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MetLife Inc.

Type

Public (NYSE: MET)

Industry

Finance and Insurance

Founded

1868

Headquarters New York, NY

Key people
Products

C. Robert Henrikson, Chairman of the Board,

President, and CEO
Insurance, Banking

Revenue

$41.058 billion USD (2009)

Net income

$2.246 billion USD (2009)

Employees

52,900 (2010)

Website

www.metlife.com

A view of MetLife from Empire State Building in Manhattan, New York

MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company,
commonly known as MetLife. The firm was founded on March 24, 1868. For most of its life the
company was a mutual organization, but it went public in 2000.
MetLife is the largest life insurer in the United States, with more than $3.3 trillion of life
insurance in force. A leader in savings and retirement products and services for individuals, small
business, and large institutions, MetLife serves 90 of the largest Fortune 100 companies.
The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, New
York City, though it retains some executive offices and its board room in the MetLife Building,
which it sold in 2005.[1]

Contents
[hide]

1 History
o 1.1 19th century
o 1.2 20th century
o 1.3 21st century

2 Services

3 Products

4 References

5 External links

6 See also

[edit] History
This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help
by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (February 2009)

[edit] 19th century

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, which served as company headquarters and
was featured in its advertising for many years
The origins of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) go back to 1863, when a group
of New York City businessmen raised $100,000 to found the National Union Life and Limb
Insurance Company. The new company insured Civil War sailors and soldiers against
disabilities due to wartime wounds, accidents, and sickness. In 1868, after several
reorganizations and five difficult years, the company decided to focus on the life insurance
business. A new company was chartered to sell "ordinary" insurance to the middle class.
1868 March 25, one day after the Company opened its books, the first policy carrying the name
of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was issued. Dr. James R. Dow, a retired physician
from Brooklyn, NY, was named Metropolitan Lifes first President. He held this position until
1871. The Companys office consisted of two and a half rooms; it was located at 243 Broadway
in Lower Manhattan. By the close of business in 1868, the Company had issued 1,477 policies
for $4,340,000.
In 1869 Metropolitan moved its office to the 3rd floor of 319 Broadway.
1870 By the end of the year, Metropolitan had on its books in excess of $13,000,000 of
insurance, an increase of 93 percent over the previous year. The Companys Field Force
numbered approximately 80 agents.
1871 Joseph F. Knapp was named Metropolitan Lifes second President. He held this position
until 1891. The Company began a series of health and safety messages in Company periodicals
for distribution to its employees and policyholders.
1873 Despite a depression, Metropolitan issued 12,242 policies for $17,753,000. These figures
placed it third in number of policies and fifth in aggregate of insurance for that year.

1875 The company purchased its first home of its own. Located at Park Place and Church Street
in Manhattan, it was occupied early the following year.
1877 Two Metropolitan firsts: a female clerk was hired, and the Company used its first
typewriter.
In 1879, MetLife President Joseph F. Knapp turned his attention to Britain, where "industrial" or
"workingmen's" insurance programs were widely successful. By importing British agents to train
an American agency force, MetLife quickly transferred successful British methods for use in the
United States. By 1880, the company was signing up 700 new industrial policies a day. Rapidly
increasing volume quickly drove down distribution costs, and the new program proved
immediately successful.
1880 A total of 213,878 industrial policies were written, with a value of more than $9,000,000.

[edit] 20th century

MetLife Building, served as MetLife's headquarters from the late 1980s through 2005 and today
retains the MetLife logo on its exterior
At the turn of the century, Metropolitan and other large insurers reaped the bulk of their profits
from industrial life insurance, or insurance generally sold house-to-house by solicitors in poor
urban areas.[2] Industrial workers paid double what others paid for ordinary life insurance, and
due to high lapse rates, as few as 1 in 12 policies reached maturity.[3] The rest lost their entire
investment. Prominent lawyer and future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis helped pass a
1907 Massachusetts law to protect workers by allowing savings banks to sell life insurance at
lower rates.[4]

1902 The Parker Building was acquired by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1902.
The acquisition was brokered by Frank E. Smith through John F. Hollingsworth. The latter
accepted the Westminster Hotel, at Irving Place, as partial payment.[5]
In 1907, the company commissioned the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower to serve
as its headquarters in Lower Manhattan; completed two years later, the building was the world's
tallest until 1913 and remained the company's headquarters until 2005. For many years, an
illustration of the building (with light emanating from the tip of its spire and the slogan, "The
Light That Never Fails") featured prominently in MetLife advertising.
Beginning in the 1930s, the company broadened its tradition of public service from promoting
individual health to fostering national social and economic goals. In 1930, MetLife was the
undisputed leader of the insurance industry, insuring every fifth man, woman, and child in the
United States and Canada. On the way it supported the country and the community in many
ways. For example,

In 1931 MetLife provided the outside capital to build Rockefeller Center.

The company lent money to construct the Empire State Building in 1929.

During World War II, the company placed more than 51 percent of its total assets in war
bonds, and was the largest single private contributor to the Allied cause.

Metropolitan Life logo, ca. 1970

In 1980, the company completed the largest single building purchase (of the Pan Am Building) in
history.
Since the 1980s Snoopy has been the mascot taken from the Peanuts cartoons, apparently as a
MetLife rep. Many other characters from the Peanuts cartoons have also been featured in
MetLife television commercials.
In 1998, the board of directors authorized demutualization.
In 1998, The MetLife Headquarters building was featured in Godzilla and half of it was
destroyed when The Monster walked through it.

[edit] 21st century

In 2000, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) launched the seventh largest IPO ever
held in the United States.

In 2001, MetLife was the first insurance company to establish a financial holding company with
a nationally chartered bank. Leveraging its unparalleled distribution channels, MetLife entered
the retail-banking arena with the launch of MetLife Bank.[citation needed]

The Metlife 'Snoopy Two' blimp

In 2001, immediately after the September 11th terrorist attacks, MetLife invested $1 billion in
the US stock market[citation needed].
The MetLife Headquarters building was featured in Spider-Man: The Movie (game), released in
2002.
In 2006, MetLife appointed C. Robert (Rob) Henrikson chairman of the board of directors,
president and chief executive officer of MetLife, Inc. Henrikson was appointed CEO on March 1,
2006 and chairman of the board on April 25, 2006.[citation needed]
In 2008, MetLife Bank, N.A., a division of MetLife Inc., purchased the residential mortgage
business of Memphis-based First Horizon National Corporation. The purchase included the home
loan unit of First Tennessee Bank National Association (outside Tennessee), with 230 offices in
the US. The same year, MetLife also purchased the Reverse Mortgage division of Florida-based
Everbank Financial Corp. Both transactions were successfully completed in a bid to expand the
company's stake in the US housing market.[citation needed]
In 2010, Working Mother magazine honored MetLife by again naming the company one of the
"100 Best Companies for Working Mothers," for the twelfth consecutive year.[citation needed]
In 2010, MetLife was also again named to the National Association for Female Executives
annual list of Top 30 Companies for Executive Women.[6] citation needed
On 8 March 2010, Met Life Announced the acquisition of the international leader life-insurance
business, American Life Insurance Company (Alico), from American International Group (AIG).
[7]
MetLife [MET] will pay approximately $15.5 billion, including $6.8 billion in cash and the
remainder in equity securities. On Nov 03, 2010, MetLife [MET] completed its acquisition of
American Life Insurance Company for $16.2 billion.[8]

[edit] Services

MetLife serves group benefit products and Individual benefit products. International segment
serves these products to groups and individual in the Asia/Pacific region, Europe, and Latin
America. The company's reinsurance business operates as Reinsurance Group of America, but
serves customers around the world. The reinsurance business was spun off in 2008-2009 in a
limited IPO for RGA.

[edit] Products

MetLife Hall of Records, Yonkers, New York

Auto & Home Insurance

Annuities

Life insurance

Group Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Group Disability Insurance

Mutual funds and other investments

Long-term care insurance

Group Dental Insurance

Fee-based financial planning

Retirement planning

Wealth management

Banking and financial services

Commercial and residential mortgages

[edit] References
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has
insufficient inline citations.
Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (February
2009)

1. ^ Ramirez, Anthony. "MetLife Sells 2nd Building, A Landmark On Park Ave." The New
York Times. April 2, 2005. Retrieved on August 25, 2009.
2. ^ Mason, A (1946). Brandeis: A Free Man's Life. p. 153
3. ^ Ibid., p. 156
4. ^ Ibid. p. 171
5. ^ In The Real Estate Field, New York Times, March 26, 1905, pg. 20.
6. ^ NAFE top 50
7. ^ "MetLife acquires Alico". 8 March 2010.
http://www.nybreakingnews.com/news/MetLife-acquires-Alico-1268080777/. Retrieved
9 March 2010.
8. ^ "MetLife completes acquisition of American Life Insurance". Updated acquisition
information. Trading Markets. http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stockalert/aig_met_metlife-acquires-american-life-insurance-1279334.html. Retrieved 8
November 2010.

[edit] External links

MetLife.com MetLife official website

MetLifeHomeLoans.com MetLife Home Loans official website

MetDental MetDental

MyBenefits

MetLife Bank

MetLife Auto & Home

www.metlife.co.in MetLife India website.

[edit] See also

New York City portal
Companies portal

List of United States insurance companies

Met English

Stuyvesant Town

Park La Brea, Los Angeles, California

Park Merced, San Francisco, California

[show]

vde

50 largest banks / bank holding companies in the United States as of September

30, 2010
[show]
vde

Major insurance and reinsurance companies

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MetLife"

Categories: Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange | Banks based in New York City |
Companies established in 1868 | Insurance companies of the United States | Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company | Companies based in New York City | Former mutual insurance companies |
Peanuts (comic strip) | Life insurance companies
Hidden categories: Articles needing cleanup from February 2009 | All pages needing cleanup |
Articles with sections that need to be turned into prose from February 2009 | All articles with
unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from February 2009 | Articles with
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This page was last modified on 22 November 2010 at 20:52.

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