Come on, look at these cars.

Look at them, they're beautiful.

This company has the
know-how to succeed,

they just need the money
and the management skill

to make it a reality.

If Jack Morgan can't see that,

he's making a big
mistake and we...

We're going to
make him regret it.

- Fred, I wonder if
you wouldn't give us

just a moment here?

- Of course.

- For God's sake,
Samuel, take a risk

for once in your life--

- Don't start with that again.

- What would you have me do?
- Look, Henry!

I admit that I was
wrong about Sears.

You saw something
there that I didn't,

and I'm grateful that
you stuck to your guns,

but this is different.
- How?

- Sears was a solid company,

Studebaker isn't.
- This is where we come in.

- Henry!

We are bankers, not
corporate titans.

- Samuel, what is it you want?

If you work with me on this,

I will make the same
concession to you.

On any deal that you
bring me, I will owe you.

You have my word.

That's how much I
believe in this.

- The answer's no.

That's my final decision.

- And you made it before a
word came out of my mouth.

- Henry
Goldman believes cars are

the next great
American industry.

But Samuel Sachs
knows reputation is

the most important part of
taking a company public,

and Studebaker's is damaged.

Founded in 1868 in
South Bend, Indiana,

Studebaker made its name as

the nation's largest
carriage-maker.

With an investment from
the house of Morgan,

it has grown into the second
largest car company in America.

But when they
approached Jack Morgan

for additional
capital to expand,

Morgan takes a partner's advice

and turns them down,

convinced Studebaker
isn't worth the risk.

Now, they've turned
to Henry Goldman.

- Henry Goldman knew that
management capability existed,

and Studebaker, ability
to manufacture was there,

the ability to use
resources properly was

already in place.

But many of the cars that
Studebaker had produced were

not up to snuff,

and Studebaker had debt.

- Despite
Studebaker's troubles,

Goldman isn't concerned.

- Henry Goldman felt that
public offerings were

not just for growth,

that you can eliminate
debt in the company

which would allow
the company to grow.

Whereas others
may have felt that

if a company was
riddled with debt,

that the risk was too great.

- But his
partner feels differently.

- Sachs saw that if Morgan
was unwilling to take risks,

why should Goldman
Sachs take risk?

- To win Sachs over,

Goldman makes a bold move

to resuscitate
Studebaker's reputation.

- Henry Goldman decided to fund,

sending mechanics
all over the country

in order to ensure that
cars were completed

and repaired properly,

and I think the public
really appreciated that

because it wasn't being done

by other automobile
companies at the time.

It was kind of an
early warranty system

that we see today.

- Goldman's
idea is a huge success.

Studebaker's reputation is saved

and sales increase.

His hard work not only
turns Studebaker around,

it wins Sachs over.

Finally convincing him that
the IPO is worth the risk.

With payments coming due
on Studebaker's debt,

They hope it can
raise enough capital

to make Studebaker profitable

and ready to take on Ford.

The Studebaker IPO is Goldman
Sachs' biggest gamble yet.

No car company has
ever been taken public.

But once again,

Henry Goldman hits the jackpot

as Studebaker emerges
with a valuation

of over $43 million,

over 20 times what
it was worth before,

and the modern day equivalent

of over a billion dollars.

It's debts paid and its
reputation restored,

Studebaker is soon thriving

and almost every
automobile company

in America is
looking to go public.

- When the automobile
industry first started,

it was really for
very rich people.

But in order to take
it to the next level,

to mass produce automobiles
for the American middle-class,

they needed IPOs
to get the cash.

And now, Wall Street
was there to provide it.

- The Studebaker
deal has brought Goldman Sachs

to an even higher
level of influence

on Wall Street.

But with Henry Goldman
taking most of the credit

for the firm's success,

Samuel Sachs is worried

he could be getting
pushed to the side.

Meanwhile, at the
house of Morgan,

the loss of Studebaker has
cost the bank millions,

and raised doubts about Jack.

- Give this to my son.

You should've seen this coming.

Jack,

our clients, our competitors,

even the government,

they don't respect us
because of the money.

They respect us because
we do not make mistakes.

Protecting our power means
protecting our reputation.

Do you understand?
- Yes.

Yes, sir.

It won't happen again.

- Good.

I always hired the
best man on the street.

Not just the best I could find,

but the very best.

Now, they work for you.

- I always consult Lamont
and Perkins as needed.

- Too heavily.

At the end of the day,

the decisions I made were mine,

and mine alone.

More often than not,
that meant ignoring

the rest and going my own way.

- You built all
we have, I will...

I will do my utmost to
follow in your footsteps.

- No.

No, that's just it, son.

You need to find your own way.

- Jack Morgan, like the
offspring of any major figure,

paled in comparison in
the eyes of many people.

Even though he looked
like his father,

they knew he wasn't his father.

He suffered from the insecurity

and the comparison to a father

who had built so much.

- JP
Morgan's reputation

as the world's most
powerful banker

still looms large over his son,

his business,

and the nation.

But even he might be helpless

to stop the crisis that's coming

At the heart of it all is

a man named Charles Barney.

- Charles Barney was head
of The Knickerbocker Trust.

- A banker with
an impeccable reputation

for stability,

Barney has recently grown
Knickerbocker's holdings

from $11 million
to over 65 million.

Trust banks were meant to be

the safest place to keep money,

but Charles Barney hasn't
been playing it safe.

- There is a danger sometimes

when investors,
traders, bankers expose

some of that human side,

and if that ego
starts to run amok,

it starts to control you.

- After a series of

increasingly risky investments,

Barney's luck runs out

as many of Knickerbockers
bets go bust.

As one of the largest
institutions on Wall Street,

if Knickerbocker collapses,

it could trigger a
panic that could take

the US economy down.

Desperate to reverse
his bank's fortunes,

Barney takes his
biggest risk yet.

- Several people
approached Charles Barney

to help them corner
the copper market.

- The gambit fails,

causing copper stocks
to plummet 35 points

in just two hours.

As word spreads, panic sets in

as a run on the bank sends
stocks tumbling even further,

unleashing pandemonium.

With no governmental agency
to help stabilize the market,

Wall Street turns to JP Morgan.

- Let's see what
we're dealing with.

- Well,

the tables are current
as of yesterday,

but the reserves are
dropping by the minute.

We can request more
up-to-date figures.

- This is for Knickerbocker.

- Yes, that's correct.

The run does seem
isolated to them for now.

- We already know
Knickerbocker is failing.

- It's certainly no
secret about that.

- So,

what is there to learn in here?

- You want the reports
on the other trusts,

the ones we don't have
any information on.

Let me see what I can find.

- People were starting to
lose confidence and trust,

and the result was
that Morgan needed

to give assurance to
the American public

and to financial circles

that he had it under control.

- With the rest of
the financial world watching,

Morgan knows he needs to act

quickly and decisively.

- No need to sit.

- Of course, of course.

- Knickerbocker is insolvent

and I'm shutting it down.

- Mr. Morgan, if
I could just have

a moment to explain what ha...

- I don't have time for
explanations, Charles.

I need to think of the
market's wellbeing.

I suggest you do the same.

- I'm truly sorry.

Sir, I know this looks bad,

but I truly believe that
Knickerbocker can be saved.

If I could just have
an hour of your time

to sit and go over the numbers,

I'm sure that we could
devise a way to s...

Thank you for your time.

- One reason that Morgan
was as powerful as he was,

was that in earlier crises,

he had known which cards to fold

and which cards to hold.

Morgan was a realist,

and he understood that
not everybody came out

of these crises whole.

- For Charles Barney,

the humiliation of his fold

is more than he can bear.

Barney's suicide
sends shock waves

across the financial world.

As a bank run on one
trust company becomes

a run on them all.

Almost overnight,

countless banks face collapse

as frightened depositors
rushed to withdraw their money

before it's too late.

When the banks fail to calm
their panicking depositors,

they panic as well

and, in a desperate
attempt to raise cash,

begin to liquidate
their holdings.

- If you look at
all these panics,

they all have one
thing in common.

There tends to be
a crucial element

of human psychology
that comes into play

when things go wrong.

Everyone tries to
head for the door,

everyone tries to sort
of fold their cards.

But at the end of the day,

Wall Street really is more
about human psychology

and how humans react to things.

- Soon,
investors across

the country begin to sell;

the crash now threatening even

the largest
companies in America,

including JP Morgan's US Steel.

Now, stock exchange
president, Ransom Thomas,

wants to close
the exchange early

to put a stop to the selloff,

and try and stave off disaster.

Morgan knows a
market closure could

end up breaking the economy.

- Baker.

Summon Ransom Thomas.

- Typically, whenever an
exchange needs to close,

it's a really bad sign.

And usually,
whenever it reopens,

it's a really bad day,

which is why stock markets
do everything possible

to avoid closing.

- You will not close the market.

Not one minute before 3:00 PM.

I will deal with the market,

is that understood?

- Morgan said, "That is
simply raising a white flag,

"and all that's
going to happen is

"you'll buy a couple of hours

"and next day, the
sky will fall."

- With the
market now teetering

on the brink of collapse,

JP Morgan has a radical idea,

one that's never been tried

in the history of Wall Street,

that could save the economy

and cement his standing

as the undisputed
king of finance.

With just over an hour
of trading remaining,

Morgan summons Wall Street's
most prominent bankers

to his office and
issues an ultimatum:

Raise $25 million to pump into

the market before closing.

- He had the power to pull
bankers into a room and say,

"We're not leaving
this room until

"we right the ship."

- These people knew
that Morgan was

a bad enemy to make,

because if you didn't play ball

with Morgan on this day,

Morgan wouldn't
play ball with you

in the future.

Morgan did not forget favors,

nor did he forget slights.

And so, one by one,

the bankers fell into line.

- The capital Morgan raises

in less than 15 minutes is

the modern day equivalent

of over $700 million.

- Now, that's the job
of a central banker.

So JP Morgan played the
role of a central banker

before there was a central bank.

- He had this consummate
confidence in his ability,

and it reflected
also with his power

to bring people in and to
make them accept his approach

to solving the
economic problems.

- Morgan pours the
money into the stock market,

and it works.

Putting a stop to the
plummeting prices,

renewing confidence
in investors,

and earning JP Morgan
a standing ovation

on the floor of the New
York Stock Exchange.

Soon, the panic of 1907 is over.

- JP Morgan stepped in

and snuffed it out.

- He takes it upon
himself to be the savior

and backer of the
entire financial system,

and successfully forestalls

a much worse crisis.

- I would say what Morgan
did in 1907 was probably

his greatest legacy
for the country,

in the sense of it showed
his American spirit and pride

in us being an economic giant,

and it belied the
cartoonish image of him,

of that wolfish
capitalist only motivated

by self-interest.

- Basking in the
glow of his decisive action,

JP Morgan is held up as
a hero on Wall Street.

But when the dust
finally settles,

the devastating aftereffects
of the panic ripple

across the nation,

and the tide turns.

Though Wall Street is
back to business as usual,

the country is hurting.

Production and
imports are way down,

while bankruptcies and
unemployment are skyrocketing.

As public anger grows about

the effects of the panic,

they start to ask questions

about the man who ended it.

- People were
starting to look at,

"Can this one man,
determine what happens

"in a market season?

"Can he manipulate Wall Street?"

- How is it that
one man, Morgan,

can snap his fingers

and the markets do what
he wants them to do?

- He was hailed as a hero,

he had saved the nation,

but it was a double-edged sword.

And then the ax fell.

- Driven
by public outrage,

a political sea change occurs.

Democrats win the presidency

and control of both
Houses of Congress.

Now, they're
determined to expose

the dangerous power behind

what is dubbed "Wall
Street's Money Trust,"

and they're looking
to put the man

who just saved the
economy on trial;

JP Morgan.

- So 1912, there was a Special
Congressional Committee

to investigate what
was perceived to be

the pernicious power
of the money trust

that secretly controlled
the banking system,

and the star witness was,

of course, JP Morgan.

- Mr. Morgan, upon what basis
do you decide to lend money?

- Let me begin by saying
that I have absolute faith

in the patriotism

and the public spirit
of the stock exchange.

I believe that moral
responsibility is

something you have to
defend all your life.

- I'm sorry, Mr. Morgan,

you're not answering
my question.

- JP Morgan sees
being called to testify

as an insult.

- So Morgan knew that
he wasn't walking

into a committee hearing

to give his point of view

or to offer his perspective
on the workings of finance.

He was hauled in
front of the committee

to be Exhibit A of the
pernicious dealings

of the money trust,

and he wasn't going
to have any of it.

- He didn't like
being interrogated

about what he considered
his own business.

He could sound really evasive

in some of his answers.

And his thinking was,

"This is my private business

"and I don't have
to tell you about

"my private business."

- Mr. Morgan, I'd
like to turn to

the question of your influence.

In how many industries
do you wield

significant financial interest?

- How many?

None.

- Are you honestly
telling this committee

that you don't have the power

to influence at industry?

- I do not.

- What about a single company?

- I do not.

- Your firm is run by you,

is it not?
- It is not.

- I want to be clear
about your answer.

You're telling the committee

that you do not run
the investment bank,

JP Morgan and Company.

- No, sir.

I do not.

- He was not going to dignify

the committee with
anything resembling

a fair and reasoned
explanation of his dealings,

and essentially was
a hostile witness

for the entire
time he sat there.

- Morgan's indignant

and evasive testimony
makes headlines,

but things get even worse

when the committee's
report reveals

the true scope of his
power and influence

over the American economy.

- After the Pujo hearings,

Americans start finding
out things weren't

necessarily entirely
on the up and up,

and that that leads
to a certain degree

of public disenchantment.

- Morgan
soon becomes the target

of scathing editorials

and mocking political cartoons.

- They treat me as if I'm
some common horse thief.

- With public
opinion now turned

completely against him,

JP Morgan has been
pushed to the brink.

- They don't understand, sir.

If you did nothing, the
country would be in ruins.

They should be thanking you.

- Morgan, at this point,

is now starting to realize

that the gig is up,

that reform is here,

that Wall Street
can't be a wild west,

that it can't be controlled by

just a handful of manipulators,

and that there is a sea change

that was going to be permanent.

- The commission
proposes a new system

to regulate the
American economy;

The Federal Reserve.

- Federal Reserve system
is created in 1913

in many ways, in reaction
to what happened in 1907,

but also in reaction
to what happened

throughout the 19th century.

That the United States
lacked a central bank

that could organize the system,

particularly in times of crisis,

and create some
degree of cohesion.

- Signed into law
by President Wilson,

the act gives 12
federal reserve banks

the ability to control
the money supply

to ensure economic stability.

- What the Federal
Reserve did was to take

the place of JP Morgan.

- Soon, the
16th Amendment is ratified,

instituting the income tax

and creating the Federal
Trade Commission.

It is a complete overhaul of

the nation's financial system

with one goal:

To ensure a future free
of men like JP Morgan.

The new reforms
strike at the heart

of JP Morgan's power,

but they land even
harder on Morgan himself.

Almost two months to
the day after testifying

before the Pujo Committee,

JP Morgan's life
comes to an end.

- JP Morgan's death
is the end of an era.

He had gone, in a
short span of years,

from being lionized as
the hero of Wall Street

to being demonized as the
villain of Wall Street,

but in both incarnations,

he was the face of Wall Street.

- It's hard to discern
what drove JP Morgan more:

Was it a lust for power

or was it that he felt he
was the only person capable

of keeping the
economy under control?

I think the answer is both.

- He believed so
deeply in himself,

and in America,

and in what he could
do for America,

that that is what
pushed him forward.

And sometimes,
pushed him too far.

- Now,
with JP Morgan gone,

Wall Street is thrust
into the unknown.

- Everyone on the
street is lining up

to be in on this loan.
- That doesn't make it right.

- But a world
war changes everything

and a surge in the
market opens the door

for a new breed of banker.

- Good morning.

Joseph P. Kennedy, I'm
here to see Mr. Morgan.