| Sam Nakagama | |||||
| Birth Place: | Delano, CA | ||||
| Death Date: | March 8, 2006 | ||||
| Death Place: | Rumson, NJ | ||||
| Nationality: | American | ||||
| Occupation: | Economist, businessman | ||||
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Sam Isamu Nakagama (1925–2006) was a Japanese-American businessman, economist, and financial advisor. He founded Wall Street’s Nakagama Wallace, Inc. Nakagama also served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Nakagama was a first generation American born in Delano, California, to Japanese immigrants.[1] Following the outbreak of World War II, his parents were incarcerated in the Jerome and Rohwer internment camps in Arkansas, while he served in the U.S. Army.[2] Nakagama himself was incarcerated first at the Fresno Assembly Center,[3] and then the Jerome War Relocation Center.[4]
From 1945 to 1948, Nakagama became the sociologist and a pollster at General Douglas MacArthur’s post-war headquarters in Tokyo, Japan before his discharge.[5] In 1961, he was employed at Citibank, which was then known as First National City Bank. Nakagama was the principal writer of the bank's monthly economic letter.[6] By 1967, he became the chief economist and vice president of Argus Research Corp.[7] He left the company and joined Kidder, Peabody & Co., a leading Wallstreet banking firm, eventually becoming the company's vice president and chief economist.[8]
Nakagama became a Wall Street economist and commented on American economic policies such as those based on the decline of crude oil prices during the 1990s.[9] He testified before the United States Congress on fiscal policy on numerous occasions. He published articles on economics for publications such as the New York Times.[6]
Nakagama married Mary Frances Nakagama. They had two daughters. Nakagama died on March 8, 2006, at Rumson, New Jersey.[2]