Astor, John Jacob (1763–1848)

German-born US merchant who founded the monopolistic American Fur Company in 1808. His subsidiary enterprise, the Pacific Fur Company, was created in 1811 following the US government's Louisiana Purchase in 1803 facilitating trade with the West. He founded Astoria, now in Oregon, as his trading post at the mouth of the Columbia River.

Astor immigrated to the USA in 1783 and worked in small shops before entering the fur trade. He made farsighted agreements with Canadian merchants and traded with the British East India Company. He systematically invested his profits in New York City real estate. When he retired in 1834 he was the wealthiest man in the USA, owning most of the southern half of Manhattan, which his sons subsequently inherited and administered.

His estate endowed the Astor library, now a part of The New York Public Library.

Astor, John Jacob (1864–1912)

US financier and inventor. The great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, he built the Astoria section of the New York Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1897. Astor also invented a bicycle brake and an improved turbine engine. He met his death aboard the Titanic.