American Express: The Unofficial History of the People Who Built the Great Financial Empire [Hardcover]

Peter Z. Grossman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Financial journalist Grossman does a thorough job of following "Amexco" from its beginnings in the 1840s as a package carrier to the international travel, insurance, banking, brokerage and financial services colossus it has become, with travelers checks (since 1895) and a charge card known the world over. His well-documented history is measured and conscientious, even tedious at times, but there is plenty of excitement in such things as corporate infighting, war and Depression crises, takeover attempts and a "scandal" in which Amexco indirectly backed nonexistent collateral for commercial loans. American Express survives and prospers, this narrative makes clear, on income derived from "the float"money paid for travelers checks and made use of by the company for investment until the checks are cashed weeks or months later and sometimes never.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 389 pages
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing; 1ST edition (June 3, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517562383
• ISBN-13: 978-0517562383
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,179,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating story about American Express, August 12, 2009

By 

Mariusz Skonieczny "Author" (Schaumburg, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Express: The Unofficial History of the People Who Built the Great Financial Empire (Hardcover)

I just love reading historical books about companies that I am interested in investing. Readers can learn from the past in order to understand why a company does what it does. Everything has a reason. It was interesting to find out that American Express started in the travel business where it gained access to affluent individuals. Up to this day, users of American Express are people who are more affluent than average. Because on average these customers spend more money than customers using Visa or MasterCard, American Express can charge merchants more than Visa or MasterCard. This creates a competitive advantage that allows American Express to make more money on invested capital. This is a fascinating book about the history of American Express. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the company.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book on the history of American Express, August 17, 2000

By 

Jerry Cheng (Newark, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Express: The Unofficial History of the People Who Built the Great Financial Empire (Hardcover)

I have read this book about 2 years ago, passed it on to a friend . I would recommend this book for people who either work at American Express to get a understanding of how the company came to being and those who like reading about companies.

It is somewhat outdated but it still paints a picture of the culture at Amex and how it go to where it is today. They were one of the first to issue a credit card and even today the Amex card is one of the premier cards to have. Everyone knows about "Don't leave home without it."

Here is a spoiler:

It once owned part of Federal Express and got owned by Chase Manhattan bank.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Building of an American Financial Conglomerate, June 23, 2002

By 

orange (Vancouver, BC Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Express: The Unofficial History of the People Who Built the Great Financial Empire (Hardcover)

This book would likely interest people who want to learn about American Express, its history, ingredients to business success and how this financial giant became what it is today.

Not exactly a John Grisham thriller, this book provides an insightful account of Amexco's past and how it became what it currently is. Certain business decision-making ideas and actions (or the lack thereof) could be acquired (or reaffirmed) while reading this book. This book will likely be meaningful for businesspeople who consider expanding their currently profitable business. Best of luck.