E. F. Hutton & Co.
 | |
| Industry | Financial Services |
|---|---|
| Founded |
1904 (original firm; acquired by Shearson Lehman Brothers in 1988 to form Shearson Lehman Hutton) 2012 (revived as EF Hutton America, Inc.) |
| Founder | Edward Francis Hutton |
| Headquarters | Springfield, Ohio |
Key people |
Gerald M. Loeb (Former Chairman), Peter V. Ueberroth (Former Director) Robert M. Fomon (former Chairman & CEO), Christopher Daniels (Current President and CEO) |
| Website |
www |
EF Hutton is an American stock brokerage firm founded in 1904 by Edward Francis Hutton and his brother, Franklyn Laws Hutton. Later, it was led by well known Wall Street trader Gerald M. Loeb. Under their leadership, EF Hutton became one of the most respected financial firms in the United States and for several decades was the second largest brokerage firm in the United States. The firm was best known for its commercials in the 1970's and 1980's based on the phrase, "When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen" (which usually involved a young professional remarking at a dinner party that his broker was EF Hutton, which caused the moderately loud party to stop all conversation to listen to him).
EF Hutton was one of the first brokerages to open offices in California. It also operated seasonal offices in Palm Beach, Florida (winter) and Saratoga Springs, New York (summer) to cater to its customers. Morrie Cohen opened Hutton's first one-man office on Maui in December 1969.
Edward Hutton led the firm until his death in 1962. By the early 1980s, the brokerage house he founded had become the principal component of what grew into a conglomerate of companies owned by E.F. Hutton Group Inc., listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Other subsidiaries of that Delaware-chartered holding company were E.F. Hutton Trust Company (now "Smith Barney Corporate Trust Company" and owned by Citigroup), E. F. Hutton Life Insurance Company, and E.F. Hutton Bank. The Hutton companies also managed many mutual funds and other investment vehicles, some of which were separately incorporated and/or registered, and participated actively in corporate mergers and public offerings of securities.
As a result of several mergers, the remains of the old EF Hutton were a part of Smith Barney, a subsidiary of Citigroup. However, on January 13, 2009, Citigroup itself announced that it would sell 51% of Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley, creating Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, which was formerly a division of Citi Global Wealth Management.
EF Hutton was revived in April 2012 by a management team composed of executives of the former firm and Stanley Hutton Rumbough, grandson of E.F. Hutton.[1]
History
E.F. Hutton & Co. was founded in San Francisco in 1904 by namesake Edward Francis Hutton and his brother, Franklyn Laws Hutton. Hutton, an entrepreneur who later also became chairman of the General Foods Corporation and for years wrote a newspaper column, led the firm until his death in 1962.
In 1906, two years after the firm was founded, its offices were destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. In 1924, famed Wall Street trader Gerald M. Loeb joined the firm, ultimately rising to chairman. The firm developed a nationwide retail brokerage network to market its various debt and equity securities.
In 1970, Robert M. Fomon was appointed Hutton's Chief Executive Officer.[2] Despite the failure or takeover of many of its peers in the 1960s and 1970s, Hutton retained its independence under Fomon's leadership. By the early 1980s, the original E.F. Hutton & Co. had become the principal component of what grew into a group of companies owned by E.F. Hutton Group Inc., listed on the New York Stock Exchange.[3] Other subsidiaries of that Delaware-chartered holding company were E.F. Hutton Trust Company, E.F. Hutton Life Insurance Company, and E.F. Hutton Bank. The Hutton companies also managed many mutual funds and other investment vehicles, some of which were separately incorporated and/or registered, and participated actively in corporate mergers and public offerings of securities. In 1976, Western Union partnered with E. F. Hutton & Co.
Revival
E.F. Hutton was revived in April 2012 by a management team composed of executives of the former firm and Stanley Hutton Rumbough, grandson of E.F. Hutton.
Legacy
In 1993, American Express sold its brokerage and asset management business—the Shearson and Hutton parts of Shearson Lehman Hutton—to Primerica. Primerica merged them with Smith Barney (which it had bought in 1987) to form Smith Barney Shearson, later shortened back to simply Smith Barney. As a result of several mergers over the rest of the decade, the remains of the original E.F. Hutton became part of Citigroup, and are now part of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, a joint venture between Morgan Stanley and Citigroup.
References
- ↑ Surprise! E.F. Hutton talks again as firm resurrected April 23, 2012 InvestmentNews
- ↑ Robert Fomon at Hutton September 30, 1985 The Miami News
- ↑ Douglas Frantz (September 8, 1985). "How E.f. Hutton Scandal Unfolded". Chicago Tribune.
- E.F. Hutton, Losing Two-Year Struggle, Is Looking for Buyer. New York Times, November 24, 1987
Further reading
- Maxwell, John C. (1998). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. New York: Thomas Nelson, Inc. ISBN 0-7852-7431-6.
- Carpenter, Donna S.; Feloni, John (1989). The Fall of the House of Hutton. New York: Holt. ISBN 0-8050-0946-9.
- Sterngold, James (1990). Burning Down the House: How Greed, Deceit, and Bitter Revenge Destroyed E. F. Hutton. New York: Summit Books. ISBN 0-671-70901-1.
- Stevens, Mark (1989). Sudden Death: The Rise and Fall of E. F. Hutton. New York: New American Library. ISBN 0-453-00673-6.
External links
Vintage TV commercial from late 1970's When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen