Man of Steel
By Stephen Troy
In the late 20th century the name Charles R. Schwab, became synonymous with discount Stock trading. However, some 70 years before young Charles (Chuck)Schwab hit Wall Street, it was another Schwab, Charles M. who was making headlines. Charles M. Schwab (no relation) started his career at the Carnegie Steel Mills in the 1880’s. By 1897 Schwab had caught the eye of Andrew Carnegie and worked his way up the ladder becoming, at 35, the president of the largest steel company in America. It was he, as president of Carnegie Steel, that he arranged the secret sale of Carnegie steel to the famous banker, J.P. Morgan. The sale made Schwab one of the richest men in America. (more…)
H.J. Heinz
By Stephen Troy
EXTRA, EXTRA read all about it. Henry Heinz bankrupt and arrested for fraud! This sounds preposterous today, doesn’t it? It’s not the type of headline you would expect to see about the owner of one of the most famous food brands in the world. After all, today in 2012, Heinz is an international brand known around the world for its great food products and dazzling success. Although H.J Heinz Company has been around for over 135 years, it was not Henry’s first company. Henry started out in the business world in 1869 opening another company, Heinz and Nobel, teaming up with a friend L. Clarence Nobel to make horseradish. Horseradish was a popular, but labor intensive product of the day. (more…)
Bank of Water
By Stephen Troy
Most of you probably know Aaron Burr. Statesman, Vice President, and Continental Soldier. He is most famous for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804. You might remember he was immortalized in a “Got Milk” commercial a few years ago.
Most people forget that our founding fathers were also great business man. Aaron Burr was no exception. His genius and rivalry with Alexander Hamilton gave us a very large and enduring financial institution. (more…)
Nickel and Dime
By Stephen Troy
The name Woolworths is a corporate name that most likely is forgotten in history. That is unless you are over 40. Even then it’s a faint image of a simple dime store that seemed to lose its way. F.W. Woolworth Co. with its distinctive, red and gold store front closed its last store in the US in 1997. For over 100 years Woolworths and Franks retailing empire was a fixture in most every U.S. city in the nation. Their name recognition was as high if not higher then; Coke, Nike, McDonalds and Starbucks. (more…)
Dow Chemical
Herbert’s start in business was anything but smooth. The son of a prominent inventor and engineer Herbert was followed in his father’s footsteps as a young inventor himself. After graduating from Case University with a degree in Chemical engineering, Herbert set up his first company to experiment in finding new and better ways of extracting bromide from the brine water found underground in Canton Ohio and Midland Michigan. Unfortunately for Dow and his investors, his first try at running his own chemical company didn’t fare well. Slightly more than a year after opening Dow was forced to go bankrupt. (more…)
A Briny Dispute
By Stephen Troy
Herbert’s start in business was anything but smooth. The son of a prominent inventor and engineer Herbert followed in his father’s footsteps as a young inventor himself. After graduating fromCaseUniversitywith a degree in Chemical Engineering, Herbert set up his first company to experiment in finding new and better ways of extracting Bromide from the brine water found underground in Canton Ohio and Midland Michigan. (more…)
Samuel Brannan
By Stephen Troy
When gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in the winter of 1848, John Sutter the proprietor and founder of Sutter’s fort did everything in his power to keep the news quiet. Gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill by John Marshall. Sutter had partnered with Marshall to build a saw mill on the south side of the American River. (more…)
The Witch of Wall Street
By Stephen Troy
At the turn of the 19th century, major wealth was being accumulated by such great men as Morgan, Carnegie, Astor, Guggenheim, Vanderbilt and many others. These men controlled the financial wealth of a nation and many times did so by manipulating stocks and bonds. Or did they?
One name absent from almost everyone’s list was Hetty Green.
Hetty was well known by her male peers as “The Witch of Wall Street.” She was a miserly woman who dared to play in an all male game. In fact her large cash war chest and cunning brought many of these same men close to financial ruin. Hetty’s knack for figures and her keen eye helped her build a fortune estimated at over $100,000,000 ($2 billion in today’s dollars). Her estate was almost double that of the great financer, JP Morgan. Hetty loaned money, several times bailing out New York City with million dollar loans, controlled railroads (enabling her to rob the robber barons), invested in Real Estate as far away as Texas and of course manipulated stocks and bonds. (more…)
