MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC),[3] better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, with around 90 million customers in over 60 countries.[4][5] The firm was founded on March 24, 1868.[6] MetLife ranked No. 43 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.[7]
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.[8] After 85 years as a mutual company, MetLife demutualized into a publicly traded company with an initial public offering in 2000.[9] 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.[10] MetLife serves 90 of the largest Fortune 500 companies.[11]
MetLife's head offices and boardroom are located at the MetLife Building at 200 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and New York City which MetLife owned from 1981 to 2005; despite the sale, MetLife increased its leased footprint in the building beginning in 2015.[12][13]
In January 2016, MetLife announced that it would spin off its U.S. retail business, including individual life insurance and annuities for the retail market, in a separate company called Brighthouse Financial, which launched in March 2017.[14] The continuing MetLife company kept naming rights to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.[15]
History
Early years
The predecessor company to MetLife began in 1863 when a group of New York City business leaders raised to found the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company headquartered on lower Broadway.[17] The company insured Civil War sailors and soldiers against disabilities due to wartime wounds, accidents, and sickness. Millions of "industrial" or workingman's policies were sold, costing five to ten cents a week, which were collected at the policyholder's home.[17] On March 24, 1868, it became known as Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and shifted its focus to the life insurance business.[18][19] The Chicago fire of 1871 that destroyed 2,000 acres and $200 million (equivalent to $ in ) worth of property, severely affected the insurance companies, which were legally obligated but financially unable to cover losses.[20]
Products and services
As of 2010, MetLife had a "diverse product mix" which included insurance (home, car and life), variable life annuities and structured settlements, commercial mortgages and securities backed by commercial mortgages, and sovereign debt.[78]
Life insurance
MetLife's individual life insurance products and services comprise term life insurance and several types of permanent life insurance, including whole life, universal life, and final expense whole life insurance.[79][80] These services vary in regards to the duration and amount of coverage available and whether a medical exam is required for coverage. The company also offers group life insurance, provided through employers, which consists of term life, permanent life, and accidental death and dismemberment coverage.
Corporate structure
As of 2010, MetLife was "organized into five segments: Insurance Products, Retirement Products," the US Business (including Auto & Home and Corporate Benefit Funding), and International.[87] The Insurance Products division was the largest unit, accounting for 53% of 2009 revenue.[78] By 2015, a division referred to as "Americas" had emerged.
Corporate governance
As of May 2019, MetLife's chief executive officer was Michel A. Khalaf and its non-executive chairman of the board was Glenn Hubbard.[113]
MetLife has a compensation committee which establishes remuneration for the company's senior executives, and emphasizes variable performance-based compensation over fixed pay rates.[114]
International presence
Outside of the United States, MetLife operates in Latin America, Europe, Asia's Pacific region, and the Middle East, with leading market positions in Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Bangladesh and Chile.[10][130]
On March 8, 2010, MetLife announced its intent to purchase the international leader life-insurance business, American Life Insurance Company (Alico), from American International Group (AIG). MetLife, which completed the deal on November 1, 2010, paid approximately $7.2 billion in cash and $9.0 billion in MetLife equity and other securities.[131][132] The securities portion of the deal consisted of 78.2 million shares of MetLife common stock, 6.9 million shares of contingent convertible preferred stock and 40 million equity units.[133] The values of the common and preferred stock were based on the closing price of MetLife's common stock on October 29.
MetLife Foundation
MetLife Foundation is MetLife's independent charitable and grant-awarding foundation. It was founded in 1976[139] and had provided over $650 million in grants by January 2015.[139] The foundation has partnered with and donated to a variety of organizations, including Habitat for Humanity since 2010[140] and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation since 2008.[141][142] In 2013, the MetLife Foundation announced a new focus on financial inclusion,[143] including educational programs on basic financial planning for disadvantaged children
Relationship with Peanuts
MetLife's use of comic strip characters since the mid 1980s, according to chief marketing officer Esther Lee, was intended "to make our company more friendly and approachable during a time when insurance companies were seen as cold and distant."
MetLife licensed Snoopy and other Peanuts characters for promotional purposes from the Iconix Brand Group, which owns the promotional rights to the works of Charles M. Schulz. In 2010, Iconix formed a joint venture with Schulz's heirs (as Charles Schulz himself died in 2000), buying out E. W. Scripps Co. and United Features Syndicate for $175 million. MetLife was reported to pay $12 million per year to Iconix for licensing rights.[149] Prior to the Iconix deal, MetLife had licensed the characters from other rights-holders.
The Peanuts-based campaign was developed by the advertising agency Young & Rubicam. MetLife also has used Foote Cone & Belding to develop Peanuts-related promotions.[150][151]
Blimp and sports sponsorship
The MetLife blimp program began in 1987 with the "Snoopy 1" airship and, in 1994, expanded to include the "Snoopy 2" airship.[156] The program provided aerial coverage to over 80 major sporting events every year and became the official aerial coverage provider of the PGA Tour.[157] "Snoopy 1" and "Snoopy 2" also provided overhead television coverage for the NFL, CBS College Football, the LPGA, the NBA Finals, Copa Chile, the Preakness Stakes, and the Kentucky Derby.[157][158] When MetLife ended their ‘’Peanuts’’ branding, they also brought the blimp program to a close.[159]
Weight and longevity data
In 1959, The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (as it was known at the time) released tables of the best weight for each height for longevity, based on their collected insurance data. These tables showed what were characterized as “desirable weights”. In 1983, the company released tables showing the “ideal” weights for greatest longevity; this information was based on data collected in the Build Study of 1979 collected by the Society of Actuaries. This data followed patients for 18 years (1954–1972) and was collected from 25 life insurance companies in Canada and the United States, representing 4.2 million people. These “ideal” weights were higher than the prior “desirable” weights, this was attributed to an increase in muscle mass due to improved fitness levels among the population.
This study is still the largest available pool of data for this purpose. It was noticed that the average weights in the population are higher than the ideal weights for survival. The ‘’’Metropolitan Tables’’’ included ‘’small’’, ‘’medium’’ and ‘’large’’ frames, based on elbow-girth measured using calipers, as the elbows do not develop adipose tissue. They presented weight ranges for height, sex and body frame (again associated with the lowest mortality) The midpoint of the ideal weight for the medium frames for each height was selected as the “ideal” weight used for calculations of “excess weight” (initial weight minus ideal weight). This led to a formula to calculate the ideal weight used by bariatric surgeons, but it had lost considerable accuracy by 2007, again due to improvements in medical care and in public health.[164]
See also
- List of United States insurance companies
- Park La Brea, Los Angeles, California
- Park Merced, San Francisco, California
- Parkfairfax, Virginia
- Parkchester, Bronx
- Riverton Houses
- Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village
Archives and records
- New England Mutual Life Insurance Company records at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.
References
- Metlife Assets Under Management December 31, 2025 MetLife, retrieved 21 March 2026^
- Metlife, Inc. 2025 Annual Report (Form 10-K) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 19 February 2026^
- Staff. MetLife Announces Third Quarter Non-Cash Charge