PaineWebber & Co. was an American

investment bank Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

and stock brokerage firm that was acquired by the Swiss bank

UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...

in 2000. The company was founded in 1880 in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, by William A. Paine and Wallace G. Webber. Operating with two employees, they leased premises at 48 Congress Street in May 1881. The company was renamed Paine, Webber & Co. when Charles Hamilton Paine became a partner. Members of the

Boston Stock Exchange The Boston Stock Exchange (now NASDAQ BX, formerly ''BSE'') was a regional stock exchange formerly located in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1834, making it the third-oldest stock exchange in the United States. On October 2, 2007, NASDAQ ...

, in 1890 the company acquired a seat on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

. Wallace G. Webber retired after the business weathered a major financial crisis of 1893.

History

Founding and early history

In May 1881, William Alfred (W.A.) Paine (with a loan from his father) and Wallace G. Webber founded Paine & Webber as a brokerage firm in

, Massachusetts with a seat on the

. With the admission of Charles H. Paine to the partnership, the firm was renamed Paine, Webber & Co. The firm would purchase a seat on the

in 1890. Also in the 1890s, W.A. Paine entered into a partnership with

Copper Range Company The Copper Range Company was a major copper-mining company in the Copper Country of Michigan, United States. It began as the Copper Range Company in the late 19th century as a holding company specializing in shares in the copper mines south of Hou ...

and

Copper Range Railroad The Copper Range Railroad was a former United States, U.S. Class I railroad that operated from 1899 to 1972 in the western Upper Peninsula of the state of Michigan. History The Copper Range Railroad was incorporated in 1899 as a successor to ...

, controlled by John Stanton. Controlled by the Paine family, Paine, Webber & Co. entered the

investment banking Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by und ...

business in the 1920s. After nearly fifty years at the head of the company, W.A. Paine died right before the Wall Street crash of 1929. His son F. Ward Paine became head of the firm, a position he held until 1940. Following the difficult years of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, Paine Webber merged with Jackson & Curtis, another Boston-based brokerage firm, in June 1942. In July 1879, Charles Cabot Jackson and Laurence Curtis had founded their brokerage firm Jackson & Curtis on Congress Street in Boston, not far from the original Paine Webber offices. The combined firm, Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis, operated a combined total of 22 branch offices. With its greater combined asset base, Paine Webber Jackson & Curtis had become a significant participant in the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

financial market.

1960s and 1970s

In October 1960, Paine Webber managed the

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

(IPO) of the Green Shoe Manufacturing Co., in which it introduced the concept of stabilization covered by an overallotment option, which has ever since been known by the colloquial name of

greenshoe Greenshoe, or over-allotment clause, is the term commonly used to describe a special arrangement in a U.S. registered share offering, for example an initial public offering (IPO), which enables the investment bank representing the underwriters to ...

. The firm moved its headquarters from Boston to New York in 1963. The firm's holding company was incorporated on June 30, 1969, as PaineWebber Inc., of which Paine Webber Jackson & Curtis was its main subsidiary. In 1974, the firm completed an initial public offering of the stock of its holding company, PaineWebber Inc., and listed the company on the

. PaineWebber engaged in a number of acquisitions in the 1970s, as a wave of consolidation spread through the industry. In 1973, the firm acquired F.S. Smithers & Co., providing its first a presence in fixed income. PaineWebber also acquired Abbott, Proctor & Paine in 1970, the Abacus Fund, a closed-end investment company in 1972, Mitchum, Jones & Templeton Inc. in 1973. In 1977, the firm acquired investment research and advisory firm Mitchell Hutchins, which had been founded in 1919. In 1979 the company acquired Blyth, Eastman Dillon & Co., which itself was the product of a number of mergers. Among its predecessor firms were Blyth & Co. which had merged with Eastman Dillon Union Securities & Co. in 1972, itself the product of the 1956 merger of

Union Securities Union Securities Corporation was an independent investment banking firm in existence from 1938 through its acquisition in 1956, although the name would survive through 1972. Union Securities was created in 1938 as a spinoff of the investment ban ...

(formerly the investment banking division of J. & W. Seligman & Co.) and Eastman Dillon & Co. The acquisition added more than 70 branch offices and more than 700 professionals as well as an investment banking business.

1980s

By 1980, PaineWebber had 161 branch offices in 42 states and six offices in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. With the acquisition of Rotan Mosle Financial Corp. in 1983, PaineWebber developed a national distribution network and with its advertising campaign "Thank You PaineWebber" developed its brand throughout the 1980s. In 1984, the company consolidated its two divisions, Paine Webber Jackson & Curtis and Blyth Eastman Paine Webber Inc., to form PaineWebber Inc. PaineWebber Group Inc. was established as the parent holding company. PaineWebber moved its headquarters from

140 Broadway 140 Broadway (formerly known as the Marine Midland Building or the HSBC Bank Building) is a 51-story International Style (architecture), International Style office building on the east side of Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway between Cedar and Li ...

to 1285 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan in 1985. PaineWebber became a visible presence on Sixth Avenue. At the time, the illuminated name on the building (today UBS) was unique among investment banks, and the building hosted a ground floor gallery of art exhibitions. In 1986, the firm opened a new technology and transaction processing operation at Lincoln Harbor in New Jersey.

1990s

In 1995, PaineWebber completed the acquisition of the brokerage and investment banking firm Kidder, Peabody & Co. from

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

. Founded in 1865, Kidder, Peabody had been a preeminent player in investment banking and private services before becoming embroiled in insider trading scandals in the 1980s and suffering major trading losses in 1994. During these years Michael G. Ricciardi was the managing director and head of global fixed income sales at Paine Webber.

2000

Operating as PaineWebber Group Inc., by 2000 PaineWebber had emerged as the fourth largest private client firm in the United States with 385 offices employing 8554

stockbroker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and ...

s. In April 2000, PaineWebber acquired southeastern brokerage firm J.C. Bradford & Co. for US$620 million. The deal was not profitable for PaineWebber, as a great number of brokers left the firm due to corporate cultural differences, taking their clients with them. The Bradford unit which had been "purchased by PaineWebber mainly for its network of 900 brokers" was closed.

Merger with UBS

On November 3, 2000, under the leadership of chairman and CEO, Donald Marron, the company completed a US$10.8 billion cash and stock merger with

, a banking conglomerate headquartered in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland. Initially the business was given the divisional name "UBS PaineWebber",Advertising: Introducing UBS, PaineWebber, Post Merger
''The New York Times'', March 5, 2001 but in 2003, the 123-year-old name Paine Webber disappeared when it was renamed "UBS Wealth Management USA".