Andre Meyer has been seen as one of the most important investment bankers in Western economic history. Born in Paris and raised during the turmoil of World War Two, Andre Benoit Mathieu Meyer was working at the Paris Bourse as a messenger at the young age of 15. Then he was given the rare opportunity to work at a small Paris bank. Such a financially influenced childhood set the stage for Andre Meyer to become one of the champions of financial world. It would give him the desire to achieve his goals using the economic methods of the day and allow him to rewrite and shape new methods of business.
             Andre Meyer first started as a messenger on the Paris trading floor. Having less success in school, he bounced around three different schools by the time he had to start working to help support his father, mother and stepsister. This was mostly due to his fathers gambling problem, which without, Andre's family would have lived comfortably from Andre's father's job as a printer salesman. From the trading floor to the banker's door, Andre moved his venue when a golden opportunity shown itself. When a banking position vacated itself when a friend of the family had to leave to fight in the war, Andre was quick to grab up the post. With the war going on at the time, Andre was lucky enough to be diagnosed with a weak heart and therefore unable to fight in the war. This left him free to support the family and hone his skills as a budding financier.
             At the time of his entrance with the war well under way, the French economic market was one huge storm. The French government was forced to fix prices and ration raw materials for the war effort. Businesses were nationalized to enlist other men into the war effort and France borrowed upon itself many times to fund the French fighting front. This led to government issued "IOU" notes paid to contractors who in turn could cash in the notes for a portion of their face value...