#375 The Single Biggest Individual Financier In The World. The Richest Woman In America: Hetty Green

Podcast Notes Playlist: Business

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Key Takeaways

• Hetty Green’s business maxims:
  • 1. Seek out every piece of information on an investment before deciding on it
  • 2. Watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves
  • 3. Generally, in business, do not close a bargain until you have reflected on it overnight
  • 4. Before making a deal, if anyone is foolish enough to offer you the full amount, take it!
  • 5. Buy when everyone wants to sell and sell when everyone wants to buy
• A defining character trait of Hetty: She lived by her own rules and did not care what other people thought; by casting off the societal norms of her time, she freed herself to do as she pleased and to live a life on her terms
• The secret to all successful businesses and a simple strategy for wealth generation: Buy when prices are low and nobody wants them, and keep them until they go up and people become crazy to get them
• Hetty was self-sovereign, very frugal, and very paranoid: She did not tell other people what she owned or how much she was making, and commonly bought property and stocks under fictitious names
• Greed does not drive the world, envy does; cure yourself of envy because envy is a weakness
• Some things on Hetty Green’s list of things to NOT do in business:
  • 1. Do not cheat in business or you will find yourself in an early grave
  • 2. Do not fail to be fair in all things and do not kick a man when he is down
  • 3. Do not envy your neighbors
  • 4. Do not forget to be charitable and never falsify
• When it comes to living your life, you will inevitably have to neglect some things; if you try to do too much, you will never get anywhere

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Hetty Green bailed out New York City. Her decisions on what interest rates to charge moved markets and were reported in major newspapers. She was a one woman bank and the single biggest individual financier in the world. She took no partners and ran her own money. She built a financial empire of stocks, bonds, railroads, and real estate. She battled the great men of her day and kept a gun on her desk. She did all of this alone. Defiantly independent and ferociously intelligent she built a vast, liquid fortune at a time when women couldn't even vote. She used her intelligence to increase her wealth, her independence to live as she wished, and her strength to battle anyone who stood in her way.

This episode is what I learned from reading Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America’s First Female Tycoon by Charles Slack and The Richest Woman in America: Hetty Green in the Gilded Age by Janet Wallach.

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“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth

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Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here.

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“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth

Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast