Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company

Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company
"Mutual Benefit" redirects here. For other uses, see Mutual aid.
Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company
Industry insurance
Fate dissolved
Founded 1845
Defunct June 14, 2001
Headquarters Newark, New Jersey
Key people Frederick Frelinghuysen (1848–1924)
Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company building at 300 Broadway in 1915
Mutual Benefit Life Building
General information
Type Office
Location 520 Broad Street
Newark, New Jersey
Completed 1957
Height
Roof 75 m (246 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 20
Design and construction
Structural engineer George A. Fuller Company
References
[1]

The Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company was a life insurance company based in Newark, New Jersey that was chartered in 1845. The company was headed by Frederick Frelinghuysen (1848–1924).[2][3] The company was known as the "Tiffany" of insurance companies, a reference to its reputation as the life insurance company to the upper classes.

Mutual Benefit Life was seized by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance on July 16, 1991 after losses in an overheated real estate market led to a run by policyholders.[4] At the time, the collapse was the largest ever of an American insurer. Effective June 14, 2001, Mutual Benefit was liquidated and dissolved.[5]

Contents

Landmark buildings

The company's original headquarters building at 300 Broadway in Newark is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The building was sold to the Archdiocese of Newark and served as home to Essex Catholic High School until 1979. The building was again sold, and today serves as a nursing home. The company moved to larger headquarters at 520 Broad Street in 1957, a modern structure that was built in the International Style as part of the New Newark movement and centered to the north of traditional downtown. The Mutual Benefit Life Building in Philadelphia is another another structure associated with the firm.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&lng=3&id=520broadstreet-newark-nj-usa%7C520 Broad
  2. ^ "Frederick Frelinghuysen. Ex-President of Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company Dies.". New York Times. January 2, 1924, Wednesday. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60B1EF73A59177A93C0A9178AD85F408285F9. Retrieved 2007-05-30. 
  3. ^ International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 3. St. James Press, 1991
  4. ^ Mutual Benefit Seized By New Jersey Officials
  5. ^ Re: Inquiry to Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, Updated December 8, 2005. Accessed May 31, 2007.

Further reading

  • Derdak, Thomas (editor) (1991). International Directory of Company Histories (Vol. 3). St. James Press. ASIN B000MBNTF0.  Article on Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company at fundinguniverse.com:[1]
  • Stone, Mildred F. (1957). Since 1845: A History of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. Rutgers University Press. pp. 237. ASIN B0007DVJKA. 
  • Answers.com Mutual Benefit Life

External links


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