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Now onto today's video, The Bizarre Story Of A Female Tycoon Of The Gilded Age.
The Gilded Age of New York saw the rise of what was called, New Money in the form of
dozens of male tycoons who made their fortunes courtesy of the railroads which were rapidly
spanning from coast to coast; as well as factories, steel, and the coal mining industry.
These new money tycoons and their families thrust themselves upon the scene by building
massive glittering mansions along New York's 5th Avenue and throwing elaborate balls to
announce their entrance into the elite society of the gilded age.
All the while, one woman was amassing her own fortune, quietly yet, some said, just
as ruthlessly as the men.
Her name was Hetty Green and she was once declared, The Richest Woman in America.
She was a formidable woman who was given the nickname, the Witch of Wall Street supposedly
because of a surly disposition along with the fact that she wore black widow's clothing
every day after her husbands death.
To be fair, papers also called her the “Queen of Wall Street” as she ruled the male-dominated
world of American finance.
It was said that the queen of finance would often hold court as men sought her guidance
on a daily basis.
Over time many sensational stories were circulated about Hetty but regardless of their veracity,
her wealth and interests eventually led her name to be linked with the likes of Russell
Sage, JP Morgan, John D Rockefeller, and other financiers and tycoons of the gilded age's
new money boom.
Who Was Hetty Green?
Henrietta Howland Robinson was born on Nov 21st 1834 in New Bedford Massachusetts.
Hetty was connected On her maternal side to one of New England's great mercantile families
of New England.
Her family had built a fortune from their whaling and shipping businesses.
She was raised in a Quaker household and educated privately.
Hetty developed her financial talents at a young age after spending time with her grandfather
Gideon Howland, who would discuss financial topics with her and urge her to read financial
papers.
By the time she was 13, she had taken over accounting for the family business.
There is a story that says that she became so obsessed with the stock market that on
her 20th birthday, she sold the trunk of expensive dresses her father had given her as a gift
and bought government bonds instead.
In 1864 Hetty inherited $7.5 million (equivalent to 100 million in today's money) from her
father at his death . She also had a spinster aunt named Sylvia Ann Howland who died in
1865 and was said to have several million dollars as well.
The story goes that Hetty wanted her aunt inheritance so badly that she allegedly forged
her Aunt Sylvia’s signature on a fake "deathbed" will.
A six-year legal battle ensued to acquire her aunt's whole inheritance until the will
was declared a fake in 1871.
In July 1867, Hetty Robinson married Edward H. Green, a wealthy Vermonter, and did something
rare for the time.
She made him renounce all rights to her money before the wedding.
With their finances kept separate, Hetty turned her attention to building a fortune on her
own terms.
She heavily invested all the money that she had inherited in mortgages and real estate,
particularly in Chicago (even though she lived in Brooklyn, New York).
She also became a major operator on Wall Street, where she invested extensive holdings in railroad
and other stocks as well as more of her favored government bonds.
She kept a large amount of her money as cash in order to provide loans to banks and even
the city of New York during the stock market panic of 1907.
Hetty Green: Ruthless Tycoon
Hetty was said to be as ruthless as the male tycoons of her day by prospering from the
downfall of others.
She would buy falling stocks, foreclose on properties, and even hold entire banks and
entire cities at her mercy through enormous loans and numerous mortgages.
Depending who you asked, she was either a brilliant strategist or a ruthless loan shark.
Central Pacific Railroad tycoon Collis P. Huntington was a personal enemy of Hetty who
was quoted as saying that she was “nothing more than a glorified pawnbroker."
Today Hetty is credited for inventing a form of investing called value investing, which
has made billionaires out of people such as Warren Buffett.
In her own words, Hetty said, "I buy when things are low and nobody wants them.
I keep them until they go up and people are crazy to get them.
That is I believe, the secret of all successful business."
Hetty Green: The Miser
Hetty and her husband separated in 1885.
The older Hetty got, the more she fixated on making money and making sure that she kept
hold of it, as well.
The story goes that she was so obsessed with money that she wouldn’t seek medical attention
for herself or her children because of the cost, and they all lived in cheap housing
and moved frequently.
It was said that Hetty lodged with friends in New York City to avoid having any actual
residence there, which would have required her to pay taxes.
She was said never to turn on the heat or use hot water.
She wore one old black dress and undergarments that she changed only after they had been
worn out; she did not wash her hands and she rode in an old carriage.
She ate mostly pies that cost fifteen cents.
One story claims that Hetty once spent half a night searching her carriage for a lost
stamp worth two cents.
Another says that she instructed her laundress to wash only the dirtiest parts of her dresses
(the hems) to save money on soap.
It was said that she conducted much of her business at the offices of the Seaboard National
Bank in New York, surrounded by trunks and suitcases full of her papers because she did
not want to pay rent for her own office.
Hetty lived for much of her later life in a small apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Hetty Green: Her Legacy
In a series of interviews, Hetty left advice for women on business.
“A girl should be brought up as to be able to make her own living, whether or not she’s
going to inherit a fortune,” Hetty insisted.
She believed that women should learn about bank accounts, mortgages, bonds and how interest
works.
She maintained that married women could also be businesswomen and not just count on their
husbands for their wealth.
She may have been frugal but she was also charitable.
Hetty Green reportedly donated to Barnard College, the Nurses Home, a group of New York
pediatricians, and others.
Hetty Green died at her son’s home in New York City on July 3, 1916, with her children
by her side.
Aside from $1 million given to Gideon Howland’s descendants and $25,000 left to friends, the
rest of her $100 million estate went to her children.
For Hetty, her most valuable gifts were the jobs that her wealth created through her investments
in the American economy.
Any way that you look at it, Hetty Green would be said to have been eccentric, but there
is no discounting the fact that she was also a genius when it came to making money.