Schiff, Jacob Henry (1847–1920)

German-born US financier and philanthropist. In 1875 he became a member of the bankers Kuhn, Loeb & Company, and was head of the firm from 1885 until his death. He took a large part in financing some of the great US railway systems, and in financing Japan in the Russo-Japanese War 1904–05.

Schiff was born in Frankfurt-am-Main. In 1865 he emigrated to the USA when he was 18-years-old, and organized a brokerage firm in New York. As a founder of the American Jewish Committee in 1906, he worked to abrogate the US-Russian commercial treaty because of Russian treatment of Jews. Schiff supported a wide range of philanthropies, both religious and secular.