Hetty Green: a Wall Street witch’s life
Hetty Green is an outstanding woman who has contributed to the science of investment. It is she who owns the main principle of this activity: “Buy cheaper, sell more expensive”. She is also known as the Wall Street witch.
Hetty Green had an incredible entrepreneurial mind and the ability to take advantage of it. She cleverly manipulated the U.S. tax law, which in the 19th century had many loopholes to make money and not share profits with the state. Green’s confrontation with the system was legendary, and as a result, the authorities adopted a 16th amendment, which implied clear income tax rules that were the same throughout the country. Hetty is still the wealthiest woman in the United States – her capital was between $2 trillion and $4 trillion.
Henrietta Howland Robinson was born in 1834 in Massachusetts. She spent a lot of time with her father, who owned the whaling flotilla, at the age of 5 she could already read, at 13 she kept the books of the company. When she was 15, she started working for her father.
The production of kerosene weakened the position of the whaling industry, and the parent business began to fade. At 19, her father sent Hetty to New York to join the high society and buy fashionable outfits. But Green decided differently. With all her money, she bought bonds and was able to make profitable deals, came back home and began to develop her own company.
In 1860, Hetty’s mother died, and the girl inherited $8,000. After the death of his wife, her father decided to move to New York and deal in shares and precious metals. The girl is completely immersed in the world of investment. With the money she inherited, she buys government bonds.
However, in order for a woman in the 19th century to get what she wants, she must have a certain status, and that is why Hetty got married. Edward Green was 12 years older and worked as a Wall Street broker. The honeymoon contract had a clause where the spouse had no rights to the wife’s money. Because of the charge of forging her aunt’s will, the Green couple went to London, where they lived for eight years. Here, despite the birth of her son, Hetty was speculating on the pound and dollar exchange. After earning 1.25 million dollars for the year, she invested them in bonds of U.S. railway companies.
In 1875, Hetty’s family returned to the United States, where they continued to invest with their spouse. However, in 1885, the crisis loomed, and Edward went bankrupt, and through the machinations took part of his wife’s capital. This led to a divorce, and Hetty and her children moved to New York. She invested her money in the bank, which allowed her to make a full investment.
