The history of Prudential financial, a company recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) as the second largest insurance firm in the United States can be traced back to Newark in New Jersey.

Background History of Prudential Financial Inc

Prudential financial Inc, an insurance company with over 831 billion dollars in assets (as at 2017) in the United States and across 30 countries where they operate, Started in Newark, New Jersey, in 1875, Prudential Financial was originally called The Widows and Orphans Friendly Society, then the Prudential Friendly Society. It was founded by John F. Dryden, who later became a U.S. Senator.



It is the first U.S. company to make life insurance affordable to working-class people. The company sold Industrial Insurance, which provided funeral and burial expenses for low-income families, with some weekly premiums as low as three cents.

How Prudential Financial Became a Billion-dollar Company

By 1879, Prudential had become a million dollar company, extending from New Jersey to New york city and Philadelphia, reaching more customers of the growing middle-class at the time and growing its assets.

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Dryden was president of Prudential until 1912. He was succeeded by his son Forrest F. Dryden, who was the president until 1922



The company’s logo (Rock of Gibraltar) was first Incorporated in an advertising message in 1885 to reflect the strength and security it offered to customers.



Prudential Financial Logo

By 1948, the company had grown big enough to add eight new home offices.

Administrative functions of the company are decentralized with the opening of a home office in Los Angeles. Prudential later establishes eight additional home offices across the U.S., including Chicago and Philadelphia. And by 1985, The company’s consolidated assets surpass $100 billion.

Prudential Financial Inc Achievements in the Insurance Industry So Far

On December 13 2001, the company went public and was listed as part of the Fox50 Index.



Prudential has received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign every year since 2003, the second year of the report.



In addition, the company is in the “Hall of Fame” of Working Mothers magazine among other companies that have made their “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” list for 15 or more years. It is still achieving that list, as of 2013.

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According to Business Week’s The Best Places to Launch a Career 2008, Prudential Insurance was ranked #59 out of 119 companies on the list.



In 2007, The Prudential Foundation provided over $450,000 in Prudential CARES Volunteer Grants to 444 nonprofit organizations worldwide.

The Prudential CARES Volunteer Grants Program recognizes individual and team volunteers based on a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer service per individual. Grants range from $250 to $5,000 for each award winner’s charitable organization.



Prudential ranked 69 on the 2017 Forbes World’s Biggest Public Companies list, calling out their $45.6 billion market value. Prudential ranked No. 52 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue

It’s also on the American Fortune Global 500 list.

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Its subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the United States and in over 30 other countries.

Products and Services that Prudential Financial Inc Provide

Principal products and services provided include life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, pension- and retirement-related investments, administration and asset management, securities brokerage services, and commercial and residential real estate in many states of the U.S.

It provides these products and services to individual and institutional customers through distribution networks in the financial services industry.

Prudential has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America and has organized its principal operations into the Financial Services Businesses and the Closed Block Business.

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