Leadership

When Wiggin joined Chase in 1904, it was a modest bank with assets of just $250 million. As president, however, Wiggin oversaw a huge expansion wave, including the 1917 founding of the Chase Securities subsidiary. Wiggin's numerous business ties helped gain a tremendous amount of business for both the parent bank and the securities firm. More significant, however, was Wiggin's impressive string of bank mergers, of which there were 7 in total, which not only brought the Rockefeller family into the Chase enterprise, but also helped increase the bank’s assets to a total of $2.7 billion.