is the holding corporation for the '''Metropolitan Life Insurance Company''' or '''MetLife''' for short. The firm was founded on
March 24 ,
1868 . MetLife is one of the world's most illustrious firms, with a rich history.
For most of its life the company was a
Mutual Organization , but it
Went Public in
2000 .
In
1981 , the company purchased the building owned by
Pan American World Airways (Pan Am). The building would be renamed the
MetLife Building in
1992 , after Pan Am went out of business. This building is currently the domiciliary headquarters of the company and is the location of its historic board room; the leadership of MetLife is based in Long Island City, NY. Until 2005 MetLife was headquartered ast One Madison Avenue, a location that includes two buildings that include the
MetLife Tower . The MetLife Tower was the world's tallest building at the time of its completion in 1909. MetLife in 2005 sold the former Pan Am building and the two buildings at One Madison Avenue--including the MetLife Tower. They own space in at least 30 buildings in the US and 1 proposed building in Mexico. The company also had offices on the 89th floor of
One World Trade Center in the North Tower.
With its 2005 acquisition of
Travelers Life and Annuity from
CitiGroup for $11.8 billion, MetLife became the nation's largest life insurance company. Prior acquisitions included
New England Financial (the New England) and
General American Insurance (GenAm).
The company's mascot is
Snoopy , from the ''
Peanuts ''
Comic Strip . MetLife has used the Peanuts characters in its advertising for more than two decades.
The company's tagline is "Have you ''met life'' today?". Their previous tagline was "Get Met, it pays."
Metlife received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the
Human Rights Campaign starting in
2003 , the second year of the report. In addition, the company was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in
2004 by ''Working Mothers'' magazine.
- January 31, 2005 - MetLife to Acquire Travelers Life & Annuity from Citigroup ( presentation ) ( audio )
