Jacob Schiff was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1847. After being educated in Germany, Schiff emigrated to the United States in 1865. In 1875 he married the daughter of the successful banker, Solomon Loeb. He joined Kuhn, Loeb and Company and took charge of the company in 1885. Together with his partners, Otto Kahn and Paul Warburg, he made a great deal of money from financing railroads. He purchased the Union Pacific Railroad and attempted to gain control of Northern Pacific. This led to him being criticised by President Theodore Roosevelt and resulted in the passing of anti-trust laws. Jacob Schiff died in New York City on 25th September, 1920.