Wall Street to Main Street: Charles Merrill and Middle-Class Investors [Hardcover]

Edwin J. Perkins (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521630290 | ISBN-13: 978-0521630290 | Publication Date: April 28, 1999

Wall Street to Main Street: Charles Merrill and Middle-Class Investors focuses on the spectacularly successful career of financier Charles Merrill (1885-1956), the founder of Merrill Lynch & Co., the world's largest brokerage and investment firm. Merrill was the most innovative entrepreneur in the United States financial services sector in the twentieth century. He was the most important figure in promoting common stocks as a prudent long-term investment vehicle for members of the middle class across the United States. Opening more than 100 branch offices across the nation by 1950, his firm solicited millions of middle-class households and became famous for bringing "Wall Street to Main Street" in the post-World War II era. Today, American investors hold, either directly or indirectly through mutual funds, a greater percentage of common stocks in their financial portfolios than do the citizens of any other country. Based on archival sources, this book is the first biography published about the career of this major Wall Street figure. Edwin Perkins is a professor of history and an expert on the development of American financial services. Author of five books and several journal articles, Professor Perkins has testified before the U.S. Congress about proposed reforms to U.S. financial laws.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Readers who enjoy biographies and the history of business will find food for thought in this very comprehensive history of the world's largest brokerage and investment firm, Merrill Lynch, and biography of founder Charles E. Merrill (1885-1956). Perkins, a history professor at the University of Southern California and a specialist in U.S. financial services, focuses on Merrill's business career rather than his personal life, although Perkins does delve into Merrill's upbringing near Jacksonville, FL, and his education at Amherst. Scholarly and detailed but readable, the book discusses Merrill's success with the Safeway food chain, the business climate during the 1920s and 1930s, his relationship with Edmund Lynch (who died in 1938), and the war and postwar years and his success in opening offices nationwide (100 by 1950) that attracted flocks of middle-class investors to the stock market. Perkins concludes with a look at the firm today. For business and general collections.ASteven J. Mayover, Free Lib. of Philadelphia
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith is the world's most successful brokerage firm. Perkins (History/Univ. of Calif., Los Angeles) tells of its founder and how, with his eponymous partners, he brought the blessings of investing to the masses. Perkins focuses on Charlie Merrill as businessman, foregoing deep character delineation. In a stab at financial hagiography, comparison is made to larger-than-life folk like J.P. Morgan. Undeniably, Charlie (as he is called to this day) wielded an important influence on Wall Street and how the Street did business, but contrary to the author's manifest intent, this first published biography somehow makes him seem less a visionary than a comic strip bigwig. The narrative of Charlie, an everyday southern gent who rose to great power and wealth, never ignites. From his college days, through his days as the boss of both the Safeway grocery chain and his own Wall Street business, to his semi-retirement and ultimate demise, Charlie seems, frankly, like a tedious fellowone with penchants for bridge, obedience to his commands, and, not least, trophy wives. (For a more passionate view, one might consult the works of his son, poet James Merrill). The founder's personal story is lightly integrated with the ascendance of Merrill Lynch. Promoting first-rate public relations, new marketing techniques as well as intensive brokers' training, Merrill Lynch did, indeed, democratize investing and became a great enterprise with branches as ubiquitous as Starbucks. But one still awaits the definitive study of MLPF&S as a business phenomenon. Meanwhile, the present text, if not animated, is clear and generally accurate (despite Perkins's grating habit of calling the back office, where bookkeeping is done, by the more theatrical but mistaken term, ``backstage''). A decent, not definitive attempt to depict, at once, the history of a business and its founder, sounding more like a curriculum vitae than a full-blown biography of Merrill and his company. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 283 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (April 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521630290
• ISBN-13: 978-0521630290
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,366,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An informative account of a crucial figure in U.S. financial, August 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wall Street to Main Street: Charles Merrill and Middle-Class Investors (Hardcover)

I learned a lot about Wall Street history from this book. The relatively overnight successes of technology driven Wall Streeters should not obscure the more remarkable achievements of Charlie Merrill. The author skillfully describes the times in which Merrill operated and gave me a balanced view of Merrill's strengths and weaknesses. The story moves swiftly along and I gained a real appreciation of the future Merrill saw, the opportunities he capitalized on, and those he inspired along the way.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended!, April 11, 2001

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wall Street to Main Street: Charles Merrill and Middle-Class Investors (Hardcover)

Charles Merrill is an authentic American genius and today's capital markets bear his distinctive stamp in many ways, as Edwin J. Perkins' book proves in fascinating detail. While the book works as a business history and as a professional portrait, it is less successful as a biography because Perkins deliberately chose to focus on Merrill's professional life. By keeping Merrill's personal life very much in the background, Perkins declines to bring Merrill's personality to life. We learn about his career, but we do not seem to get to know the man himself. Happily, Merrill's achievements and business innovations are well worth examining. His commitment to service, integrity and the good of the common customer - even when that angered the elite customer - made him richer than most of the aristocrats who fought against him. We [...] recommend this worthy portrayal of a riveting role model to entrepreneurs, finance professionals and any business history buff.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Man Who Democratized the Stock Market, October 13, 2010

By 

DR L. SCHWEIKART - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wall Street to Main Street: Charles Merrill and Middle-Class Investors (Paperback)

Charles Merrill is in a long line of American capitalists who took a product previously reserved for the wealthy and spread it to the middle class, democratizing stocks and bonds. A genius at marketing---along the lines of Jay Cooke---Merrill understood that wresting power from corporate America began with making average Americans owners.

Edwin Perkins is a well-established historian of banks, financial markets, and the economy, and his understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of Merrill is thorough. Highly recommended.