Surety Life Insurance Company was founded in 1942 as part of a massive corporate merger engineered by W. Frank Hipp. Southeastern Life Insurance Company (chartered in 1905) combined with The Liberty Life Insurance Company. Practically all business from The Liberty Life was transferred to Southeastern Life’s 1905 charter. This newly formed corporation was entitled “Liberty Life Insurance Company.” The old company founded by W. Frank Hipp in 1919, formerly The Liberty Life Insurance Company, changed its name to Surety Life Insurance Company, retaining the 1919 charter. Surety’s assets consisted of paid-up insurance, real estate investments, and two Hipp family-controlled radio stations. The merger agreement also stipulated that Surety Life would receive 5% of all premiums collected by the Industrial Division of Liberty Life Insurance Company until 1956. Surety Life did not sell insurance but remained active as a vehicle for reinsurance and investments. The company would subsequently undergo reorganization in 1950.