insurance company type mutual industry financial services founded 1926 headquarters one nationwide plaza columbus ohio united states key people steve rasmussen ceo products insurance investments banking revenue us 40.222 billion 2015 net income us 581 million 2015 total assets us 185.306 billion 2015 number of employees 34 000 slogan nationwide is on your side . website nationwide.com nationwide mutual insurance company & affiliated companies is a group of large u.s. insurance and financial services companies based in columbus oh . the company also operates regional headquarters in des moines ia ; san antonio tx ; gainesville fl ; raleigh nc ; and westerville oh . nationwide financial services nfs a component of the group was partially floated on the new york stock exchange prior to being repurchased by nationwide mutual in 2009 . it had owned the majority of nfs common stock since it had gone public in 1997 . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 beginnings as farm bureau mutual 1.2 expansion 2 sponsorships 2.1 nationwide tour 2.2 nationwide children s hospital 2.3 helping columbus become a major league city 2.4 nascar 2.5 memorial tournament 2.6 jack hanna 3 the companies 4 diversity 5 technology 5.1 enterprise collaboration 5.2 mobile claims application 6 ceos 7 controversies 7.1 death benefit controversy 7.2 claims of bad faith 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit beginnings as farm bureau mutual edit on december 17 1925 the ohio farm bureau federation incorporated the farm bureau mutual automobile insurance company in columbus ohio . 2 at that time ohio law required 100 people to pledge to become policyholders . the first agents managed to recruit ten times that number and on april 12 1926 farm bureau mutual started business with 1 000 policyholders . the first product of the new company as its name implied was automobile insurance . the company wrote policies only to ohio farmers . in 1928 farm bureau mutual began offering policies to west virginia farmers followed by maryland delaware vermont and north carolina . farm bureau mutual began underwriting residents of small towns in 1931 and residents in larger cities in 1934 . expansion edit nationwide sign outside of one nationwide plaza . also in 1934 farm bureau mutual began offering fire insurance . this product grew the following year with the purchase of a struggling fire insurance company . with growth came a need for expansion of office space . in 1936 the company moved to the famous 246 building at 246 n. high street in columbus . by 1943 farm bureau mutual operated in 12 states and the district of columbia . even with the tripling of space in the 246 building which was finally dedicated on the 25th anniversary of the company farm bureau mutual still had insufficient office space and began opening regional offices in 1951 . in 1955 farm bureau mutual changed its name to nationwide insurance a name by which it is commonly known today . in the 10 years that followed nationwide expanded into oregon making the company truly nationwide . it also expanded into 19 other states bringing the total by 1965 to 32 states and the district of columbia . nationwide outgrew the 246 building by the 1970s and work began on a new skyscraper headquarters for the company . in 1978 one nationwide plaza was completed at the southwest corner of n. high street and nationwide blvd. on the northern edge of downtown columbus ohio . since 1988 nationwide has added the following to its presence in downtown columbus plaza two on the northeast corner of high street and chestnut plaza three just west of high street and chestnut plaza four front street 275 marconi behind plazas one and three on marconi blvd and 10 west nationwide which together with plaza one form the primary downtown complex . in addition to downtown columbus nationwide also has a significant presence in the columbus ohio metropolitan suburbs of dublin and grove city . previous logo used until september 2014 nationwide currently has approximately 31 000 employees 3 and is ranked 69 in the most recent fortune 500 . 4 nationwide is currently ranked 71 in fortune s 100 best companies to work for . 5 sponsorships edit nationwide tour edit in 2003 nationwide secured the naming rights from what was then the buy.com tour the second highest men s professional golf tour in the united states . the tour was known by this name until 2012 when nationwide relinquished the naming rights . nationwide children s hospital edit on september 24 2007 columbus children s hospital was rededicated as nationwide children s hospital . this was done in response to a 50 million donation to the hospital by nationwide . 6 helping columbus become a major league city edit one nationwide plaza the headquarters in columbus . by 1997 the city of columbus had grown to become the 15th largest city in the united states . however columbus by this time was the largest american city without a professional sports franchise competing in the top leagues in the united states i.e. major league baseball the national football league the national basketball association or the national hockey league . after plans to move the hartford whalers to columbus failed when voters rejected a tax levy the nationwide mutual insurance company announced that it would build an arena adjacent to one nationwide plaza in an effort to bring an nhl franchise to columbus . this second effort was successful and the columbus blue jackets began play at nationwide arena in late 2000 . nationwide arena named for the company is the centerpiece of the arena district an area of entertainment venues restaurants and hotels linking downtown columbus with the short north neighborhood . the columbus crew of major league soccer were actually the first major league franchise representing columbus in the post war era and they play at their own stadium columbus crew stadium which was the first soccer specific stadium built in the united states opening in 1999 . the crew were one of the original members of the mls and won their first mls cup in 2008 . nascar edit nationwide became the title sponsor of the nascar nationwide series beginning in the 2008 season . on september 18 2013 the company announced it will no longer sponsor the series after 2014 but will remain an official sponsor of nascar . 7 beginning in 2015 nationwide became the primary sponsor for dale earnhardt jr. in the sprint cup series . 8 memorial tournament edit on september 3 2010 nationwide announced a six year deal to become the presenting sponsor of the pga tour memorial tournament beginning with the 2010 event . jack hanna edit in march 2010 nationwide announced that it would be co sponsoring columbus zoo and aquarium director emeritus jack hanna s into the wild tv show and national speaking tour . 9 the companies edit nationwide is one of the largest insurance and financial services companies in the world focusing on domestic property and casualty insurance life insurance and retirement savings asset management and strategic investments . the nationwide family includes property and casualty nationwide atlantic floridian insurance company colonial county mutual insurance company crestbrook insurance company 10 lone star general agency nationwide affinity insurance company of america nationwide assurance company nationwide corporation nationwide exclusive agent risk purchasing group nationwide general insurance company nationwide indemnity company nationwide insurance company of florida nationwide international underwriters nationwide lloyds nationwide mutual fire insurance company nationwide mutual insurance company nationwide property and casualty insurance company retention alternatives ltd. veterinary pet insurance company whitehall holdings inc. wi of florida inc. titan thi holdings delaware inc. titan auto insurance of new mexico inc. titan indemnity company titan insurance company titan insurance services inc. victoria victoria automobile insurance company victoria fire & casualty company victoria national insurance company victoria select insurance company victoria specialty insurance company allied allied general agency company allied group inc. allied property and casualty insurance company allied texas agency inc. amco insurance company cal ag insurance services inc. calfarm insurance agency depositors insurance company nationwide document solutions inc. nationwide insurance company of america nationwide sales solutions inc. premier agency inc. farmland f & b inc. farmland mutual insurance company nationwide agribusiness insurance company scottsdale insurance dvm insurance agency inc. national casualty company scottsdale indemnity company scottsdale insurance company scottsdale surplus lines insurance american marine underwriters insurance intermediaries western heritage insurance company life insurance retirement and investment 1717 advisory services inc. 1717 brokerage services inc nationwide securities llc gardiner point hospitality llc life reo holdings llc nationwide affordable housing llc nationwide alternative investments llc nationwide bank nationwide community development corporation llc nationwide financial assignment company nationwide financial institution distributors agency inc. nationwide financial services capital trust nationwide financial services inc. nationwide financial structured products llc nationwide fund advisors nationwide fund distributors llc nationwide fund management llc nationwide investment advisors llc nationwide investment services corporation nationwide life insurance company nationwide life insurance company of delaware nationwide life tax credit partners 2007 a llc nationwide provident holding company nationwide retirement solutions insurance agency inc. nationwide retirement solutions inc. nationwide retirement solutions inc. of arizona nationwide retirement solutions inc. of ohio nationwide retirement solutions inc. of texas nf reinsurance ltd. nfs distributors inc. olentangy reinsurance company pension associates inc. provestco inc. rcmd financial services inc. registered investment advisors services inc. tbg aviation llc tbg danco insurance services corporation tbg financial & insurance services corp. tbg insurance services corporation washington square administrative services inc. asset management audenstar limited corviant corporation nationwide asset management holdings nationwide emerging managers llc nationwide global funds nationwide global ventures inc. nationwide mutual funds nationwide sa capital trust nationwide separate accounts llc nationwide variable insurance trust newhouse capital partners llc newhouse md llc newhouse special situations fund i llc nwd asset management holdings inc. nwd investment management inc. nwd management & research trust riverview alternative investment advisors llc riverview international group inc. the healthcare fund ldc national casualty company of america ltd. strategic investments agmc reinsurance ltd. futurehealth corporation futurehealth holding company futurehealth technologies corporation gates mcdonald & company gates mcdonald & company of new york inc. gatesmcdonald health plus inc. intervent usa inc. nationwide advantage mortgage company nationwide asset management llc nationwide better health inc. nationwide cash management company nationwide global holdings inc. nationwide management systems inc. nationwide mutual capital i llc nationwide mutual capital llc nationwide private equity fund llc nationwide realty investors ltd. nationwide realty management llc nationwide services for you llc additionally nationwide communications a broadcasting company that owned radio station wnci was once owned by nationwide . diversity edit since 2004 nationwide has continuously received a 100 % rating each year on the corporate equality index which is released by the gay rights activist group human rights campaign . nationwide includes sexual orientation and gender identity in its equal employment opportunity policy and provides diversity training to its employees on sexual orientation . 11 in 2008 nationwide entered into an exclusive partnership with tavis smiley including sponsorship of smiley s pbs television program as a provider of property and casualty insurance products . the sponsorship of the television program ended in 2011 but the partnership continues for other events and initiatives . nationwide was also a national sponsor of the 2009 state of the black union event . 12 technology edit enterprise collaboration edit nationwide s internal collaboration platform spot is an advanced enterprise social media platform that combines yammer and sharepoint to provide a unified experience to nationwide employees . 13 14 mobile claims application edit in 2009 nationwide released nationwide mobile a free iphone application for nationwide auto insurance customers and other iphone users . the app is designed to assist drivers with the steps to take after an accident . it also helps nationwide customers start the claims process finds nationwide certified local repair shops and facilitates the exchange of accident and insurance information . nationwide was the first us insurer to