Paul Julius Reuter

Born: 1816 | Died: 1899

Entrepreneur

Paul Julius Reuter was born in Kassel into a Jewish family; originally his name was Israel Beer Josaphat and was only changed after he converted to Christianity in 1844. Reuter started his career as a clerk in his uncle’s bank in Göttingen, where he met scientist Carl Friedrich Gauss. Gauss at that time was experimenting with an electric telegraph which could be used for telecommunication via wires.

In 1851, Paul Reuter opened an office in London to transmit stock market news from London to Paris using the cables between Dover and Calais. The agency became known under the name Reuters and continually expanded its services and the contents of the news. Reuter and his agency gained popularity in 1829, when he transmitted the text of a speech by Napoleon III to London, in which the Austro-French war in Italy was foreshadowed. The spreading of undersea cables contributed to Reuters success by allowing him to transmit news internationally.

In 1863, Paul Reuter’s news agency entered the stock market as Reuters, the name under which it is still known today. Reuter himself retired from his position in 1878.

For more information Click here.