Alleghany history

1930: Alleghany acquires Missouri Pacific Railroad.

By 1936, both Van Sweringen brothers had died and the company found new leadership in Robert Young and Allan Kirby, who purchased the company.

Wheeler-dealer Robert R. Young bought the stock from Ball in 1937.

By 1940, Alleghany was profitable once more and Robert looked for new ways to grow.

He seized an opportunity to expand the company’s railroad holdings with a bid for the New York Central in 1946.

In 1949, the company purchased controlling interest in Investors Diversified Services, Inc. (IDS), the world's largest mutual fund group.

Young finally managed to wrest control of the New York Central away from its bank-dominated board of directors in a hotly contested proxy battle in 1954.

Burns was the first CEO at Alleghany from outside the Kirby family since 1957.

The Kirby Reign Begins in 1958

In 1959, Kirby faced his first challenge for control of Alleghany.

In 1961, he lost control of Alleghany to the Murchison brothers, Clint Jr. and John, the sons of Young's former ally.

Like his associates the Murchisons, Gamble was also unable to work with Kirby, and in 1963 controlling interest in Alleghany was sold back to Kirby and his allies.

In 1965, Fred Kirby II, Allan's son, was elected chairman of the IDS executive committee.

The company sold most of its shares of the New York Central in 1966, marking the end of its railroad-controlling era.

In 1967, Alleghany won another legal battle, preventing a reorganization plan from taking place at Missouri Pacific that would have severely diluted Alleghany's holdings in that company.

1968: Alleghany buys Jones Motor Co.

In 1970, Alleghany acquired Jones Motor Company, a motor carrier of modest size.

Despite its legal classification, by 1974 Alleghany was for all practical purposes the family holding company of the Kirby family, who now held nearly half of the company's stock.

Alleghany's last batch of Missouri Pacific shares was sold to Mississippi River Corporation in 1975.

In 1979, Alleghany paid $198 million for the 45 percent of IDS it did not already own.

By 1981, 95 percent of Alleghany's income was coming from the investment business.

Jones never performed as hoped, and it was sold off in 1982.

Another investment management company, New York's Gray, Seifert and Company, was acquired in 1983.

Defining Moment: Selling Alleghany’s largest asset, IDS, to American Express in 1984 and using the proceeds to make Alleghany a major player in insurance.

Instead, the government took Conrail public, and Alleghany's focus turned toward the title insurance business. Its most important acquisition in that area came in 1985, with the purchase of Chicago Title and Trust Company from Lincoln National Corporation for $60 million in cash and a six-year $68 million note.

In 1986, the company acquired Shelby Insurance Company for $40 million.

In March 1991, Chicago Title acquired Ticor Title Insurance Company, a California operation that expanded Alleghany's reach in that business.

By the end of 1992, Sacramento Savings had total assets of $2.8 billion, and deposits of $2.6 billion.

1998: Alleghany completes tax-free spin-off of Chicago Title Corporation.

In 2000, the firm sold its Underwriters Re Group Inc. to Swiss Re America Holding Corporation in a deal worth approximately $660 million.

2001: Alleghany Underwriting is sold to Talbot Holdings Ltd.; Alleghany Asset Management Inc. merges with an ABN AMRO subsidiary.

In 2002, Alleghany acquired Capitol Transamerica (now CapSpecialty).

Under Weston’s direction in 2003, Alleghany acquired RSUI, a specialty wholesale underwriting agency, and transformed it into an integrated insurance company which has produced consistent underwriting profits.

Darwin experienced tremendous growth and had a successful initial public offering in 2006.

In 2007 Alleghany acquired PacificComp, a California workers’ compensation company.

A former General Re Corporation Chairman and CEO, Joe had served as a consultant to Alleghany during its negotiations to acquire TransRe and was instrumental in Alleghany’s successful completion of that acquisition in March 2012.

At the end of 2017, Alleghany sold PacificComp to Copperpoint Mutual Insurance Company.