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Purpose and benefits

Cofounder of the first chain of stockbrokers, Charles Merrill brought stock ownership to the masses. In doing so he helped to shift capitalism from a relatively small base of rich investors to a much broader cross section of US society, a process that has continued in recent years with the advent of online trading. Merrill came to stockbroking by chance. A broken romance led him to the hubbub of Wall Street when he left the textile company Patchogue-Plymouth Mills and joined the bond department of George H. Burr & Co.As early as 1911 Merrill was contemplating the merits of wider share ownership. With drinking buddy Edmund Lynch, he founded Merrill, Lynch & Co in 1914. He then successfully steered the firm through the maelstrom of the 1929 Wall Street Crash. After the second world war, with the expanded firm of Merrill Lynch, EA Pierce, and Cassatt, Merrill fulfilled his vision of bringing share ownership to the masses. By 1947 Merrill Lynch was the largest retailer of stocks in the United States, with