by fran lebowitz see metropolitan life book . for the league of legends player formerly known as matlife see matt elento . metlife inc. type public traded as nyse met s & p 500 component industry financial services founded march 24 1868 ; 148 years ago 1868 03 24 headquarters 1095 avenue of the americas new york city new york u.s. key people steven a. kandarian president chairman and ceo products insurance annuities employee benefits revenue us 52.717 billion 2010 1 f 3 operating income us 6.6 billion 2014 2 us 3.958 billion 2010 1 f 3 net income us 2.786 billion 2010 1 f 3 total assets us 730.906 billion 2010 1 f 2 us 539.314 billion 2009 1 f 3 3 total equity us 48.996 billion 2010 1 f 2 number of employees 66 000 2010 1 26 website metlife.com metlife inc. is the holding corporation for the metropolitan life insurance company mlic 4 better known as metlife and its affiliates . metlife is among the largest global providers of insurance annuities and employee benefit programs with 90 million customers in over 60 countries . 3 5 the firm was founded on march 24 1868 . 6 on january 6 1915 metlife completed the mutualization process changing from a stock life insurance company owned by individuals to a mutual company operating without external shareholders and for the benefit of policyholders . 7 the company went public in 2000 . 8 through its subsidiaries and affiliates metlife holds leading market positions in the united states japan latin america asia s pacific region europe and the middle east . 9 metlife serves 90 of the largest fortune 500 companies . 10 the company s principal offices are located at 1095 avenue of the americas in midtown manhattan new york city though it retains some executive offices and its boardroom in the metlife building located at 200 park avenue new york city which it sold in 2005 . 11 contents 1 corporate structure 1.1 corporate governance 1.2 subsidiary and affiliate companies 2 history 2.1 early years 2.2 postwar 2.2.1 de mutualization and ipo 2.2.2 acquisitions sales and major deals 2.3 current era 2.4 too big to fail 2.5 fines 3 products and services 3.1 life insurance 3.2 dental 3.3 disability 3.4 annuities 3.5 auto & home 3.6 other products 4 international presence 5 metlife foundation 6 relationship with peanuts 7 blimp and sports sponsorship 8 metlife and the ideal weight 9 awards 10 see also 11 references 12 external links corporate structure edit this section needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . december 2015 as of 2010 update the company was organized into five segments insurance products retirement products the us business including auto & home and corporate benefit funding and international . 12 the insurance products division was the largest unit accounting for 53 % of 2009 revenue . 13 by 2015 a division referred to as americas had emerged . 2 corporate governance edit this section needs expansion . you can help by adding to it . december 2015 as of 2011 metlife s chief executive officer was steve kandarian . 14 kandarian also served as the company s chairman of the board and president as of 2015 . 2 hired in 2013 john hele served as chief financial officer for the company as of 2015 . 2 in 2015 metlife hired hugh dineen to fill the new role of chief marketing officer within the us business unit . 15 as in many large public corporations metlife has a compensation committee which establishes compensation levels for the company s senior executives ; metlife compensation emphasizes variable performance based compensation over fixed or guaranteed pay . 2 subsidiary and affiliate companies edit metlife subsidiaries and affiliates have included metlife investors metlife bank metlife securities metropolitan property and casualty insurance company and its subsidiaries general american hyatt legal metlife resources new england financial walnut street securities inc. safeguard health enterprises inc. and tower square securities inc. cigna . 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 the subsidiary metlife insurance company usa as of 2015 headquartered in charlotte north carolina was formerly known as metlife insurance company of connecticut and prior to this as travelers insurance company . 25 26 metlife bank was sold to ge capital in 2013 and metlife exited the banking business . 27 history edit early years edit home office of the new england mutual life insurance co. one of the predecessor companies of metlife . see 28 the predecessor company to metlife began in 1863 when a group of new york city businessmen raised 100 000 to found the national union life and limb insurance company . the company insured civil war sailors and soldiers against disabilities due to wartime wounds accidents and sickness . on march 24 1868 it became known as metropolitan life insurance company and shifted its focus to the life insurance business . 29 30 the metropolitan life insurance company tower which previously served as company headquarters was featured in its advertising for many years . a severe business depression that began with the panic of 1873 forced the company to contract until it reached its lowest point in the late 1870s . after observing the insurance industry in great britain in 1879 metlife president joseph f. knapp brought industrial or workingmen s insurance programs to the united states insurance issued in small amounts on which premiums were collected weekly or monthly at the policyholder s home . by 1880 sales had exceeded a quarter million of such policies resulting in nearly 1 million in revenue from premiums . in 1909 metlife had become the nation s largest life insurer in the united states as measured by life insurance in force the total value of life insurance policies issued . 29 31 in 1907 the metropolitan life insurance company tower was commissioned to serve as metlife s 23rd street headquarters in lower manhattan . completed two years later the building was the world s tallest until 1913 and remained the company s headquarters until 2005 . for many years an illustration of the building with light emanating from the tip of its spire and the slogan the light that never fails featured prominently in metlife s advertising . 32 by 1930 metlife insured every fifth man woman and child in the united states and canada . 33 during the 1930s it also began to diversify its portfolio by reducing the percentage of individual mortgages in favor of public utility bonds investments in government securities and loans for commercial real estate . 33 the company financed the construction of the empire state building in 1929 as well as provided capital to build rockefeller center in 1931 . during world war ii metlife placed more than 51 percent of its total assets in war bonds and was the largest single private contributor to the allied cause . 33 postwar edit company president leroy lincoln in 1947 metropolitan life logo ca. 1970 . during the postwar era the company expanded its suburban presence decentralized operations and refocused its career agency system to serve all market segments . it also began to market group insurance products to employers and institutions . by 1979 operations were segmented into four primary businesses group insurance personal insurance pensions and investments . 33 in 1981 metlife purchased what became known as the metlife building for 400 million from a group that included pan american world airways . 34 35 metlife building at 200 park ave in new york city . the building is no longer owned by metlife de mutualization and ipo edit in 2000 metlife converted from a mutual insurance company operated for the benefit of its policyholders to a for profit public company . the de mutualization process allowed metlife to enter unrelated insurance businesses and increase executive compensation . policyholders received some stock in the new company in this process . 36 metlife was accused of breaching federal securities laws by misrepresenting and omitting information in materials given to policyholders during this process resulting in years of litigation ending with a 50 million settlement in 2009 . 37 acquisitions sales and major deals edit 1992 merged with united mutual life insurance company the only african american life insurer in new york in 1992 . 38 1992 39 acquired executive life s single premium deferred annuity business which was worth approximately 1.2 billion . metlife also acquired the firm s life insurance business valued at about 260 million . 40 1995 purchased new england mutual life insurance company . 1997 acquired security first group in 1997 for 377 million . 41 42 1999 acquired lincoln national corporation s individual disability income unit . 43 1999 bought out reinsurance provider genamerica corporation for 1.2 billion as well as its subsidiaries reinsurance group of america and conning corporation . 44 45 that year the company had grown to serve 7 million policyholders . 46 2000 de mutualization and ipo . 47 48 the initial public offering was valued at 6.5 billion which was the largest ipo to that date in united states financial history . 47 48 metlife policyholders were asked to choose a cash or stock stake . this ipo made metlife the most widely owned stock in the united states and it raised metlife s value to over 4 billion . 49 50 by 2000 metlife s reported number of policyholders had risen to 11 million 50 and that year it had become the united states number one life insurer surpassing prudential according to the new york times . 51 2000 470 million voice and data network management deal with at & t solutions . 52 2001 acquired grand bank of kingston new jersey which was renamed metlife bank . 53 54 2001 invested 1 billion in the united states stock market during 2001 immediately after the september 11th terrorist attacks . 55 2005 acquired citigroup s travelers life & annuity and all of citigroup s international insurance businesses for 11.8 billion . 56 57 at the time of the deal which was completed on july 1 2005 the travelers acquisition made metlife the largest individual life insurer in north america based on sales . 58 2006 opened joint venture insurance company in shanghai in may 2006 . 59 60 2006 sold peter cooper village or stuyvesant town the largest apartment complexes in new york city at the time for 5.4 billion . 61 62 metlife had developed the apartment complexes between 1945 and 1947 to house veterans returning home from serving in world war ii . 63 2010 bought american life insurance company from aig for us 15 500 000 000 . 56 2011 sold metlife bank to ge capital exiting banking business . 64 current era edit from 2004 to 2011 metlife continued to hold its position as the largest life insurer in the united states . 14 65 the company had 2.5 trillion in policies written 350 billion in assets under management over 12 million customers in the united states 8 million customers outside the united states and a net income in 2003 of 2.2 billion . 65 that year barron s reported that 13 million american households owned at least one product from metlife . 66 metlife named robert h. benmosche as chairman and ceo in july 1999 . benmosche occupied the position until 2006 when he was replaced by c. robert henrikson . 14 67 68 the company s sales grew 11.5 % between 2008 and 2009 despite the national recession . 69 in 2011 ceo robert henrikson was replaced by steven a. kandarian who had overseen the company s us 450 000 000 000 investment portfolio as chief investment officer . 14 henrikson remained the company s chairman to the end of 2011 at which point he reached the company s mandatory retirement age . 14 in 2015 metlife was