American Express founded by Wells and Fargo
- When
- 1850
- Where
- Buffalo, New York; Unspecified location
- Episodes
- 2
American Express was founded in Buffalo, New York, in 1850 as a joint-stock corporation resulting from the consolidation of three competing express companies. Henry Wells served as President and William Fargo as Secretary. The merger combined Wells & Company, Livingston, Fargo & Company, and Wells, Butterfield & Company, establishing a firm that initially focused on freight forwarding and express delivery services.
Episodes
- Merger of Express Companies
Three competing express companies merged in 1850 to form American Express, with Wells as President and Fargo as Secretary.
- Formation of Wells, Butterfield & Company
Henry Wells formed Wells, Butterfield & Company early in 1850 with John Butterfield, which later joined the American Express merger.
Background and detail
Consolidation of Express Companies. In 1850, three distinct express firms merged to form American Express. These were Wells & Company, Livingston, Fargo & Company, and Wells, Butterfield & Company. The latter was the successor to Butterfield, Wasson & Company. The consolidation created a joint-stock corporation headquartered in Buffalo, with Wells as President and Fargo as Secretary, marking a significant restructuring of the express delivery market.
Early Operations. American Express began as a freight forwarding company in Buffalo. It enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the express transport of goods, currency, and securities in New York State for approximately two decades. The company's predecessor, Wells & Company, had been located at 10 Wall Street in New York City, which became American Express's first headquarters.
People involved
- Henry Wells · President of American Express
- William Fargo · Secretary of American Express
- John Butterfield · Director and Partner in Wells, Butterfield & Company
Sources
- American Express Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-25
- William Fargo Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-29
- Henry Wells Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-11
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.