Joseph Seligman arrived in the United States in 1837. Then came the Lehman brothers, who would open a general store in Montgomery, Alabama. Not far behind were Solomon Loeb and Marcus Goldman, among the "Forty-Eighters" fleeing Germany. These industrious immigrants would soon form what would become some of the largest investment banks in the world. Their firms would help to transform the United States from a debtor nation into a financial superpower, capitalizing American industry and underwriting some of the twentieth century's quintessential companies. In this book, Schulman unspools a sweeping narrative that traces the interconnected origin stories of these financial dynasties.