The story
On April 21, 1862, the charter of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company was approved by John A. Andrew, governor of Massachusetts.
There was not always a standardization for how the company name has been referenced. For example, a John Hancock advertisement from 1912 refers to the company as "John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company," but some John Hancock advertisements and newspaper articles from the 1930s refer to it as the "John Hancock Life Insurance Company." However, 1940s sources again refer to the company as the "John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company."
In 1964, the company financed the construction of the John Hancock Center (now known as 875 Michigan Avenue) in Chicago, which was the second tallest building in the world upon completion in 1969. The company sold the naming rights in 2018.
In 1972, Dr. Mary Ella Robertson was named as the first black woman and first female to serve on the John Hancock Board.
In 2000, led by David D'Alessandro, the company "demutualized," meaning that "John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company" formally ceased to exist, and a new company named "John Hancock Financial Services, Inc." came into existence. Policyholders received shares in the new company in exchange for giving up ownership in the old. Life insurance continued to be sold by an entity known as the "John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company", a subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services Inc. On January 27, 2000, shares of Hancock stock started to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol JHF.
On September 29, 2003, Manulife Financial of Canada announced its intent to acquire John Hancock for $10.4 billion. The merged entity would be led by D'Alessandro, but he would step down in June 2004. The sale also included a Canadian subsidiary of John Hancock, Maritime Life; it was integrated into Manulife's Canadian operations.
From Wikipedia’s article on John Hancock Financial, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4