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MetLife Inc.

Type Public (NYSE: MET)

Industry Finance and Insurance

Founded 1868

Headquarters New York, NY

Key peopleC. Robert Henrikson, Chairman of the Board,

President, and CEO

Products 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 Life’s first President. He held this position until 1871. The Company’s 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 Company’s Field Force numbered approximately 80 agents.

1871 Joseph F. Knapp was named Metropolitan Life’s 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] ServicesMetLife 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. 1533. ̂ Ibid., p. 1564. ̂ Ibid. p. 1715. ̂ 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/stock-alert/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] v • d • e

50 largest banks   / bank holding companies in the United States as of September 30, 2010

[show] v • d • e

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 unsourced statements from October 2010 | Articles lacking in-text citations from February 2009 | All articles lacking in-text citations

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