New York Life Insurance Company

New York Life Insurance Company's predecessor, Nautilus Insurance Company was chartered in 1840 with assets totaling only $17,000. Nautilus began by selling marine and fire insurance and as business quickly expanded the name was changed to New York Life Insurance Company in 1849 and the company began to focus solely on selling life insurance, effectively ending their fire and marine insurance endeavors.

As the life insurance industry in the United States continued to expand, New York Life remained a leader in helping the nation to develop its fledgling industry. Though policies in the 1800s were very restrictive, including limited travel in the summer and refusal of sales to areas where diseases were more prone to becoming epidemics, New York Life still made innovative business decisions including the implementation of sales agents and expansion offices. With the help of these sales agents the company was able to expand the United States' life insurance industry by reaching out to lower and middle income individuals as well as the wealthier upper class that had been almost the entire market in earlier years, exponentially increasing the size of the market.

By the time of the Civil War, New York Life had established an impressive foothold in the southern states and the war posed a serious threat to their business since President Abraham Lincoln restricted all commerce between the northern and southern states. After recovering from the impact of the war and the confusion that ensued regarding unpaid claims and lapsed policies during the war New York Life enjoyed significant growth. During the mid to late 1800s New York Life expanded as far as San Francisco and also setup offices in seven foreign countries, making New York Life an international company.

Through conservative business planning and remaining loyal to their customers, New York Life Insurance Company was able to weather the epidemics of the post-WWI era, avoid the stock market crash of 1929 entirely, and become a major capital provider during the Great Depression. After massive international expansion and diversification in the late 1900s, New York Life entered the next millennia with over $115 billion in assets and a solidified place as a Fortune 100 company.