American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a diversified global
financial services company, adquartered in New York City. The company is best known for its credit
card, charge card and traveler's cheque businesses.
American Express was founded in 1850, in Buffalo, New York, as a joint stock corporation that was a
merger of the express mail companies owned by Henry Wells (Wells & Company), William Fargo
(Livingston, Fargo & Company), and John Butterfield (Butterfield, Wasson & Company), as an
express business. American Express first established its headquarters in a building at the intersection
of Jay Street and Hudson Street in what was later called the TriBeCa section of Manhattan, and enjoyed
a virtual monopoly on the movement of express shipments (Goods, Securities, Currency, etc.)
throughout New York State. In 1874, American Express moved its headquarters to 65 Broadway in
what was becoming the Financial District of Manhattan. More than a century and a half after its
founding, American Express has become a global financial services powerhouse and one of this nation's
most recognizable brands around the world.