Henry Lehman

Henry Lehman (c. 1821 ndash 1855) was a Jewish German-American businessman and the founder of Lehman Brothers.

Born Heinrich Lehmann to a cattle merchant in Rimpar, Bavaria, Lehman emigrated to the United States in 1844. He settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where he opened a dry goods store called simply "H. Lehman". [http://www.lehman.com/who/index.htm] . In 1847, following the arrival of his older brother Emmanuel Lehman, the firm became "H. Lehman and Bro." With the 1850 arrival of Mayer Lehman, the youngest brother, the firm became "Lehman Brothers".

In those years, cotton was the most important crop of the Southern United States. Capitalizing on cotton's extremely high market value around the world, the Lehman brothers became cotton factors, accepting cotton bales from customers as payment for their merchandise. They eventually began a second business as traders in cotton [http://www.lehman.com/who/index.htm] . Within a few years, this became the major part of their firm.

In 1855, Henry Lehman died from yellow fever. His brothers moved the company's headquarters to New York City, eventually building it into an important American company which collapsed on September 15, 2008.