Charles E. Merrill

• 29 Feb 16:58
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Charles Edward Merrill (October 19, 1885 – October 6, 1956) was an American philanthropist, stockbroker and co-founder of Merrill Lynch & Company (previously called Charles E. Merrill & Co.).

Charles E. Merrill, the son of physician Dr. Charles Merrill and Octavia (Wilson) Merrill, was born in Green Cove Springs, Florida where he spent his early childhood. In 1898 the family briefly moved to Knoxville, Tennessee but within the year returned to Florida to settle in Jacksonville. After the school Merrill had been attending was damaged in the Great Fire of 1901, his parents decided to send him to the college preparatory academy operated by John B. Stetson University. Merrill studied there from 1901 till 1903 and then in 1903 for the final year of high school was transferred to Worcester Academy. After two years at Amherst College, Merrill spent time at the University of Michigan Law School from 1906 to 1907; worked at Patchogue-Plymouth Mills from 1907–09; at George H. Burr & Co., New York City, from 1909–13; then established Charles E. Merrill & Co. in 1914, changing the name to Merrill Lynch & Company.

Merrill and his friend, Edmund C. Lynch, created Merrill Lynch in 1915. Merrill...

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