Carl M. Loeb

Carl Morris Loeb was a German-born American businessman who served as the president of the American Metal Company and the founder of Carl M. Loeb & Co, which became Loeb, Rhoades & Co. in 1938. Early life and education Carl Morris Loeb was born to a middle-class Jewish family on September 28, 1875 in Frankfurt, Germany, the son of Minna (née Cohn) and Adolph Loeb. His parents were dry goods merchants and he had one older brother, Julius, and one younger sister, Ella. Career American Metal Company In 1893, Loeb graduated from gymnasium and moved to New York City to work with his brother at the American Metal Company (AMCO), a lead and zinc trader and subsidiary of Metallgesellschaft AG (founded by Wilhelm Ralph Merton, Leo Ellinger, and Zachary Hochschild). In 1893, he moved to St. Louis to assist at a branch office (and also met his future wife) and was promoted to branch manager after convincing then AMCO president Jacob Langeloth that he could handle the responsibility despite being only 21. In 1898, he became a U.S. citizen. Loeb vertically integrated the company by expanding into the ownership of smelting and refining facilities while securing his supply of raw materials by signing exclusive contracts with large mines to purchase their entire output; and then processing them at AMCO-owned facilities. He also expanded AMCO's activities into Mexico with investments in lead, silver and zinc mining first as an agent for its parent Metallgesellschaft and later as a direct investor during World War I. In 1917, AMCO refined 250 million pounds of copper, 547 million pounds of zinc, and 168 million pounds of lead. Loeb became president of AMCO after Longeloth died in 1914.