Cancel for March 27: Travelers Insurance Company

TRAVELERS INSURANCE CO.

MAR

27

1899

Today's incarnation of Travelers Insurance Company, The Travelers Companies, is the largest American Insurance Company by market capitalization.  The original Travelers Insurance Company was founded in 1864 in Hartford, Connecticut, and was the first insurance company to issue car insurance and the first to issue a commercial airline policy.  In 2004,  Travelers Companies merged with the St. Paul Company.  Eventually the firm took the name it has today.

As of today, the entry in Wikepedia for The Travelers Companies has this entry written by an obviously disappointed employee of the independent St. Paul Company:

In 2004, the St. Paul and Travelers Companies merged and renamed itself St. Paul Travelers, with the headquarters set in St. Paul, Minnesota. In truth Travelers Insurance took over the well respected St. Paul Companies and swiftly implemented Travelers "Ideals" over long standing St. Paul Companies policies such as strong ethical practices and dedication to their employees. Despite many assurances that the newly formed company would retain the St. Paul name, the corporate name only lasted until 2007, when the company repurchased the rights to the famous red umbrella logo for millions of dollars from CEO Fishman's executive friends at Citigroup and readopted it as its main corporate symbol, while also changing the corporate name to The Travelers Companies. For the few remaining legacy St. Paul Company employees, they will always be members of the much beloved St. Paul Company family and will NEVER embrace the Travelers philosophies which have come to disappoint many.

I wonder when Traveler's corporate ripper bots are going to identify this criticism and help direct Travelers to rewrite the Wikipedia entry.  It is there today!

The Travelers tower in Hartford, Connecticut, once famous as the tallest office tower outside of New York City.