American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) or AmEx, is an American multinational finan cial services corporation headquartered in Three World

Financial Center, Manhatt an, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best known for i ts credit card, charge card, and traveler's cheque businesses. Amex cards accoun t for approximately 24% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions i n the US, the highest of any card issuer.[5][6] BusinessWeek and Interbrand ranked American Express as the 22nd most valuable br and in the world, estimating the brand to be worth US$14.97 billion.[7] Fortune listed Amex as one of the top 20 Most Admired Companies in the World.[8] The company's mascot, adopted in 1958, is a Roman gladiator or centurion[9] whos e image appears on the company's travelers' cheques and charge cards. Contents [hide] 1 Early history o 1.1 American Express buildings o 1.2 Nationwide expansion o 1.3 Financial services o 1.4 Loss of railroad express business o 1.5 Investment banking 2 Recent history o 2.1 Charge card services o 2.2 "Boston Fee Party" o 2.3 Cable TV o 2.4 Conversion to bank holding company o 2.5 Controversy in the UK o 2.6 Loyalty acquisition 3 Business model o 3.1 Typical credit card business model 4 Card products o 4.1 Consumer cards 4.1.1 ExpressPay o 4.2 Small business services (also known as American Express OPEN) o 4.3 Commercial cards and services o 4.4 Non-proprietary cards 5 Non-card products o 5.1 Traveler's cheques o 5.2 Shearson/American Express o 5.3 Financial Advisors o 5.4 Travel o 5.5 Publishing 6 Advertising 7 Workplace o 7.1 Offices o 7.2 Job satisfaction 8 Management and corporate governance 9 Sponsorship 10 See also 11 References 12 External links [edit] Early history American Express Co. shipping receipt, New York City to St. Louis, MO (August 6, 1853) American Express was started as an express mail business in Albany, New York, in 1850.[10] It was founded as a joint stock corporation by the merger of the expr ess companies owned by Henry Wells (Wells & Company), William Fargo (Livingston, Fargo & Company), and John Warren Butterfield (Wells, Butterfield & Company, th

e successor earlier in 1850 of Butterfield, Wasson & Company).[1][2] The same fo unders also started Wells Fargo & Co. in 1852 when Butterfield and other directo rs objected to the proposal that American Express extend its operations to Calif ornia. American Express first established its headquarters in a building at the interse ction of Jay Street and Hudson Street in what was later called the TriBeCa secti on of Manhattan. For years it enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the movement of expr ess shipments (goods, securities, currency, etc.) throughout New York State. In 1874, American Express moved its headquarters to 65 Broadway in what was becomin g the Financial District of Manhattan, a location it was to retain through two b uildings.[11] [edit] American Express buildings In 1854, the American Express Co. purchased a lot on Vesey Street in New York Ci ty as the site for its stables. The company's first New York headquarters were i n an impressive[citation needed] marble Italianate palazzo at 5561 Hudson Street between Thomas Street and Jay Street (185758, John Warren Ritch), which had a bus y freight depot on the ground story with a spur line from the Hudson River Railr oad. A stable was constructed nearby at 48 Hubert Street, between Hudson Street a nd Collister Street (186667, Ritch & Griffiths), five blocks north of the Hudson Street building. The company prospered sufficiently that headquarters were moved in 1874 from the wholesale shipping district to the budding Financial District, and into rented offices in two five-story brownstone commercial buildings at 63 and 65 Broadway, between Exchange Alley and Rector Street, and between Broadway and Trinity Plac e that were owned by the Harmony family.[12] In 1880, American Express built a new warehouse behind the Broadway Building at 46 Trinity Place, between Exchange Alley and Rector Street. The designer is unkn own, but it has a faade of brick arches that are redolent of pre-skyscraper New Y ork. American Express has long been out of this building, but it still bears a t erracotta seal with the American Express Eagle.[13] In 189091 the company constru cted a new ten-story building by Edward H. Kendall on the site of its former hea dquarters on Hudson Street. By 1903, the company had assets of some $28 million, second only to the National City Bank of New York among financial institutions in the city.[citation needed ] To reflect this, the company purchased the Broadway buildings and site.[citati on needed] At the end of the Wells-Fargo reign in 1914, an aggressive new president, George Chadbourne Taylor (18681923), who had worked his way up through the company over the previous thirty years, decided to build a new headquarters. The old buildin gs, dubbed by the New York Times as "among the ancient landmarks" of lower Broad way, were inadequate for such a rapidly expanding concern. In March 1914, Renwic k, Aspinwall & Tucker filed for the construction of a 32-story concrete-and stee l-framed office tower in which all of the company's operations, then in four sep arate buildings, were to be consolidated. The building proposal of 1914 was aban doned, probably due to the war in Europe, but was resurrected two years later in a reduced form, at an estimated cost of $1 million.[12] 65 Broadway The 21-story (plus basement), neo-classical, American Express Co. Building, was constructed in 191617 to the design of James L. Aspinwall, of the firm of Renwick , Aspinwall & Tucker, the successor to the architectural practice of the eminent James Renwick, Jr.. The building consolidated the two lots of the former buildi ngs with a single address: 65 Broadway. This building was part of the "Express R ow" section of lower Broadway at the time. The concrete-and-steel-framed buildin g has an H-shaped plan with tall slender wings arranged around central light cou rts, a type of plan employed from the 1880s through the 1910s to provide offices with maximum light and air. Faced in white brick and terra cotta above a granit e base, both facades employ the tripartite composition of base-shaft-capital the n popular for the articulation of skyscrapers, with a colonnaded base and upper

portion. The famous American Express Eagle adorns the building twice: there is a n asymmetric eagle on the lower arch, while a symmetric eagle adorns the arch at op the building. The Broadway entrance features a double-story Corinthian colonn ade with large arched windows. The building completed the continuous masonry wal l of its block-front poda nae and assisted in transforming Broadway into the "ca nyon" of neo-classical masonry office towers familiar to this day[14] American Express sold this building in 1975, but retained travel services here. The building was also the headquarters over the years of other prominent firms, including investment bankers J.& W. Seligman & Co. (194074), the American Bureau of Shipping, a maritime concern (197786), and currently J.J. Kenny, and Standard & Poor's, who has renamed the building for itself.[12][14] [edit] Nationwide expansion American Express extended its reach nationwide by arranging affiliations with ot her express companies (including Wells Fargo the replacement for the two former companies that merged to form American Express), railroads, and steamship compan ies.[11] [edit] Financial services In 1882, American Express started its expansion in the area of financial service s by launching a money order business[11] to compete with the United States Post Office's money orders. Sometime between 1888 and 1890, J. C. Fargo took a trip to Europe and returned f rustrated and infuriated. Despite the fact that he was president of American Exp ress and that he carried with him traditional letters of credit, he found it dif ficult to obtain cash anywhere except in major cities. Fargo went to Marcellus F lemming Berry and asked him to create a better solution than the traditional let ter of credit. Berry introduced the American Express Traveler's Cheque which was launched in 1891 in denominations of $10, $20, $50, and $100.[15] Traveler's cheques established American Express as a truly international company . In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, American Express offices in Europe we re among the few companies to honor the letters of credit (issued by various ban ks) held by Americans in Europe, despite other financial institutions having ref used to assist these stranded travelers. [edit] Loss of railroad express business American Express became one of the monopolies that President Theodore Roosevelt had the Interstate Commerce Commission investigate during his administration. Th e interest of the ICC was drawn to its strict control of the railroad express bu siness. However, the solution did not come immediately to hand.[11] The solution to this problem came as a coincidence to other problems during World War I. During the winter of 1917, the US suffered a severe coal shortage and on Decembe r 26 President Woodrow Wilson commandeered the railroads on behalf of the US gov ernment to move US troops, their supplies, and coal. Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo was assigned the task of consolidating the railway lines for the wa r effort. All contracts between express companies and railroads were nullified a nd McAdoo proposed that all existing express companies be consolidated into a si ngle company to serve the country's needs. This ended American Express's express business, and removed them from the ICCs interest. The result was that a new com pany called the American Railway Express Agency formed in July 1918. The new ent ity took custody of all the pooled equipment and property of existing express co mpanies (the largest share of which, 40%, came from American Express, who had ow ned the rights to the express business over 71,280 miles (114,710 km) of railroa d lines, and had 10,000 offices, with over 30,000 employees). [edit] Investment banking During the 1980s, American Express embarked on an effort to become a financial s ervices supercompany and made a number of acquisitions to create an investment b anking arm. In mid-1981 it purchased Sanford I. Weill s Shearson Loeb Rhoades, t he second largest securities firm in the United States to form Shearson/American Express. Shearson Lehman logo

After the purchase of Shearson, Weill was given the position of president of Ame rican Express in 1983. Weill grew increasingly unhappy with responsibilities wit hin American Express and his conflicts with American Express CEO James D. Robin son III. Weill soon realized that he was not positioned to be named CEO and left in August 1985. In 1984, American Express acquired the investment banking and t rading firm, Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, and added it to the Shearson family, cre ating Shearson Lehman/American Express. It was Lehman s CEO and former trader Le wis Glucksman who would next lead Shearson Lehman/American Express. In 1984 Shearson/American Express purchased the 90-year old Investors Diversifie d Services, bringing with it a fleet of financial advisors and investment produc ts. In 1988, Shearson Lehman acquired E.F. Hutton & Co., a brokerage firm founde d in 1904, this was merged with the investment banking business and the investme nt banking arm was rename Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc.[16] However, when Harvey Golub became CEO of American Express in 1993, American expr ess decided to get out of the investment banking business and negotiated the sal e of Shearson s retail brokerage and asset management business to Primerica. The Shearson business was merged with Primerica s Smith Barney to create Smith Barn ey Shearson. Ultimately, the Shearson name was dropped in 1994.[17] In 1994, American Express spun off of the remaining investment banking and insti tutional businesses as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc which after almost fifteen y ears of independence would file for bankruptcy protection in 2008 as part of the Late-2000s financial crisis. [edit] Recent history Current CEO Ken I. Chenault took over leadership of American Express in 2001 fro m Harvey Golub, CEO from 1993 to 2001. Prior to that, the company was headed by James D. Robinson III from 1977 to 1993. [edit] Charge card services American Express Tower (tallest, left) in New York City American Express executives discussed the possibility of launching a travel char ge card as early as 1946, but it was not until Diners Club launched their card i n March 1950 that American Express began to seriously consider the possibility. At the end of 1957, American Express CEO Ralph Reed decided to get into the card business, and by the launch date of October 1, 1958 public interest had become so significant that they issued 250,000 cards prior to the official launch date. The card was launched with an annual fee of $6, $1 higher than Diners Club, to be seen as a premium product. The first cards were paper, with the account numbe r and cardmember s name typed. It was not until 1959 that American Express began issuing embossed ISO/IEC 7810 plastic cards, an industry first. In 1966, American Express introduced the Gold Card and in 1984 the Platinum Card , clearly defining different market segments within its own business, a practice that has proliferated across a broad array of industries. The Platinum Card was billed as super-exclusive and had a $250 annual fee (it is currently $450). It was offered by invitation only to American Express customers with at least 2 yea rs of tenure, significant spending, and excellent payment history; it is now ope n to applications on request. In 1987, American Express introduced the Optima card, their first credit card pr oduct. Previously, all American Express cards had to be paid in full each month, but Optima allowed customers to carry a balance (the charge cards also now allo w extended payment options on qualifying charges based on credit availability). Although American Express no longer accepts applications for the Optima brand of cards, since July 13, 2009, Optima cards are still listed on the American Expre ss website, as a reference to existing members only. According to American Expre ss, Optima accounts were not converted or closed. However, Blue from American Ex press has prevailed as the replacement for the original Optima style of credit c ard. Blue includes multiple benefits free of charge, unlike Optima, including th e Membership Rewards program. In April 1992, American Express spun off its subsidiary, First Data Corp., in an IPO. Then, in October 1996, the company distributed the remaining majority of i

ts holdings in First Data Corp., reducing its ownership to less than 5%. In 1994, the Optima True Grace card was introduced. The card was unique in that it offered a grace period on all purchases whether a balance was carried on the card or not (as opposed to traditional revolving credit cards which charge inter est on new purchases if so much as $1 was carried over). The card was discontinu ed a few years later; the now discontinued One from American Express card offere d a similar feature called "Interest Protection." [edit] "Boston Fee Party" From early 1980s until the early 1990s, American Express was known for cutting i ts merchant fees (also known as a "discount rate") to merchants and restaurants if they accepted only American Express and no other credit or charge cards. This prompted competitors such as Visa and MasterCard to cry foul for a while as the tactics "locked" restaurants into American Express. However, in 1991, several restaurants in Boston started accepting and encouragin g the use of Visa and MasterCard because of their far lower fees as compared to American Express fees at the time (which were about 4% for each transaction ver sus around 1.2% at the time for Visa and MasterCard). A few even stopped accepti ng American Express credit and charge cards. The revolt, known as the "Boston Fe e Party" in reference to the Boston Tea Party, quickly spread nationwide to over 250 restaurants across the United States, including restaurants in other cities such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In response, American Express decided to reduce its discount rate gradually to compete more effectively and ad d new merchants to its network such as supermarkets and drugstores. Many element s of the exclusive acceptance program were also phased out so American Express c ould effectively encourage businesses to add American Express cards to their exi sting list of payment options. Currently, American Express average US merchant rate is about 2.89%,[citation n eeded] while the average Discover, Mastercard, and Visa U.S. merchant rate is ab out 2%[citation needed] (Visa/MasterCard signature debit cards are at 1.7%.[cita tion needed]) Some merchant sectors, such as quick-service restaurants including McDonald s, have special reduced rates to accommodate business needs and profit . [edit] Cable TV American Express formed a joint venture with Warner Communications in 1979 calle d Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, which created MTV, Nickelodeon, and The M ovie Channel. The partnership only lasted until 1984. The properties were sold t o Viacom soon after. [edit] Conversion to bank holding company On November 10, 2008, during the financial crisis of 2008, the company won Feder al Reserve System approval to convert to a bank holding company, making it eligi ble for government help under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.[18] At that tim e, American Express had total consolidated assets of about $127 billion.[18] In June 2009, $3.39 billion in TARP funds were repaid plus $74.4 million in dividen d payments, and in July 2009 they ended their obligations under TARP by buying b ack $340 million in Treasury warrants.[19][20] [edit] Controversy in the UK In November 2010 the UK division of American Express was cautioned by the Office of Fair Trading for the use of controversial charging orders against those in d ebt.[21] The regulator said that the company was one of four companies who were encouraging customers to turn their unsecured credit card debts into a form of s ecured debt. [edit] Loyalty acquisition In March 2011, American Express completed a $685m purchase of Loyalty Partner, w hich operates the Payback loyalty program in Germany and Poland, and the i-Mint loyalty program in India.[22] [edit] Business model [edit] Typical credit card business model When a consumer makes a purchase using a credit or charge card, a small portion of the price is paid as a fee (known as the merchant discount), with the merchan t keeping the remainder. There are typically three parties who split this fee am

ongst themselves: 1. Acquiring bank: the bank which processes credit card transactions for a merchant, including crediting the merchant s account for the value charged to a credit card less all fees. 2. Issuing bank: the bank which issues the consumer s credit card. This is the bank a consumer is responsible for repaying after making a credit card purch ase. The issuer s share of the merchant discount is known as the interchange fee . 3. Network: the link between acquiring banks and issuing banks. These banks have relationships with a network, rather than with each other, for fulfilling card purchases. This allows a card issued by a community bank in Peru to be used at a shop in South Africa, for instance, without requiring the banks to have a direct relationship with each other. The two largest networks in the world are V isa and MasterCard. The average merchant discount in the United States is 1.9%. Of this, approximate ly 0.1% goes to the acquirer, 1.7% to the issuer, and 0.09% to the network.[23] Most Prime and Superprime card issuers use the majority of their interchange rev enue to fund loyalty programs like frequent flyer points and cash back, and henc e their profit from card spending is small relative to the interest they earn fr om card lending. [edit] Card products [edit] Consumer cards See also: Centurion Card, American Express Red, and ExpressPay American Express is best known for its iconic Green, Gold, and Platinum charge c ards, and offers credit cards of similar color levels in most countries. In 1999, American Express introduced the Centurion Card, often referred to as th e "black card," which caters to an even more affluent and elite customer segment . The card was initially only available to select users of the Platinum card. Th e annual fee for the card is $2,500 (up from $1,000 at introduction) with an add itional one-time initiation fee of $5,000. In addition to a variety of exclusive benefits, the card itself is made of titanium. American Express created the car d line amid rumors and urban legends in the 1980s that it produced an ultra-excl usive black card for elite users who could purchase anything with it.[24] American Express cards range between no annual fee (for Blue and many other cons umer and business cards) and a $450 annual fee (for the Platinum card). Annual f ees for the Green card start at $95 (first year free), while Gold card annual fe es start at $125. American Express has several co-branded credit cards, with most falling into one of two categories: Airlines: e.g., Air Canada, Air France, Alitalia, British Airways, Cathay Pacifi c, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic , among others. Hotels: e.g., Hilton Hotels. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Retailers: e.g., Costco, David Jones, Holt Renfrew, Harrods, Macys, Bloomingdale s, Lowes, Mercedes Benz, and others. Their card aimed at young adults is called Blue from American Express. A televis ion media campaign for Blue adopted the 1979 UK Synthpop hit "Cars" by Gary Numa n as its theme song. Based on a successful product for the European market, Blue had no annual fee, a rewards program, and a multi-functional onboard smart chip . A cashback version, "Blue Cash", quickly followed. Amex also targeted young ad ults with City Reward Cards that earn INSIDE Rewards points to eat, drink, and p lay at New York, Chicago and LA hot spots. American Express began phasing out th e INSIDE cards in mid-2008, with no new applications being taken as of July 2008 . In 2005, American Express introduced Clear, advertised as the first credit card with no fees of any kind. Also in 2005, American Express introduced One, a credi t card with a "Savings Accelerator Plan" that contributes 1% of eligible purchas es into an High-Yield Savings Account insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance C orporation. Other cards introduced in 2005 included "The Knot" and "The Nest" Cr edit Cards from American Express, co-branded cards developed with the wedding pl

anning website theknot.com. In 2006, the UK division of American Express joined the Product Red coalition an d began to issue a Red Card. With each card member purchase the company contribu tes to good causes through The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malar ia to help African women and children suffering from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and othe r diseases. In 2009, American Express introduced the ZYNC charge card. White in color, this card was created for people in their 20s and 30s. The card is currently in open beta testing and anyone can apply for it. [edit] ExpressPay In 2005, American Express introduced ExpressPay, similar to MasterCard PayPass a nd Visa payWave. It is a contactless payment system based on wireless RFID, wher e transactions are completed by holding the credit card near a receiver at which point the debt is immediately added to the account. The card is not swiped and no PIN is entered. Many U.S. merchant and restaurant partners now offer ExpressP ay, including Starbuck s, Meijer, CVS/Pharmacy, Best Buy, Chevron Corporation, N oah s Bagels, and some McDonald s locations. Office Depot has implemented Expres sPay in all 1200 of its stores.[25] [edit] Small business services (also known as American Express OPEN) For more details on this topic, see American Express Plum Card. American offers various types of charge cards for small businesses to manage the ir expenses, and the company is also the largest provider of corporate cards. In late 2007, the company announced the new Plum Card as the latest addition to their card line for small business owners. The card provides a 1.5% early pay di scount or up to two months to defer payment on purchases. The 1.5% discount is a vailable for billing periods where the cardmember spends at least $5,000. The fi rst 10,000 cards were issued to members on December 16, 2007.[26] In 2008, American Express made a decision to close all Business Line of Credit a ccounts. This decision was reached in tandem with the Federal Reserve s approval of American Express s request to become a Commercial Bank. [edit] Commercial cards and services American Express also offers a comprehensive range of cards designed to support mid-size and large business manage their travel and day-to-day operational expen ses. The core product, the American Express Corporate Card is offered in over 40 countries, and a number of complementary products for specific types of spend a re offered for special needs. Examples of these products include the Corporate M eeting Card, the Corporate Purchasing Card, and the Business Travel Account. Com mercial Cards differ from Business Cards as they enable company liability (busin ess cards are issued as extensions of credit to the company s owner). In additio n, Commercial Cards offer a comprehensive suite of data and reporting solutions that help clients gain visibility and control over employee spend. As part of supporting Corporate clients, American Express offers a number of onl ine solutions delivered through the American Express @ Work website. From Americ an Express @ Work, clients have access to program management capabilities, onlin e statements, reporting and data integration products. Information @ Work, a rep orting tool targeted at mid-size companies to give them quick and easy access to their employees spend data; Customized Reporting is provided to larger clients who require more advanced analytics and data consolidation capabilities. Americ an Express also provides data files to clients to power expense reporting and re conciliation tools. In 2008, American Express acquired the Corporate Payment Services business of GE , which primarily focused on providing Purchasing Card solutions for large globa l clients. As part of the $1b+ transaction, American Express also added a new pr oduct, called V-Payment, to its product portfolio. V-Payment is unique in that i t enables a tightly controlled, single-use card number for increased control. In December 2010, the Commercial Card division launched American Express Busines s4Business a network of business-centric products and services. Initially launch ed with telecommunications solutions, the organization also launched commercial insurance and foreign exchange payment products in March 2011. [edit] Non-proprietary cards

In December 2000, American Express agreed to acquire the credit card portfolio o f Bank of Hawaii, then a division of Pacific Century Financial Corp. In January 2006, American Express sold its Bank of Hawaii card portfolio to Bank of America (MBNA). Bank of America will issue Visa and American Express cards under the Ba nk of Hawaii name. Until 2004, Visa and MasterCard rules prohibited issuers of their cards from iss uing American Express cards in the United States. This meant, as a practical mat ter, that U.S. banks could not issue American Express cards. These rules were st ruck down as a result of antitrust litigation brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, and are no longer in effect. In January 2004, American Express reached a deal to have its cards issued by a U.S. bank, MBNA America. Initially decried by MasterCard executives as nothing but an "experiment", these cards were releas ed in October 2004. Some said that the relationship was going to be threatened b y MBNA s merger with Bank of America, a major Visa issuer and original developer of Visa. However, an agreement was reached between American Express and Bank of America on December 21, 2005. Under the terms of the agreement, Bank of America will own the customer loans and American Express will process the transactions. Also, American Express will dismiss Bank of America from its antitrust litigati on against Visa, MasterCard, and a number of U.S. banks. Finally, both Bank of A merica and American Express also said an existing card-issuing partnership betwe en MBNA and American Express will continue after the Bank of America-MBNA merger . The first card from the partnership, the no-annual-fee Bank of America Rewards American Express card, was released on June 30, 2006. Since then, Citibank, GE Money, and USAA have also started issuing American Expr ess cards. Citibank currently issues several American Express cards including an American Airlines AAdvantage co-branded card. In early 2006[27] Amex issued Dil lard s American Express card in joint cooperation with GE Money, however, in Mar 2008[28] GE sold its card unit to Amex for $1.1bn in cash only deal. HSBC Bank USA is currently testing both HSBC-branded and Neiman Marcus co-branded American Express rewards credit cards, with a full rollout scheduled for late 2007 or ea rly 2008. Also, UBS launched its Resource Card program for US Wealth Management clients issuing Visa Signature credit cards and American Express charge cards li nked to their customers accounts and employing a single rewards program for the two cards. Fidelity operates a similar program, issuing both American Express an d Visa Signature cards through FIA Card Services.[29] [edit] Non-card products [edit] Traveler s cheques Amex is the largest provider of traveler s cheques in the world. In 2005, American Express released the American Express Travelers Cheque Card, a stored-value card that serves the same purposes as a traveler s cheque, but can be used in stores like a credit card. The card has since been discontinued as o f October 31, 2007, due to "changing market conditions". All cardholders were is sued refund checks for the remaining balances. [edit] Shearson/American Express See also: Shearson/American Express Shearson/American Express logo c. 1982 During the 1980s, American Express began purchasing stock brokerbrokerage firms as part of an expansion. In mid-1981 it purchased Sanford I. Weill s Shearson Lo eb Rhoades, the second largest securities firm in the United States to form Shea rson/American Express. Shearson Loeb Rhoades, itself was the culmination of seve ral mergers in the 1970s as Weill s Hayden, Stone & Co. merged with Shearson, Ha mmill & Co. in 1974 to form Shearson Hayden Stone. Shearson Hayden Stone then me rged with Loeb, Rhoades, Hornblower & Co. (formerly Loeb, Rhoades & Co. to form Shearson Loeb Rhoades in 1979. With capital totalling $250 million at the time o f its acquisition, Shearson Loeb Rhoades trailed only Merrill Lynch as the secur ities brokerage industry s largest firm. After its acquisition by American Expre ss, the firm was renamed Shearson/American Express. In 1984 Shearson/American Express purchased the 90-year-old Investors Diversifie

d Services, bringing with it a fleet of financial advisors and investment produc ts. Also in 1984, American Express acquired the investment banking and trading f irm, Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, and added it to the Shearson family, creating Sh earson Lehman/American Express. In 1988, the firm acquired E. F. Hutton & Co., f orming Shearson Lehman Hutton until 1990, when the firm s name became Shearson L ehman Brothers. When Harvey Golub took the reins in 1993 he negotiated the sale of Shearson s retail brokerage and asset management business to Primerica and in following year, spun off of the remaining investment banking and institutional businesses as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. [edit] Financial Advisors On September 30, 2005, American Express spun off its American Express Financial Advisors unit as a publicly traded company, Ameriprise Financial, Inc.. Due to t his, American Express revenues for 2005 are down around $5 billion, however, lik e-for-like they are up 10.5% in 2005. Also, on September 30, 2005, RSM McGladrey acquired American Express Tax & Business Services (TBS). On September 18, 2007, it was announced that Standard Chartered Bank agreed to a cquire American Express Bank Ltd, a commercial bank, from American Express Co, f or an estimated US$823 million, through a friendly divestiture process. The tran saction is currently subject to regulatory approvals. Lehman Brothers had advise d American Express in this deal.[30][31][32][33][34] [edit] Travel American Express established a Travel Division in 1915 that tied together all of the earlier efforts at making travel easier, and soon established its first tra vel agencies. In the 1930s, the Travel Division had grown widely. Albert K. Daws on was instrumental in expanding business operations overseas, even investing in tourist relations with the Soviet Union. Dawson during World War I had been a p hotographer and film correspondent with the German army. Today the focus of The Travel Division is on business customers and business travel. [edit] Publishing Amex publishes the Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, Executive Travel, and Departur es magazines. [edit] Advertising In 1975, David Ogilvy of Ogilvy & Mather developed the highly successful Don t L eave Home Without Them ad campaign for American Express Traveler s Cheques, feat uring Oscar-award-winning actor Karl Malden. Karl Malden served as the public fa ce of American Express Travelers Cheques for 25 years. In the UK the spokesman w as instead the television personality Alan Whicker. After Karl Malden s departure and as the card was promoted over the traveller s cheques, American Express continued to use celebrities, such as Mel Blanc and ba llerina Cynthia Gregory. A typical ad for the American Express Card began with a celebrity asking viewers: "Do you know me?" Although he/she gave hints to his/h er identity, the star s name was never mentioned except as imprinted on an Ameri can Express Card, after which announcer Peter Thomas told viewers how to apply f or it. Each ad concluded with the celebrity reminding viewers: "Don t Leave Home Without It." The "Don t Leave Home Without It" slogan was revived in 2005 for t he prepaid American Express Travelers Cheque Card. These slogans have been parodied numerous times: The long-running PBS children s TV series Sesame Street parodied the "Do you kno w me?/Don t Leave Home Without It" ad campaigns with three skits involving a Mup pet character holding a Grown-Up Friend s hand while crossing the street. One sk it featured Forgetful Jones (performed by Richard Hunt) with Olivia (Alaina Reed Hall) as his Grown-Up Friend, a second featured Bert and Ernie (Frank Oz and Ji m Henson respectively) with Gordon (Roscoe Orman) as their Grown-Up Friend, and the third featured Big Bird (Caroll Spinney) with Bob (Bob McGrath) as his Grown -Up Friend. All three skits ended with their names being embossed at the bottom of a card looking like an American Express card that had a big human left hand i n the middle with the words "Grown-Up Friend s Hand" above it, and a voiceover s aying "A Grown-Up Friend s Hand. Don t cross the street without it." Another parody was seen on an episode of the CBS game show Press Your Luck, when the animated "Whammy Character" would give the "Do you know me?" tag line, foll

owed by the display of an AmEx card-parody, which then had "WHAMMY" typed in on the bottom line of the card. In a campaign speech during the 1984 Election, President Ronald Reagan said "If the big spenders get their way, they ll charge everything to your taxpayer s exp ress card, and believe me, they never leave home without it." On the 1997 film Hercules during the song "Zero to Hero", the credit card is "Gr ecian Express". The 1989 movie Major League also parodied the campaign. In one scene, in which e very player is dressed in a tuxedo, the Cleveland Indians tell viewers of the fi lm why every player carries the American Express Card with much of the explanati on done one line at a time by players Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger), Eddie Harris ( Chelcie Ross), Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), Pedro Cerrano (Dennis H aysbert), and Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen), and Manager Lou Brown (James Gammon). The scene ends with Willie "Mays" Hayes (a tuxedo-clad Wesley Snipes) sliding i nto home plate in front of the rest of the team, holding up his card and saying to the viewers: "The American Express Card. Don t steal home without it." In Batman & Robin Batman pulls out a Bat-Credit card and says he never leaves th e cave without it. The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman American Express continues to use celebrities in their ads. Some notable example s include a late 1990s ad campaign with comedian Jerry Seinfeld, including the t wo 2004 webisodes in a series entitled "The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman." In late 2004, American Express launched the "My life. My card." brand campaign ( also by Ogilvy & Mather) featuring famous American Express cardmembers talking a bout their life. The ads have featured actors Kate Winslet, Robert De Niro, Ken Watanabe and Tina Fey, Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, fashion designer Collette Dinnigan, comedian and talk show hostess Ellen DeGeneres, gol fer Tiger Woods, professional snowboarder Shaun White, tennis pros Venus William s and Andy Roddick, Real Madrid manager Jos Mourinho, and film directors Martin S corsese, Wes Anderson, M. Night Shyamalan and most recently singer Beyonc Knowles . In 2007, a two-minute black-and-white ad entitled "Animals" starring Ellen DeG eneres won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial. Many American Express credit card ads feature a sample American Express Card wit h the name "C F Frost" on the front. This is not a fabricated name, as Charles F . Frost was an advertising executive from Ogilvy & Mather.[35] In addition, American Express was one of the earliest users of cause marketing, to great success.[citation needed] A 1983 promotion advertised that for each pur chase made with an American Express Card, American Express would contribute one penny to the renovation of the Statue of Liberty. The campaign generated contrib utions of $1.7 million to the Statue of Liberty restoration project. What would soon capture the attention of marketing departments of major corporations was th at the promotion generated approximately a 28% increase in American Express card usage by consumers. Building on its earlier promotion, American Express later c onducted a four-year Charge Against Hunger program, which generated approximatel y $22 million for a charity addressing poverty and hunger relief. In 2006, as pa rt of Bono s Product Red, American Express launched the American Express Red Car d with campaign starred by supermodel Gisele Bndchen. The card, currently availab le only in the United Kingdom, makes a donation to fight AIDS with every purchas e made using the card. In May 2007, American Express launched an initiative call ed the Members Project.[36][37] Cardholders were invited to submit ideas for pro jects and American Express is funding the winning (provide clean drinking water) project $2 million. [edit] Workplace [edit] Offices Two rescue workers entering the American Express Tower following September 11 te rrorist attack on World Trade Center.

Amex House in Brighton, England, was built in 1977. American Express Travel Services Office, Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy American Express Italy HQ in Rome In April 1986 American Express moved its headquarters to the 51-story Three Worl d Financial Center in New York City. After the events of September 11, 2001, Ame rican Express had to leave its headquarters temporarily as it was located direct ly opposite to the World Trade Center and was damaged during the fall of the tow ers. The company began gradually moving back into its rehabilitated building in 2002. The company also has major offices in Fort Lauderdale, FL; Salt Lake City, UT; G reensboro, NC and Phoenix, AZ. It has a technology center in Weston, FL. The mai n data center is located in Phoenix. AMEX Bank of Canada was founded in 1853 in Toronto, however it currently has its headquarters of 3,000 employees in Markham, Ontario (a northern suburb of Toron to), as well as an office in Hamilton, Ontario. The company began operations as a bank on July 1, 1990 following an order-in-council made by the Brian Mulroney government on November 21, 1988. This decision was not without controversy as fe deral banking policy at the time would not ordinarily have permitted American Ex press to operate as a bank.[38] It is also a member of the Canadian Bankers Asso ciation (CBA) and is a registered member of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corpora tion (CDIC), a federal agency insuring deposits at all of Canada s chartered ban ks. American Express has several offices in the UK, including a 9-story European Ser vice Center, known as Amex House, in the Carlton Hill area of Brighton, England. It is a large white tower block, built in 1977[39] and surrounded by several ot her smaller offices around the city. Amex House deals with card servicing, sales , fraud and merchant servicing. The official Europe, Middle East, and Africa HQ is located in the Belgravia district of Westminster, in central London, at Belgr ave House on Buckingham Palace Road, SW1; other UK offices are based in Sussex a t Burgess Hill. In November 2009, Brighton and Hove City Council granted plannin g permission for American Express to redevelop the Amex House site. It is antici pated, in line with the Council s plan for the Edward Street Quarter, that the e xisting Amex House will be demolished by 2016. More information on this developm ent is available at edwardstreet.co.uk.[40] The Japan, Asia-Pacific, and Australian Headquarters is co-located in Singapore, at 16 Collyer Quay, and in Sydney s King Street Wharf area, with the new stateof-the-art building receiving greenhouse status due to the environmentally frien dly workspace that it provides. The headquarters of the Latin America and Caribbean division is in Miami. American Express also has a significant presence in India. Its two centres are l ocated at Gurgaon, Haryana and one at Mathura Road, New Delhi. The Indian operat ions of American Express revolves around the back office customer services opera tions apart from the credit card business for the domestic Indian Economy. [edit] Job satisfaction For 2008, American Express was named the 62nd best company to work for in the Un ited States by Fortune, ranking it number one for bank card companies.[41] In Oc tober 2008, Amex Canada Inc. was named one of Greater Toronto s Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.[42] [edit] Management and corporate governance Key executives include:[43] Kenneth Chenault: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel T. Henry : Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer[44] Edward Gilligan: Vice Chairman L. Kevin Cox: Executive Vice President Human Resources and Quality

 Ashwini Gupta: Chief Risk Officer, President Risk, Information Management & Bank ing Group John D. Hayes: Executive Vice President Global Advertising & Brand Management, a nd Chief Marketing Officer Josh Silverman: President US Consumer Services Louise Parent: Executive Vice President and General Counsel Thomas Schick: Executive Vice President Corporate and External Affairs Steve Squeri: Group President Global Services Douglas E. Buckminster: President International Consumer and Small Business Serv ices William H. Glenn: President Global Merchant Services Toby Redshaw - Chief Information Officer Dan Schulman - Enterprise Growth Current members of the board of directors of American Express are:[45] Daniel F. Akerson: Managing Director of the Carlyle Group Charlene Barshefsky: Former United States Trade Representative Ursula M. Burns: President of Xerox Corporation Kenneth I. Chenault: Chairman and CEO of American Express Co. Peter Chernin: Former President and COO, News Corporation Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.: Senior Managing Director with Lazard Freres & Co. LLC Jan Leschly: CEO of Care Capital LLC Richard C. Levin: President, Yale University Richard A. McGinn: Former CEO of Lucent Technologies, Partner, RRE Ventures Edward D. Miller: Former President and CEO of AXA SA Frank P. Popoff: Former Chairman Chemical Financial Corp. Steven S. Reinemund: Former Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo Inc. Robert D. Walter: Chairman and CEO, Cardinal Health Ronald A. Williams: Chairman and CEO, Aetna Inc. [edit] Sponsorship On June 22, 2010, it was revealed that American Express would sponsor English fo otball (soccer) team Brighton & Hove Albion s new stadium at Falmer. Commerciall y, the stadium is known as The American Express Community Stadium.[46] [edit] See also