Exhibit 99.1

Contacts:         For Media:        John Calagna
                                    (212) 578-6252

                  For Investors:    Kevin Helmintoller
                                    (212) 578-5140

              SYLVIA MATHEWS NAMED TO METLIFE'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

NEW YORK, December 12, 2003 - MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) announced today that it
has named Sylvia M. Mathews, chief operating officer and executive director, The
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to its board of directors, as well as to the
board of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, its subsidiary. This election is
effective on January 21, 2004. With the addition of Mathews, MetLife's Board
will have 17 members.

"I am extremely pleased that Sylvia is joining MetLife's board," said Robert H.
Benmosche, chairman and chief executive officer. "In addition to her current
leadership role at the Gates Foundation, Sylvia has been an integral and
significant player in the development of a variety of financial, legislative and
civic issues of national importance. Her in-depth knowledge and extensive
background, which includes experiences in both the public and private sectors,
will make her an extremely valuable addition to the MetLife board."

As COO and executive director for Libraries & Pacific Northwest giving, Mathews
has been responsible for the Gates Foundation's annual budget, payout
management, grant making to libraries, PNW community and global health advocacy
organizations. Recently, Mathew's responsibilities have grown to incorporate an
expanded focus on advocacy, including policy and finance, across all Foundation
program areas - education, global health, libraries and PNW. With increased
oversight for advocacy, Mathews will transfer oversight of finance,
administration and human resources to the Foundation's CFO and will retain
oversight responsibility for the foundation's legal affairs. She also serves on
the Gates Foundation's executive team, helping to shape and implement overall
strategy. In addition, she plans and coordinates the building of partnerships
with governments, industry, United Nations agencies, other foundations and
non-governmental organizations.

Before joining the Gates Foundation in 2001, Mathews was deputy director of the
Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C. In this role, she worked
with the director to develop the strategy and negotiate for the more than $1.5
trillion annual budget for the president of the United States.

From 1997 to 1998, she served as deputy chief of staff to President Bill
Clinton. From 1995 to 1997, she was chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Robert
Rubin and also served as staff director for the National Economic Council from
1993 to 1995.

Mathews was manager of President Clinton's economic transition team from 1992 to
1993. Prior to that, she was an associate at McKinsey and Company from 1990 to
1992.

Mathews received an A.B. degree in government, cum laude, from Harvard
University in 1987 and a bachelor's degree in philosophy, politics and economics
from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.



She is a member of the University of Washington Medicine board, the Pacific
Council on International Policy, the Aspen Strategy Group and the CFR Task Force
on Transatlantic Relations for the Council on Foreign Relations. In addition,
Mathews is a visiting committee member of the John F. Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University and a Governing Council member of the Miller
Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.

MetLife, Inc., through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading provider of
insurance and other financial services to individual and institutional
customers. The MetLife companies serve approximately 12 million individuals in
the U.S. and provide benefits to 37 million employees and family members through
their plan sponsors. Outside the U.S., the MetLife companies have insurance
operations in 12 countries serving approximately 8 million customers.

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