not to be confused with the equitable life assurance society . axa equitable life insurance company type subsidiary industry insurance life & health founded 1859 headquarters 1290 avenue of the americas new york city united states key people andrew mcmahon president total assets 533 billion parent axa website http www.axa equitable.com axa equitable life insurance company formerly the equitable life assurance society of the united states also known as the equitable or simply axa was founded by henry baldwin hyde in 1859 . in 1991 axa a french insurance company acquired majority control of the equitable . 1 in 2004 it officially changed its name to axa equitable life insurance company . 2 history edit equitable building at 120 broadway on an old postcard equitable life insurance opened its headquarters at the equitable life building in 1875 near wall street . it had an excellent location with three entrances on broadway manhattan pine street and cedar street . the edifice had six elevators and incomparable facilities for lawyers who were located almost entirely in the building s upper stories . aside from hyde who was president of equitable the firm s officers included james waddell alexander vice president george w. phillips actuary who was vice president of the actuarial society of america 3 and samuel borrowe secretary . 4 borrowe s family was a prominent new york family connected to the hallett and alsop families . 5 james waddell alexander the son of james waddel alexander was the company president at the time of the hyde costume ball scandal in 1905 in which james hazen hyde the son of the founder and a vice president of the company was falsely accused through a media smear campaign initiated by alexander and board directors e. h. harriman henry clay frick j.p. morgan of charging a fabulous 200 000 costume ball to the company . the repercussions rocked wall street and resulted in an investigation of the entire insurance industry by the state of new york . after the company s headquarters building burned down in 1912 equitable moved to the equitable building at 120 broadway in manhattan . in 1985 the equitable life assurance society of the united states then the u.s. s third largest life insurance company formed equitable real estate investment management a subsidiary used by equitable life to develop and finance new real estate projects and manage the us 20 billion worth of real estate under equitable s control . 6 references edit malkin lawrence ; neher jacques 1991 07 19 . french insurer to put 1 billion into equitable axa buys stake in u.s. firm . the new york times . issn 0362 4331 . retrieved 2015 04 19 . axa equitable history . axa equitable life insurance company . retrieved february 4 2012 . obituary . new york times . 1898 10 01 . p. 7 . the new equitable life building new york times january 22 1875 pg . 7 . death of samuel borrowe . new york times . 1896 05 04 . p. 5 . david lagesse june 14 1984 . equitable life assurance to create subsidiary to manage real estate move illustrates drive for diversification in insurance industry . american banker . p. 1 . retrieved november 23 2012 . external links edit corporate website equitable life assurance society of the united states records at baker library historical collections harvard business school v t e structures on broadway in manhattan 1 599 battery pl . w. houston st. 1 broadway 2 broadway bowling green 26 broadway previously occupied by lautman s dairy cunard building 52 broadway adams express building 65 broadway 1 wall street axa equitable life insurance company trinity church equitable building equitable life building marine midland building zuccotti park one liberty plaza fulton center corbin building american surety building 195 broadway astor house woolworth building city hall park new york city hall broadway chambers building 280 broadway 287 broadway appleton building 359 broadway 361 broadway james s. white building 462 broadway mechanics hall e. v. haughwout building new era building scholastic building singer building 600 1499 w. houston st. times sq. cable building canterbury hall grace church church of the messiah grand central hotel 770 broadway strand bookstore tisch school of the arts grace church union square flatiron building madison square baudouine building gilsey house grand hotel radisson hotel martinique hotel mcalpin herald square haier building knickerbocker theatre marbridge building metropolitan opera house former rialto theatre times square one times square previously occupied by pabst hotel cond nast building the knickerbocker hotel 1500 1800 times sq. columbus cir . 1500 broadway previously occupied by hotel claridge 1501 broadway one astor plaza astor theatre minskoff theatre new york marriott marquis morgan stanley building palace theatre brill building winter garden theatre central theatre capitol theatre ellen s stardust diner paramount plaza studebaker building broadway theatre ed sullivan theater 1717 broadway 1740 broadway random house tower columbus circle north of columbus cir . museum of biblical art dauphin hotel beacon theatre the apthorp bretton hall goddard institute for space studies barnard college audubon ballroom united palace dyckman house church of the good shepherd this article on an insurance company is a stub . you can help wikipedia by expanding it . v t e retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title axa equitable life insurance company & oldid 734968834 categories insurance companies of the united statesaxa1859 establishments in the united statescompanies established in 1859broadway manhattan insurance company stubshidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parametersall stub articles navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages edit links this page was last modified on 17 august 2016 at 21 14 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view