Piper Jaffray Companies Inc. (Minneapolis, Minn.).

The Piper Jaffray Companies Inc. trace their roots back to 1895, when George B. Lane established a commercial paper brokerage firm with offices in the Guaranty Loan Building in Minneapolis. In 1913 H. C. Piper, Sr., and C. Palmer Jaffray, who were classmates at Yale, formed a partnership of Piper, Jaffray and Company. Like Lane and his firm, they first dealt in commercial paper, which are short-term unsecured notes. When a company needed quick capital, they would go to a dealer in commercial paper, which would then find a lender.

In 1917 the two small firms, the George B. Lane & Company and Piper, Jaffray and Company, merged to form a company called Lane, Piper & Jaffray, Inc. During the 1920s this company became involved in the investment banking business, which involved the underwriting of new stock and bond issues, setting up mergers between companies, and financing company expansion through securing public and private capital. From its very beginning the firm played a key role in the growth of Minnesota business. They pioneered the first public stock offerings of such firms as Archer Daniels Midland, Munsingwear, Greyhound Corporation, The Pillsbury Company, and Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M). As a result, several top executives of Lane, Piper & Jaffray served on the board of directors of some of these firms.

The firm grew steadily through the 1920s, reaching a staffing peak of 45 brokers before the stock market crash of October 1929. Within eighteen months, however, only three brokers remained at the firm. In 1932 the firm merged with the two-person office of Robert G. Hopwood, giving the company its most enduring and recognizable name, Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood. An immediate benefit of the merger was a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and affiliations with several other stock exchanges.

After World War II the company began a slow expansion. First came offices in Great Falls (1944) and Billings, Montana (1949) followed by Rochester, Minnesota (1957); Fargo, North Dakota (1960); and Rapid City, South Dakota. In 1964 the firm acquired the brokerage firm of Jamieson and Company, increasing the number of offices to 12 and the number of employees to near 300. In 1966 an office was opened in Mankato, Minnesota; in 1967 the Bismarck, North Dakota office was opened; and in 1968 five more offices were opened in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska. In 1969, after 74 years as a partnership, Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood became a corporation, which led to further expansion in the 1970s and 1980s. While most of the new offices were acquired or opened in the northwestern part of the United States, offices were also opened in New York City (1969) and in London, England (1987). In 1971 the company became a publicly held corporation known as Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood Incorporated. In 1974 a holding company, Piper Jaffray Incorporated, was established to pave the way to further expansion. This firm became the parent company of Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood Incorporated. In the 1980s two other subsidiaries were added. These included Piper Capital Management Incorporated, a money management company (1985), and the Piper Trust Company (1989), which offered trust services to individuals and institutions. In 1992 the holding company changed its name to Piper Jaffray Companies Inc. and its brokerage and investment banking subsidiary, Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood Incorporated, was renamed Piper Jaffray, Inc. In 1998 U.S. Bancorp acquired the Piper Jaffray Companies Inc. The company has been kept intact as an operating subsidiary and is now known as U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray.

From the guide to the Piper Jaffray corporate records., 1895-1998 (Bulk 1950-1995)., (Minnesota Historical Society)