Paul Warburg

Paul Moritz Warburg (August 10, 1868 – January 24, 1932) was a German-born American investment banker who served as the second vice chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1916 to 1918. Prior to his term as vice chairman, Warburg served as one of the original members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, taking office in 1914. He was an early advocate for the establishment of the US central bank system. Early life Warburg was born in Hamburg, Germany, to the Warburg family, a German Jewish banking dynasty with origins in Venice. His parents were Moritz and Charlotte Esther (Oppenheim) Warburg. After graduating from the Realgymnasium in Hamburg in 1886, he entered the employ of Simon Hauer, a Hamburg importer and exporter, to learn the fundamentals of business practice. He similarly worked for Samuel Montagu & Co., bankers, in London in 1889–1890, and the Banque Russe pour le Commerce Etranger in Paris in 1890–1891. In 1891, Warburg entered the office of the family banking firm of M. M. Warburg & Co., which had been founded in 1798 by his great-grandfather. He interrupted work there to undertake a world tour during the winter of 1891–1892. Warburg was admitted to a partnership in the family firm in 1895. On October 1, 1895, Warburg was married in New York City to Nina J. Loeb, daughter of Solomon Loeb, a founder of the New York investment firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. The Warburgs were the parents of a son, James Paul Warburg, and a daughter, Bettina Warburg Grimson.