(2 of 5)
During the booming 1920's strapping, crisp-haired Charles E. Mitchell enlarged the National City Bank by mergers until, for a short time, it was bigger than the Chase. In 1930 Mr. Wiggin put an end to that by merging the Chase with Equitable Trust in which the Rockefellers were heavy stockholders. Thereafter Mr. Wiggin was no longer the Chase's biggest stockholder*—that title had passed to John D. Rockefeller Jr.—but the Rockefellers were content to leave him in command. At that time Mr. Wiggin ruled a bigger bank than any American before or since: a bank with $148,000,000 each of capital and surplus, with over $2,000,000,000 in deposits. Days of trouble followed. Some of Mr. Wiggin's banking clients (Pynchon & Co., Fox Film, German debtors, etc.) had their share of it. Result: the gossip in the market place was not pleasant for Chase officials to listen to. Time came when the Rockefellers felt apparently that the Chase should be run in a far different way. Winthrop Williams Aldrich, Rockefeller brother-in-law, who had been president of Equitable, became chairman of Chase. Mr. Wiggin retired, aged 64, not broke like some others, but as one who had kept the rewards of his labors, as a very rich man—an achievement which in these days the financial community regards as something of a credit to anyone.
How to Retire Rich. This achievement was last week seized upon by Inquisitor Pecora and laid open for examination of its ethics. During Depression Mr. Wiggin had clamored loudly for wage reductions in industry but his own pay had gone booming along, had actually been raised in 1930 and 1931: 1928—$175,000 plus $100,000 bonus 1929—$175,000 plus $100,000 bonus 1930—$218,750 plus $75,000 bonus 1931—$250,000, no bonus 1932—$220,300, no bonus
At the time of his retirement in 1933, his salary from the bank was at the rate of $202,500. He was voted a pension of $100,000 a year for life. In addition in recent years he also received salaries from: American Locomotive, $300 a month American Sugar Refining, $300 a month Armour & Co. (now nothing), previously $1,000 a month, still earlier $40,000 a year American Express (formerly) $3,000 a year Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit (formerly) $20,000 a year International Paper, about $2,000 Stone & Webster (formerly) $1,500 Underwood Elliott Fisher, about $2,000 Western Union Telegraph, about $3,000 Finance Co. of Great Britain & America (formerly) about $5,000