Wikipedia
Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward Shearson and the firm he founded, Shearson Hammill & Co. Among Shearson's most notable incarnations were Shearson / American Express, Shearson Lehman / American Express, Shearson Lehman Brothers, Shearson Lehman Hutton and finally Smith Barney Shearson.
For its first eight decades, the firm operated independently and merged with a number of Wall Street's most venerable securities firms including Hayden Stone & Co. and Loeb Rhoades & Co.. In 1981 Shearson was acquired by American Express and operated as a subsidiary of the financial services company before being merged with Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb in 1984 and E.F. Hutton & Co. in 1988.
In 1993 Shearson was sold to Primerica, a predecessor of Citigroup, and merged with its retail brokerage business, Smith Barney, to create Smith Barney Shearson. The Shearson name was discontinued in 1994.
Shearson was a well-known brand in the financial services industry from 1901 through 1993, related to the following: