Knowra Samuel Insull Samuel Insull Samuel Insull (1859–1938) was an English-born American business executive who built a vast electric utility empire. His companies collapsed during the Great Depression, making him a prominent figure in debates over corporate power and regulation.
Thomas Edison : An American inventor and businessman who developed practical electric lighting systems and founded companies that became part of General Electric. Insull began his American career as Edison’s personal secretary and worked within Edison’s electric-lighting business.
Public utility : An organization that supplies essential services such as electricity, water, or gas, often under government regulation. Insull’s businesses operated as regulated utilities serving large regional markets.
Crompton & Company : A British electrical engineering company founded by R. E. B. Crompton in the nineteenth century. Insull worked for the firm before emigrating to the United States and joining Edison.
Insull corporate collapse : The 1932 failure of Samuel Insull’s interconnected utility and investment companies, which left investors with heavy losses. The collapse destroyed Insull’s business network and turned his corporate methods into a national controversy.
Martin J. Insull : A British-American businessman and Samuel Insull’s younger brother, who led utility companies within the Insull organization. Martin managed companies in his brother’s utility network and was implicated in its collapse.
Electric power industry : The network of organizations that generate, transmit, distribute, and sell electrical energy. Insull built his wealth by consolidating companies across this industry.
Edison Illuminating Company : A company established in New York in 1880 to provide electric lighting and power. Insull’s work in Edison’s businesses connected him to the emerging commercial electricity market.
Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 : A United States law that required federal registration and regulation of interstate public utility holding companies. Congress enacted the law amid scrutiny of the holding-company structures associated with Insull’s empire.
Franklin D. Roosevelt : The 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 to 1945, who led federal responses to the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s administration pursued reforms of the utility holding-company system after the Insull collapse.
Utility holding company : A corporation that owns controlling interests in one or more public utility companies. Holding companies let Insull control distant utilities through layered ownership.
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