The Wizard of Wall Street and His Wealth; or, The Life and Deeds of Jay GouldWhite, Trumbull
History
The Wizard of Wall Street and His Wealth; or, The Life and Deeds of Jay Gould
White, Trumbull
Businessmen -- United States -- Biography; Capitalists and financiers -- United States -- Biography; Gould, Jay, 1836-1892
Mr. Gould was president of the Missouri Pacific, the Manhattan
Elevated, the Texas Pacific, the St. Louis and Iron Mountain, the
International and Great Northern, and a director in Richmond Terminal,
Western Union and Union Pacific. He is credited with a control of the
stock of the elevated road and a large amount of its bonds; with the
largest individual holding in Western Union stock, besides stocks and
bonds of its leased lines; a control of Missouri Pacific stock and
large amounts of its bonds, particularly the new issues of fives;
a large block of Wabash, the amount at times running up to 40,000
shares; an interest in Union Pacific, including, perhaps, 1,000,000 of
the collateral trust bonds; heavy investments in the other lines known
as Gould properties; a block of New York and Northern securities, and a
control, with Russell Sage, of the St. Louis Southwestern.
In Wall street the Gould will was accepted with something akin to a
vote of thanks. The satisfaction was in the fact that there was to
be no partition sale, with the flinging upon the market of such a
batch of easily affected stocks as Jay Gould had gathered. Even a
partition of the securities in the will would have made many owners and
possibly clashing of interests, where now one hand would cast the vote
represented by this enormous aggregate of stocks. This voting power
would rest absolutely and individually with George, and would make him
even more than his father a power in Wall street, at least for a time.
Just now he is getting open praise even far beyond what appears in the
will of his great business ability. Some who know him by his acts say
that his weak points are his combative obstinacy and his penuriousness.
Stories upon stories are told of his miserly disposition, but they
come in large part from roysterers who looked upon the eldest son of
Gould as under some sort of obligation to put up the cash for their
festivities when out in company. George did nothing of the sort, but
had a sharp account for each penny expended, and kept himself posted in
prices of things from the highest to the lowest grade. He has not his
father’s slow-moving anger so easily set aside for future use when an
enemy was to be crushed. Instead, the young man is apt to flare up and
show his hand to his own detriment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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