The history of The Liberty Corporation dates from November 3, 1905, when it began business in Spartanburg, South Carolina as the Southeastern Life Insurance Company. It continued to operate with its executive offices in Spartanburg until the early part of 1910, when the Home Office was moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where it has since remained.

On October 13, 1919, W. Frank Hipp (1889-1943), who began his life insurance career as an agent for Southeastern Life, organized a new company he named The Liberty Life Insurance Company. This firm enjoyed rapid growth, later proving a strong nucleus for the present corporation. W. Frank Hipp became one of Greenville's best-known business leaders.

In 1933, Hipp became president of the Southeastern Life Insurance Company. Subsequently, Southeastern and The Liberty Life Insurance Company were operated under joint management until January 1, 1942, when the business of the companies was consolidated under the name of Liberty Life Insurance Company, with Hipp as president. This consolidation resulted in the formation of a strong, well-rounded organization that offered a complete line of life insurance protection.

W. Frank Hipp served as president of Liberty Life until his death in 1943. He was succeeded by his son Francis M. Hipp (1911-1995), who became chief executive, under whose leadership the company continued to make outstanding progress as a financial institution and organization of service. Francis M. Hipp rapidly became one of South Carolina's best known business leaders.

In 1955, with a decade of excellent company growth to his credit, Francis Hipp initiated the construction of new company headquarters just outside of Greenville. Heretofore, the four previous Liberty Life Home Offices, as well as the Southeastern Life Building, had all been located in downtown Greenville. Many downtown merchants thought their businesses might suffer with the loss of this major downtown enterprise. However, as with many of Francis Hipp's business decisions, downtown business did not suffer, in fact, new businesses were attracted to the area largely due to the substantial growth evidenced by Liberty Life Insurance Company's expansion.

In 1966, Francis Hipp recommended to the Board of Directors the qualities and advantages of having a holding company function as parent organization for large and diverse business activities for growing companies such as Liberty Life. In 1967, the Board of Directors acted on Hipp's recommendation and formed the holding company which they named The Liberty Corporation. In 1969, The Liberty Corporation stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Also in 1969, the third generation of the Hipp family joined the company when, W. Hayne Hipp (1940-) was made an assistant vice president of Liberty Life. He succeeded his father as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Liberty Corporation in 1978. W. Hayne is now one of South Carolina's foremost business leaders as well as one of Greenville's best-known civic leaders.

At the end of the twentieth century, Liberty Corporation went through the most dramatic period since its formation in 1967. On June 19, 2000, The Liberty Corporation announced it was selling its insurance operations, Liberty Life Insurance and Liberty Insurance Services Corporation, as well as its real estate-including the headquarters building in Greenville, South Carolina-to the Royal Bank of Canada for $650 million. In addition, Liberty announced the merger of Cosmos Broadcasting with Jackson, Mississippi based Civic Communications, under which Liberty would pay Civic $204 million in cash. The sales agreement between The Liberty Corporation and the Royal Bank of Canada was completed on November 1, 2000 and a month later, on December 4, Cosmos Broadcasting Corporation completed the acquisition of Civic Communication. As of that date, Cosmos owns fifteen network-affiliated television stations.

The Liberty Corporation, with members of the Hipp family at its helm, continues a leadership role in guiding the activities and investments of its various affiliated businesses. W. Frank and Francis M. Hipp, whose foresight, guidance, and business acumen built the strong foundation of Liberty Life, set the standard of influence. The force of their leadership during the formative years, now passed on and in the capable hands of W. Hayne, shapes The Liberty Corporation's future.