Chrysler Building
Because of late changes to the plans of both 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building, as well as the fact that the buildings were erected nearly simultaneously, it is uncertain whether 40 Wall Street was ever taller than the Chrysler Building. The author John Tauranac, who wrote a book about the Empire State Building's history, later stated that if 40 Wall Street had "ever had been the tallest building, they would have had bragging rights, and if they did, I certainly never heard them." If only completed structures are counted, 40 Wall Street was briefly the world's tallest completed building from the first week of May 1930 until the opening of the Chrysler Building on May 28, 1930.