The Underestimated Heir

We do not live in a culture that looks fondly on the heirs of fortunes.

Hetty Green’s was withheld from her because she was a woman.

Her family ran a whaling business for multiple generations. When her father died in 1865, he withheld the family’s assets in a trust fund, from which Hetty only received an income.

In spite of that, she went on to become the richest woman on Wall Street and go toe-to-toe with the barons of the Gilded Age.

Hetty learned business as a child. When her grandfather began to lose his vision, Hetty read him the Wall Street Journal, stock quotes, and correspondence regarding the family business.

Hetty picked up business acumen and the decision-making style of an effective businessman through proximity.

She read about Cornelius Vanderbilt and Jay Gould with her grandfather and emulated their mettle in buying assets on the cheap during financial downturns.

In 1857, she got her first chance.

Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company went under, triggering a financial panic that spread to the railroad industry. Speculators had foolishly overleveraged themselves as railroads were built across the country. They became forced sellers, and Hetty took the opportunity to buy.

Through discipline, savvy, and courageous action, she eventually came to hold major stakes in the nation’s railroads; scoring huge wins on the Reading, Texas Midland, and Georgia Central rail companies.

Upon her passing, Hetty bequeathed over $200 million to her heirs.

Let them overlook you now. They’ll regret it in the future.

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