The Big Four

2

GLORY, NOT INFAMY

The Medici Bank as a precursor to the Big Four

The merchant state

Piero de Medici – known as ‘Piero the Gouty’ (‘Piero il Gottoso’) – was born in 1416. In 1464 his father died and Piero inherited, at the age of forty-eight, a famous institution that was exceptionally profitable and well-run. Piero’s father – the illustrious Cosimo de Medici – and his grandfather – Giovanni de Medici – had built the family business into Europe’s most important private enterprise: the greatest bank in the world.

The Medici Bank was based in Florence, the capital of Tuscany. In the late middle ages, Florence was a substantial and prosperous city and the centre of global finance. A large gold coin, the florin, was first issued and named there; ...