HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING: A FINANCIAL FLOP FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS QUICKLIQUIDITY
History of the
Empire State Building:
A Financial Flop for
Nearly 20 Years
By QuickLiquidity
I
n the late1920s, New York’s economy was booming and a competition to build the world’s tallest
building was heating up. One man who was at the center of it all was Walter Chrysler of the Chrysler
Corporation, who wanted to build the world’s tallest building as a monument to himself and American
capitalism. Chrysler began construction of his monument, the Chrysler Building in 1928 at 405
Lexington Avenue. Despite the buildings name, the Chrysler Corporation did not pay for the construction of the
building and never owned it. Instead Chrysler paid for it himself, with the hope of his children one day inheriting
the world’s tallest building.