Date: Thursday, 18-Dec-97 09:50:33 GMT Server: TRINET/NCSA/1.3R.2 MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/html Last-modified: Friday, 27-Sep-96 19:19:31 GMT Content-length: 11368 A Brief History of Jefferson-Pilot
A Brief History of Jefferson-Pilot Insurance
A Proud History

All of us in the Jefferson-Pilot family are proud to be part of a truly outstanding company. With a heritage that dates back to early in this century, our company has always had something of the pioneer spirit. We have come far and blazed many new trails; and this aggressive, progressive spirit of always "looking ahead" has endured to the present day.

Jefferson-Pilot Life Insurance Company was officially formed on January 1, 1987, by merging two nationally known and well-respected life insurance companies, Jefferson Standard and Pilot Life. Each company had a long and distinguished history before the merger, which we can see by reviewing some of the highlights of both companies' pasts.

Jefferson Standard

Jefferson Standard dated back to August 7, 1907, when it opened for business in Raleigh, N.C. It was hailed by the Raleigh News and Observer as the biggest corporation ever to have been launched in the state, with half a million dollars paid in the day after the firm was licensed. Half this sum was set up as surplus. The founders of the new company did not select a name at random. Thomas Jefferson -- third President of the United States, author of the Declaration of Independence, the nation's greatest exponent of liberty and independence -- was made the company's namesake. Officials adopted the slogan: "A Jefferson Standard Policy Is A Declaration of Independence For The Family."

Beginning as a small local operation, the new company was a success from the start -- first in North Carolina and, within a few years, throughout the South. When the company made its first annual report, after only five months of operation, Jefferson had almost a million dollars of insurance in force, and in those days a million dollars was something to talk about !

On September 20, 1912, Jefferson merged with two Greensboro-based companies -- Security Life and Annuity Company and Greensboro Life Insurance Company -- and moved its operations to Greensboro. In 1919, Julian Price was elected president, and his hand guided Jefferson through more than a quarter of a century of increasingly successful operations.

Mr. Price held the presidency for 27 years, until January 28, 1946, when he was elected chairman of the board and his son, Ralph Clay Price, became president. Howard Holderness -- after long service as vice president and treasurer of the company, and a member of the board of directors -- was called to the presidency in May, 1950. Mr. Holderness served in that capacity for 17 years before being named chairman of the board, where he served until his retirement in February, 1978.

W. Roger Soles, CLU, became the sixth president on February 6, 1967, succeeding Mr. Holderness, with whom he had worked closely for many years. Mr. Soles assumed the duties of chief executive officer on July 1, 1967.

As a result of the action taken by the directors of Jefferson Standard Life Insurance company, Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, a holding company, was incorporated on January 3, 1968, and began operations on June 27, 1968. Mr. Soles was elected president and chief executive officer. Jefferson Standard reached its first billion dollars of life insurance in force in 1951; its second in 1960; the third in 1967; the fourth in 1973; the fifth in 1977; and the sixth in 1979. The company celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1982 with $6.7 billion in force and reached $7 billion in 1984.

Pilot Life

The company, then known as Southern Loan & Trust Company, entered the life insurance business on July 1, 1903, and changed its name to Southern Life & Trust Company in 1905. By year end, the new company had one million dollars of insurance in force.

The Industrial Insurance Division (now Home Service) was established in 1920, and in 1924 came yet another name change when the company officially became Pilot Life Insurance Company. A new trademark was developed -- a pilot behind the wheel -- and "Pilot to Protection since 1903" became the company slogan.

The year 1928 brought an unprecedented move to "the country" where magnificent new buildings had been constructed on 132 acres of land in Sedgefield, seven miles from downtown Greensboro. The company reached $100 million of insurance in force several times in 1930. Because of the depression, it took two more years to again surpass this figure.

Jefferson Standard bought controlling stock in Pilot in 1931, with Pilot buying back its stock in 1940 to once again become an independent life insurer. Jefferson purchased Pilot stock again in 1945, and merged the company with Gate City Life, also a Jefferson-owned company. The merger began a period of formidable growth for the Pilot. With the merger came the addition of group insurance, making Pilot a multiple line company. In 1948, Pilot pioneered scholastic accident insurance for schools.

The half-billion dollar mark of insurance in force came in 1950 and, in 1955, the company reached one billion dollars of insurance in force.

In 1956, the company became a major regional television advertiser by being, first, sole sponsor and, later, the major sponsor of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball on television.

In 1962 the company reached two billion of insurance in force, and yet another billion of life insurance in force was added in 1965. In 1968, the Jefferson-Pilot Corporation was formed, and Pilot hit four billion of insurance in force. The fifth billion came in 1970, and a new updated Pilot emblem was adopted in 1972. The company hit eleven billion of life insurance in force in 1978, the year of the company's 75th anniversary. At the end of 1986, the company had in execess of 32 billion dollars of insurance in force.

Eighty-three years of capable leadership was provided by seven presidents. E. P. Wharton, a prominent Greensboro businessman, was the first; A. W. McAlister, the second; Charles Gold, third; Emry C. Green, fourth; O. F. Stafford, fifth; Rufus White, sixth; and Louis C. Stephens, Jr. seventh and, with the merger of the company into Jefferson-Pilot Life Insurance Company, last.

Jefferson-Pilot Life Insurance

The joining of two history-making insurance companies was a logical decision. Both companies had been wholly owned subsidiaries of the Jefferson-Pilot Corporation since 1968 and had been ably managed by the same management team since 1945. Both were well-known, successful companies with similar, and complementary, operations. At the time of the merger in 1987, total assets of Jefferson-Pilot Corporation were 3.8 billion dollars. By the end of 1994, they had grown to over 6.1 billion dollars.

In March, 1993, David A. Stonecipher, FSA, succeeded Mr. Soles as President and Chief Executive Officer of both Jefferson-Pilot Corporation and Jefferson-Pilot Life Insurance Company.

With over 45 billion dollars of life insurance in force, Jefferson-Pilot Life ranks in the top two percent of all the nation's stockholder-owned life insurance companies. We are a fiscally conservative company with a long history, a strong capital position backed by quality assets, and a superior overall performance in the areas of profitability and growth. This financial strength affords our policyhbolders a degree of security and safety unsurpassed in the industry.

Jefferson-Pilot's home office staff is headquartered in two beautiful and historic buildings in the center of downtown Greensboro. They stand, side by side, as permanent proof of the company's commitment to the community and to Jefferson-Pilot's policyholders and shareholders.

The Jefferson Building

Built on the site of the old Guilford County Courthouse, the structure was ready for occupancy in October, 1923. It had cost $2,500,000, but was debt free the day it opened. Considerable more than that has been spent since then to renovate and modernize the building.

The Greensboro Daily Record reporter wrote eloquently, "While, immaculate and imposing, guarding Greater Greensboro by night and day, as it were, this great shaft, milestone of progress, marks a new and greater era in the history of this metropolis."

The late Charles C. Hartmann, Sr. designed the 17-story building which had 313,410 square feet of floor space. It took 23 carloads of marble to line the corridors. The Jefferson Building was declared a national landmark by the U. S. Department of the Interior in 1976. It is now included in the National Register of Historic Places, the first business or commercial structure so designated in North Carolina.

The Jefferson-Pilot Building

Designed by the Atlanta architectural firm of Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart and Associates, the Jefferson-Pilot Building was dedicated in August, 1990. At 375 feet, the 20 story structure is the tallest in Greensboro.

As was intended, the building has a timeless appearance, both inside and out, which is entirely compatible with the historic Jefferson Building. An adjacent, 860-space parking deck was also built to complement the decor of both buildings.

The Jefferson-Pilot Building features a three-story rotunda resplendent with rich-hued mahogany and polished Italian marble from the same quarry Michelangelo used for his Renaissance masterpieces. The rotunda lends an air of spaciousness, stability and grace to the building which is capped by a 75-foot tall, copper-clad roof. Company employees may enjoy breakfast or lunch in the 360-seat cafeteria on the third floor. The private City Club, for members from the Greensboro business community, is located on the top two floors of the building.


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