author
John Moody
1868–1958
Best known for helping create the modern bond credit rating system, this American financial writer and entrepreneur turned market data into something ordinary investors could actually use. His books and manuals helped make complex corporate and railroad information far more accessible in the early 20th century.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1868, John Moody became a financial analyst, publisher, and businessman at a time when American finance was growing rapidly and often opaquely. He is most closely associated with founding Moody's Investors Service and with pioneering systematic bond ratings, work that had a lasting influence on how investors judged risk.
He built his reputation through financial publishing, including Moody's Manual of Railroads and Corporation Securities and later Moody's Analyses of Investments. Those reference works gathered and organized large amounts of company and market information, giving readers a clearer way to compare businesses and securities.
Moody also wrote autobiographically, including The Long Road Home, and remained a notable figure in American financial history until his death in 1958. For readers picking up his work today, he stands out as a writer who helped shape the language and tools of modern investment research.