Company History Timeline 

1921
Merrill, Lynch & Co. buys the U.S. unit of Pathé Exchange, Inc., an affiliate of French film pioneer Pathé Frères. The studio is turned into a profitable venture by Ed Lynch, sold to a group of investors led by Joseph P. Kennedy and director Cecil B. DeMille and later becomes RKO Pictures.

1926
Merrill, Lynch & Co. purchases a controlling interest in Safeway Stores, a Southern California grocery chain. The acquisition represents the firm's most significant investment outside the financial field to date.

1928 
Charles E. Merrill, sensing the potential for financial instability and worried by the excesses of the speculative stock market boom, advises Merrill Lynch's clients to "take advantage of present high prices and put your financial house in order."

 View 1930s