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A Classification of American Wealth |
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| Encyclopedia of American Wealth > Wealth Classification / List of Individuals ( 1918 ) |
Age |
Fortune ($) |
Activity |
Source of wealth |
| 1. John Davison Rockefeller | 79 |
New York |
1,200,000,000 |
|
Oil & Gas | Standard Oil Company and its offsprings (after 1920 held mostly by his philanthropic foundations) |
| 2. Henry Clay Frick | 69 |
Pennsylvania |
225,000,000 |
|
Steel; Railroads; Real Estate; Art Collection | H.C.Frick Coke Co + Carnegie Steel Co -> merged (1901) into U.S. Steel Corp.[shares sold]; Union-Sharon Steel Co -> sold (1902) to U.S. Steel Corp.; H.C.Frick Collection [art collection worth $13 million in 1919]; Frick Endowment [$15 million in 1921] |
| 3. Andrew Carnegie | 83 |
Pennsylvania |
200,000,000 |
|
Steel | Carnegie Steel -> (1901) US Steel Corp [1st Morgage Bonds] |
| 4. George Fisher Baker | 78 |
New York |
150,000,000 |
|
Banking | First National Bank (NY); First Security Corp.; National Bank of Commerce (NY); Chase National Bank; Bank of Manhattan; Equitable Life Assurance Co; 490'000 shares in seven railroad systems incl. Great Northern and Northern Pacific |
| 5. William Rockefeller | 77 |
New York |
150,000,000 |
|
Oil & Gas | Standard Oil; National City Bank (NY); Amalgamated Copper Co (Anaconda); |
| 6. Jonathan Ogden Armour | 55 |
Illinois |
125,000,000 |
|
Meat Packing | Armour & Co (chmn) |
| 7. Edward Stephen Harkness | 44 |
New York |
125,000,000 |
|
Inheritance (Oil & Gas) | Standard Oil |
| 8. Henry Ford | 55 |
Michigan |
100,000,000 |
|
Automobile | Ford Motor Co (58,5% from 1906-1919, then 55%) |
| 9. Edward Howland Robinson Green | 50 |
New York |
100,000,000 |
|
Investments | Texas Midland RR (pres) |
| 10. William Kissam Vanderbilt | 69 |
New York |
100,000,000 |
|
Railroads | New York Central Railroad |
| 11. Mary Williamson (Averell) Harriman | 67 |
New York |
80,000,000 |
|
Railroads | Union Pacific RR |
| 12. (William) Vincent Astor | 27 |
New York |
75,000,000 |
|
Inheritance (Real Estate) | New York City real estate |
| 13. Daniel Guggenheim | 62 |
New York |
70,000,000 |
|
Mining | Am.Smelting & Refining Co; Guggenheim Brothers Co [Kennecott Copper Co; Utah Copper Co; Chile Copper Co; Chile nitrate interests; Diamang; …] |
| 14. John Pierpont Morgan jr | 51 |
New York |
70,000,000 |
|
Banking | J.P.Morgan & Co |
| 15. Thomas Fortune Ryan | 67 |
New York |
70,000,000 |
|
Utilities (Street Railways) and Tobacco | Metropolitan Street Railway Co; Metropolitan Traction Co -> Metropolitan Securities Co; American Tobacco Co -> split up (1911) -> British American Tobacco Co at al |
| 16. Charles Michael Schwab | 56 |
New York |
70,000,000 |
|
Steel | Carnegie Steel Co (p) -> U.S.Steel Corp. (p); Bethlehem Steel Corp. (chmn) |
| 17. James Stillman | 68 |
New York |
70,000,000 |
|
Banking | National City Bank (p.1891-1909/chmn 1909-1918) |
| 18. Nicholas Frederic Brady | 40 |
New York |
60,000,000 |
|
Utilities | New York Edison Co (pres); Brooklyn Edison Co (chmn); Brooklyn Rapid Transit Co; … |
| 19. Arthur Curtiss James | 51 |
New York |
60,000,000 |
|
Mining, Railroads | Phelps Dodge Corp; Northern Pacific RR |
| 20. Cyrus Hall McCormick jr | 59 |
Illinois |
60,000,000 |
|
Manufacturing | McCormick Harvesting Machine Co -> International Harverster |
| 21. Margaret Olivia (Slocum) Sage | 90 |
New York |
60,000,000 |
|
Inheritance (Railroads; Utilities) | Russell Sage Estate [Western Union Telegraph; Union Pacific RR; Missouri Pacific RR; Chase National Bank;…] |
| 22. Joseph Early Widener | 46 |
Pennsylvania |
60,000,000 |
|
Street Railways | Philadelphia Rapid Transit |
| 23. Pierre Samuel Du Pont (II) | 48 |
Delaware |
50,000,000 |
|
Chemicals and Automobile | E.I.Du Pont de Nemours Co; General Motors; U.S. Rubber Co; directly and through Christiana Securities Co |
| 24. James Buchanan Duke | 61 |
New York |
50,000,000 |
|
Tobacco | American Tobacco Co (dissolved 1911) -> British American Tobacco Co, Ligget & Myers Tobacco Co, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Corp, …; Southern Power Co -> Duke Power Co; Aluminum Company of America |
| 25. George Eastman | 64 |
New York |
50,000,000 |
|
Manufacturing | Eastman Kodak Co |
| 26. Henry Phipps (jr) | 79 |
New York |
50,000,000 |
|
Steel | Carnegie Steel Co -> merged (1901) into U.S. Steel Corp. |
| 27. Julius Rosenwald | 56 |
Illinois |
50,000,000 |
|
Retailing (Mail order firm) | Sears Roebuck & Co |
| 28. Jacob Henry Schiff | 71 |
New York |
50,000,000 |
|
Investment Banking | Kuhn, Loeb & Co (ptr.1875-1920) |
| 29. Louis Franklin Swift | 57 |
Illinois |
50,000,000 |
|
Meat Packing | Swift & Co (pres) |
| 30. Louise Clisby (Wise) Lewis Lewis Francis | 23 |
Florida |
50,000,000 |
|
Inheritance (Oil & Gas) | Kirkside and Whitehall mansions + $5 million trust fund inherited from her aunt Mary Lily (Kenan) Flagler Bingham |
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