W.A. Harriman & Co.
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman and diplomat, born November 15th 1891. Harriman served President Franklin D. Roosevelt as special envoy to Europe and served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union and U.S. Ambassador to Britain. Using money from his father he established W.A. Harriman & Co banking business in 1922. In 1927 his brother Roland joined the business and the name was changed to Harriman Brothers & Company. In 1931, it merged with Brown Bros. & Co. to create the highly successful Wall Street firm Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Outstanding employees included George Herbert Walker and his son-in law, Prescott Bush. Harriman's main properties included Brown Brothers & Harriman & Co, Union Pacific Railroad, Merchant Shipping Corporation, and venture capital investments that included the Polaroid Corporation.
Harriman served as Senior Partner of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. and Harriman Bank was the main Wall Street connection for German companies and the varied U.S. financial interests of Fritz Thyssen, an early financial banker of the Nazi Party. The Trading With the Enemy Act classified any business transactions for profit with enemy nations illegal and subject to the seizure by the U.S. government. The declaration of war on the U.S. by Hitler led to the U.S. government order on October 20, 1942 to seize German interests in the U.S. which involved Harriman operations in New York City.
Harriman served as Senior Partner of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. and Harriman Bank was the main Wall Street connection for German companies and the varied U.S. financial interests of Fritz Thyssen, an early financial banker of the Nazi Party. The Trading With the Enemy Act classified any business transactions for profit with enemy nations illegal and subject to the seizure by the U.S. government. The declaration of war on the U.S. by Hitler led to the U.S. government order on October 20, 1942 to seize German interests in the U.S. which involved Harriman operations in New York City.