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If you look objectively, we can say with confidence that we use quite large sums for ourselves. Women always need something, be it some boots or just some kind of cosmetics. Today we have prepared for you an article about the meanest woman in the world and her incredible life story. We really hope you enjoy it. We wish you good and positive mood! Let everything happen to you only the best 🙂 Enjoy reading.
The woman named Henrietta Green, which will be discussed in this material, was an American multimillionaire. She was unusually stingy. Henrietta ate cold oatmeal, didn't bathe, didn't turn on the hot water, didn't do laundry, and even managed to sell the newspapers she read. Unfortunately, in her habit of saving, she went very, very far. Her son's leg was amputated due to gangrene after Henrietta decided not to spend money on medical care.
Portrait of Henrietta Green, 1897
Henrietta Green got into the Guinness Book of Records as the most stingy person in the world. And it is not just words. A woman who earns several million dollars every year was frugal to the point of insanity.
So, she wore the only dress that was faded from long wear, which she never washed, with the exception of its lowest part, which touches the ground when walking.
And the underwear was completely replaced only when it decayed and was torn, coming into complete unsuitability. Plus, there wasn't even bath soap in Green's house, since she never washed.
It is not difficult to imagine what kind of “aroma” this unwashed owner of millions exuded, enhanced by the smell of raw onions from her mouth - she chewed it constantly so as not to get sick.
By the way, if she couldn’t avoid visiting the pharmacy, then she always reacted unequivocally to the message of the pharmacist that the vial in which they sell her medicine costs five cents: she went home and returned with her container.
Both underwear and clothes for children (when it came to that) she bought exclusively in a junk shop, desperately bargaining with the seller for every cent.
She arranged the same auctions in the grocery, moreover, for children, for example, she took only broken cookies (it was cheaper that way), and bread - the most stale, in search of which she sorted for a long time with her own hands (which she had not washed for years) loaves that did not yet have individual packaging.
And as a bonus for the fact that she generally benefited the store with her purchase, she always demanded a free bone for her beloved dog, who, by the way, had the same unbearable character as Henrietta herself.
By the way, at the beginning of the twentieth century (Greene, who was born in 1834, lived until 1916), her fortune was, according to some estimates, from 100 to 200 million dollars. At current prices, that's in the billions.
Having a fabulous fortune, Henrietta showed to those around her such pearls of greed and stinginess that it is just right to be amazed. So, for example, after looking through the column of stock quotes, she sent the children to sell the newspaper. And once, having lost a two-cent stamp in the carriage, I searched for it on the floor for several hours (!)
She ate, as a rule, oatmeal, “cooked”, but simply soaked on a radiator in the office, where a broker she knew let her in.
But the oatmeal still cost money, while the millionaire preferred not to pay anything at all. To this end, she staged whole performances in cheap eateries: she threw a stone into the soup and immediately arranged loud scandal claiming a refund.
As one of the financiers who knew her well later recalled, Getty's bag (that was the name of her acquaintances) was always full of financial documents and ... stones in case of an unforeseen breakfast or lunch at some city catering establishment.
It was for this reason that those around were in full confidence that this miser was not all right with his head. It would be naive to think that such a miser could tip anyone even a cent. She just became famous for the fact that she never gave a tip to anyone, not once in her whole life long life.
She even made money on her son's injury
“To save a cent is to earn it,” Henrietta liked to repeat to her children. And then the moment came when she managed to “earn” in this way even the health of her children, especially her own son Ned.
Moreover, due to the absolute absence of any vitamins and high-calorie foods in the diet of her children, as well as simply from malnutrition, the daughter of a millionaire, Sylvia, had a strong vision.
The apotheosis of not even stinginess, but rather the monstrous stinginess of the miserly Green, was a real family tragedy.
At the age of eleven, her son Ned suffered a severe knee injury while sledding. Instead of immediately taking the child suffering from wild pain to a good hospital, Henrietta decided to save money here too: she put on the oldest and filthiest rags on herself and him and went to the hospital for the poor for free medical care.
And when she and her son finally got to her, Greene was identified as the richest woman in America and refused to accept Ned, who needed urgent surgery.
Having received a turn from the gate, the woman decided to save on the medical care of her only son and took up self-medication. And the result was not long in coming: the child soon developed gangrene and the leg had to be amputated.
And the professional amputation was already paid for by the boy's father, who accidentally found out about the misfortune of his son - if this had not happened, it is hard to imagine how this whole story would have ended. After all, the lack of timely surgical intervention could lead to extensive blood poisoning and death.
But even this did not teach the woman anything (and could they have taught it!): Ned was put on the waiting list for the prosthesis in the hospital for the poor. And he waited for another six months for an “artificial leg” to be made for him, as for a mere mortal.
And then, until the end of his life, he hobbled on the cheapest, cork, prosthesis. Here is such a sad "earnings" turned out.
Did Green Sr. love anyone at all? Yes, my dog ​​Devi. “She wags her tail and looks at me with devoted eyes, not because I own millions, but because of simple love for the mistress,” Henrietta repeated whenever she was advised to get rid of a pet, when Devi, due to her disgusting nature, once again bit one of the guests or colleagues of the multimillionaire.
A bum with a financial sense
Not only her own children, but also the children of relatives inherited from her savings.
Once Henrietta's cousin decided to go with her husband on a trip to Europe. She and her husband decided to leave their children to live with the Greens for that time. A boy of eight and a girl of ten were already looking forward to spending two wonderful months visiting Aunt Getty, which they would remember for a long time.
They and their parents were not mistaken in only one thing - they really remembered these “vacations” for the rest of their lives. Because when cousin returned with her husband from a trip abroad, she simply did not recognize her children, brought to a semi-conscious state by the lack of normal food - they were somnambulists, in literally words barely standing on their feet.
Moreover, having cut the norm of their usual diet, the “witch from Wall Street” sent juvenile relatives ... to work in a nearby laundry, the working day in which was neither more nor less than 14 hours.
Because of the nightmares of the "guest" life and hard labor, the nephews fell into a severe depression and stopped talking.
And, of course, the queen of the financial world did her best to save on taxes. At that time, tax legislation in America was very imperfect and contradictory, and some of its points turned out to be mutually exclusive in essence and meaning.
But the “owner of the exchanges” often tried to play it safe and confuse the heads of the “bandits from the tax service”. And for this (in order to be one hundred percent safe from meetings with tax inspectors), she always settled in rented rooms under assumed names.
And it is clear that she chose only the cheapest accommodation: as a rule, these were third-rate hotels - she never had her own house (again, due to economy).
And not only at home, but also in the office: looking more like a homeless woman than a millionaire, Henrietta "wandered" through banks, brokerage houses, offices of financial companies and other similar institutions, where she was allowed to work, taking some table with a chair, and sometimes by phone.
It should be noted that she has never been an unwanted guest in these offices. After all, Green did not just turn over millions, but also rapidly increased her capital, having a flair for market movements and securities fluctuations.
And information about what shares and securities she buys or sells instantly became relevant and was worth its weight in gold.
In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted in America, unambiguously regulating a single and clear tax payment procedure. This broke the health of the businesswoman.
Henrietta Green died in 1916 of apoplexy during another dispute over the price of milk. Ned, who over the course of his life had heard more than enough of instructions about saving and had suffered from "educational" actions " good mother", immediately went into all serious trouble, drinking and squandering his part of the fortune.
Sylvia, during her lifetime, spent the millions bequeathed to her for charitable purposes. So sadly ended the story of the richest woman in America.
Here is such a story about the meanest woman in the world. Share this article with your friends, because they want to know it too! We wish you a positive mood. Appreciate every moment of your life and do not be stingy!
On July 3, 1916, the most greedy woman in the world. Henrietta Howland Getty Green, who was called the "Witch of Wall Street" behind her back, was not killed by greed at all - she died at 81 from a heart attack. Her name is listed in the Guinness Book of Records with the note "The most stingy person in the world." At the time of her death, Getty was the richest woman of the time, with a net worth of $4 billion. She owned more than 8,000 land plots, was a noble moneylender and bought up shares of companies associated with the railways.
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Henrietta was born in 1834 into a family that owned a good fortune for those times. The Howlands' main source of income was whale oil. The upbringing of the girl was entirely engaged in grandfather - Gideon Howland. Henrietta belonged to the Quaker Protestant religious group, quite common at that time in the states of New England. The name "Quaker" comes from the English quake - tremble, tremble. Among the life commandments of the Quakers have always been self-restraint, unpretentiousness in food and clothing.
When old Gideon's eyesight began to fail, the seven-year-old Getty climbed into his lap and read newspaper financial reports with genuine interest, understanding tolerably the difference between stocks and bonds. At the age of 13, she became the family accountant.
Her incredible frugality, which eventually turned into stinginess, is legendary. Henrietta was quite a pretty girl, but the suitors were a little alarmed that the young lady walked around in the same shabby dress and worn-out shoes. After her mother's death, Getty rarely hosted receptions. And the word “arranged” is inappropriate here: they say that young Green extinguished expensive candles before the guests left, and sold the cinders the next day; the daughter of a millionaire did not throw away the napkins, but sprinkled them with water and ironed them to use them again.
After her father's death in 1865, Henrietta became heiress to an impressive fortune of $7.5 million. It was at that moment that she met her future husband, Edward Green.
There were congressmen and judges in the American Green family, and Edward's uncle was the mayor of Boston. Edward himself, who spoke several languages, including Chinese, traveled half the world. For eighteen years he lingered in the Philippines, where he made a considerable fortune in the trade in silk, tea, tobacco and hashish.
Edward supported Henrietta when her father died, and after - when her aunt died. Two years later, Henrietta agreed to marry Edward Green. The couple legalized their relationship and sealed it with a prenuptial agreement, according to which Edward had no right to a cent from the Getty fortune. Family family, and money apart. And even when her husband went bankrupt and got into debt, Getty did not help her husband. She just drove him away.
Even then, Getty Green was known to everyone on Wall Street. She owned acres of land and real estate. She had no equal in usury and in the game on the stock exchange. The brokers knew that if Getty Green bought the company's shares, the price of those shares would skyrocket tomorrow. When buying securities, Getty learned all the ins and outs of the company and could tell even more about it than the owner.
From the marriage, Henrietta left two children: Ned and Sylvia, who periodically suffered from their mother's excessive frugality. Green did not have her own housing, lived in the cheapest motels, saved on medicines and groceries. Henrietta almost never spent money on clothes and shoes, and changed her underwear only when the previous one turned into tatters. She never used the services of maids and laundresses. After reading the latest press, she sent Ned to sell the newspaper. The store could trade for hours for every cent - most of the sellers hated the Getty.
Because of Henrietta's miserliness, her son Ned lost a leg. In one of the frosty winters, Ned was bought a sled. The guy could not believe his luck and immediately chose the steepest and most dangerous slides for skiing. During one of the descents, the sled turned over and the boy badly injured his leg. In a fit of economy, Henrietta went to the hospitals for the poor for help. Unfortunately, the stingy woman was well known by sight. Doctors refused to help her son. Then Getty decided to treat the boy at home: for several years Ned suffered from terrible pain, and after that his leg was amputated above the knee.
The aging Getty never left the fear of assassination, and she came to rare acquaintances with her own food and even an alcohol burner for boiling eggs. Having received a license to carry weapons, she never parted with him. Appeared cars, like any luxury items, rejected, saying: "Jesus Christ was enough to move the donkey." It was at the moment of her morning passage "to work" that the photographer's lens caught the unusual appearance of this woman: a black deaf cloak, a hat with a widow's veil, an angry old woman's face and a sharp, by no means senile gait. Whether this repulsive appearance, or the constant rumors of strange, extraordinary deeds served as the appearance of her newspaper nickname "Witch of Wall Street."
At 81, Getty died of a heart attack. Her two children inherited a huge fortune - about $ 4 billion in today's money. Ned Green later became known by the nickname "Uncle Ned". He invested his part in good life, automobiles and technological developments. Sylvia became a generous benefactor. Pictured is Getty with Sylvia.
After the death of his mother, Ned almost immediately got married and became interested in the automotive industry. Of course, own car was one of the first acquisitions of the family.
Hetty Green was born Henrietta Howland Robinson in 1834 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Her parents, Quakers, were engaged in trade and whaling. The girl grew up mainly under the supervision of her grandfather, matured very early and at the age of 6 she was keenly interested in the world of finance. By the age of 13, Getty had easily managed the family bookkeeping, and when it came time to enter into the inheritance after the death of her father in 1865, Getty became the owner of a rather serious capital of $ 7.5 million. Not listening to her family, Getty made a decision on her own and invested in war bonds (the Civil War was just going on). Her investment turned out to be very profitable.
After some time, the enterprising Getty decided to challenge in court the will of her late aunt, who made an attempt to bequeath her money, about $ 2 million, to charity. Getty lost the process - it turned out that she provided a fake as evidence for the court. Despite this, Getty has already shown herself to be a real business shark - she clearly set a goal for herself (as a rule, it was money) and just as clearly walked towards it.
At the age of 33, in 1867, Getty married Edward Henry Green, the son of rich family from Vermont. Even before the wedding, Getty insisted that papers be signed, according to which her husband does not claim her money. After living for some time in Henry's house in Manhattan, the couple moved to London, where their children were born - a son named Ned and a daughter, Sylvia.
Edward was engaged in investments, Getty, meanwhile, did not waste time in vain and increased her fortune. So, she successfully played on the dollar, and then invested her money in bonds railway. The move turned out to be very successful - the investment paid off with huge benefits, and Getty Green's personal fortune grew every day.
When the Green family returned to America, they settled in Vermont, Edward's homeland, and in the mid-1880s it became apparent that Getty's husband was secretly using his wife's money through the John J. Cisco & Son financial house. Getty immediately transferred all her assets to Chemical Bank, and Edward left home. He died in 1902 due to heart problems; it is known that Getty and Edward, despite the split, had a fairly good relationship, and when he was sick, she helped to look after him.
The greed of Getty Green was legendary. So, it was said that she always wore the same dress until it wore out. A millionaire, she did not turn on the heating in the house and did not use hot water. She saved money on soap and did not wash her hands with soap, in addition, the laundress was ordered to wash only the dirtiest stains on clothes with soap, the rest was washed off with plain water. But the most unattractive story that is told about Getty Green has to do with her son, Ned. So, when the boy broke his leg one day, Getty turned to the clinic for the poor, so as not to pay large hospital bills. As a result, Ned, after a long and unsuccessful treatment, had to amputate his leg.
Getty Green lived to the age of 81 and died in New York on July 3, 1916. By the time of her death, she was considered the richest woman in the world, but she entered the Guinness Book of Records as the most stingy woman in the world. There are stories that Getty was afraid of taxes like fire and specially lived in a very unpresentable and inexpensive dwelling, and when she had a hernia at an advanced age, she never began to have an operation that cost only $ 150, and suffered with a hernia up to the very end. By old age, she developed a persecution mania - confident that her father and aunt had once been poisoned, she was constantly afraid of attack and robbery.
The Witch of Wall Street and The World's Greatest Miser - these are the titles under which Getty Green went down in history.
On July 3, 1916, the most greedy woman in the world died. Henrietta Howland Getty Green, who was called the "Witch of Wall Street" behind her back, was not killed by greed at all - she died at 81 from a heart attack. Her name is listed in the Guinness Book of Records with the note "The most stingy person in the world." At the time of her death, Getty was the richest woman of that time, her fortune totaled $ 4 billion. She owned more than 8,000 land plots, was a noble moneylender and bought up shares of companies associated with the railways.
Henrietta was born in 1834 into a family that owned a good fortune for those times. The Howlands' main source of income was whale oil. Her grandfather, Gideon Howland, was entirely engaged in her upbringing. Henrietta belonged to the Quaker Protestant religious group, quite common at that time in the states of New England. The name "Quaker" comes from the English "quake" - to tremble, to tremble. Among the life commandments of the Quakers have always been self-restraint, unpretentiousness in food and clothing.
When old Gideon's eyesight began to fail, the seven-year-old Getty climbed into his lap and read newspaper financial reports with genuine interest, understanding tolerably the difference between stocks and bonds. At the age of 13, she became the family accountant.
Her incredible frugality, which eventually turned into stinginess, is legendary. Henrietta was quite a pretty girl, but the suitors were a little alarmed that the young lady walked around in the same shabby dress and worn-out shoes. After the death of her mother, Getty rarely hosted receptions. And the word “arranged” is too inappropriate here: they say that young Green extinguished expensive candles before the guests left, and sold the cinders the next day; the daughter of a millionaire did not throw away the napkins, but sprinkled them with water and ironed them to use them again.
After her father's death in 1865, Henrietta became heiress to an impressive fortune of $7.5 million. It was at that moment that she met her future husband, Edward Green.
There were congressmen and judges in the American Green family, and an uncle was the mayor of Boston. Edward himself, who spoke several languages, including Chinese, traveled half the world. For eighteen years he lingered in the Philippines, where he made a considerable fortune in the trade in silk, tea, tobacco and hashish.
Edward supported Henrietta when her father died, and after - when her aunt died. Two years later, Henrietta agreed to marry Edward Green. The couple legalized their relationship and "sealed" them with a prenuptial agreement, according to which Edward had no right to a cent from the Getty fortune. Family family, and money apart. And even when her husband went bankrupt and got into debt, Getty did not help her husband. She just drove him away.
Even then, Getty Green was known to everyone on Wall Street. She owned acres of land and real estate. She had no equal in usury and in the game on the stock exchange: brokers knew that if Getty Green bought shares in the company, then tomorrow the price of these securities would skyrocket. When buying securities, Getty learned all the ins and outs of the company and could tell even more about it than the owner. From the marriage, Henriette left two children: Ned and Sylvia, who periodically suffered from their mother's excessive thrift. Green did not have her own housing, lived in the cheapest motels, saved on medicines and groceries. Henrietta almost never spent money on clothes and shoes, and changed her underwear only when the previous one turned into tatters. She never used the services of maids and laundresses. After reading the latest press, she sent Ned to sell the newspaper. In the store, she could bargain for hours for every cent - most of the sellers hated the Getty.
Because of Henrietta's miserliness, her son Ned lost a leg. In one of the frosty winters, Ned was bought a sled. The guy could not believe his luck and immediately chose the steepest and most dangerous slides for skiing. During one of the descents, the sled turned over and the boy badly injured his leg. In a fit of economy, Henrietta went to the hospitals for the poor for help. Unfortunately, the stingy woman was well known by sight. Doctors refused to help her son. Then Getty decided to treat her son at home: for several years, Ned suffered from terrible pain, and after that, he underwent an amputation of his leg above the knee.
The aging Getty never left the fear of assassination and she came to rare acquaintances with her own food and even an alcohol burner for boiling eggs. Having received a license to carry weapons, she never parted with him. Appeared cars, like any luxury items, rejected, saying: "Jesus Christ was enough to move the donkey." It was at the moment of her morning passage "to work" that the photographer's lens caught the unusual appearance of this woman: a black deaf cloak, a hat with a widow's veil, an angry old woman's face and a sharp, by no means senile gait. Whether this repulsive appearance, or the constant rumors of strange, extraordinary deeds, gave rise to her newspaper nickname "Witch of Wall Street."
At 81, Getty died of a heart attack. Her two children inherited a huge fortune - about 4 billion dollars in today's money. Ned Green later became known by the nickname "Uncle Ned". He invested his part in the good life, cars and technological developments. Sylvia became a generous benefactor. Pictured is Getty with her daughter Sylvia.
After the death of his mother, Ned almost immediately got married and became interested in the automotive industry. Of course, own car was one of the first acquisitions of the family.
The only person in the world who was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most stingy person.
A woman who wore a single dress to save money and did not buy toys for her own children. The unique combination of intuition, mathematical abilities and forecasting skills allowed Getty Green (Hetty H. Greene) to become the richest woman in the world, even in terms of the current modern exchange rate. Find out where you can save money and decide if you are ready to open stock tickers now to make millions in the future.
Biography of Getty Green (Chronology)
November 21, 1835 Henrietta Howland Robinson was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Father Edward Mott Robinson (1800-1865) and mother Abby Howland (1809-1860) were members of the Religious Society of Friends and owned a whaling business.
1848 - At the age of 13, she began to keep records in the family business.
1850 - studying at the Boston school.
1864 – father died and Getty inherits $7.5 million.
1867 - forges aunt's will.
July 11, 1867- married Edward Henry Green to save herself from prison by signing a marriage contract with him. They leave for London.
August 23, 1868- born son Edward Howland Robinson, who was called "Ned" Green and January 7, 1871 daughter Sylvia Ann Howland Green.
1875 The Greens are returning to New York.
1885 — Bankruptcy of the husband, divorce.
State
According to her father's will, at the age of 31 she became the heiress of $7.5 million in cash ($107 million in today's terms). His father bequeathed whaling to his brothers, but Green was not interested in it.
At the date of his death, Getty Green's fortune in modern money was equal to $200 million (according to revaluation for our years, this is $4.3 billion). Owned 8,000 land plots with houses.
She didn’t have her own home, in the wardrobe there was one dress that changed when it completely fell into disrepair, just like underwear. She had no transport, no warm clothes, she was constantly looking for the cheapest food in the city, and she did the laundry herself. And the same attitude was with children. Her stinginess is legendary.
The entire fortune was in cash, securities, IOUs, real estate.
Back in 1900, when the income of the average American family did not exceed $500 a year, the miser was earning $7 million.
Greed Getty Green
So, she rarely changed her underwear - only when it completely wore out, she never used hot water, because at that time she was expensive, she constantly went in only one dress. When she hired a laundress, she insisted that she wash only the hem of her dress and dirty spots to save soap.
The newspapers she read made her son sell again, and if it didn’t work out, she put them under her clothes and the children’s clothes in order to save on buying warm clothes.
She also instilled frugality in her children, took her to the market every week, where she bargained for every penny, bought broken cookies, because they were cheaper.
Every cent Getty invested in the business.
The use of hot water was considered wasteful.
When her son was 11 years old, he injured his leg while sledding. She had money to go to the best doctor in the country, instead she dressed in the shabbiest clothes and headed to the clinic for the poor with the fact that, if possible, not to pay at all. After the doctors recognized her and the free service was denied, she bought the cheapest lotions at the pharmacy so that he applied them to the sore spot. Later, the boy developed gangrene and his leg had to be amputated. The mother felt guilty and began to devote more time to business. She also did not allocate $ 150 for a hernia operation and suffered from pain to death.
In her entire life, Getty Robinson Green has never donated a single cent. She did not pay taxes, only one thought was unacceptable for her - to give something to the state. A surprise for her was the adoption of a single income tax on profits in 1913, during the consideration of which her name was repeatedly recalled. Never had a car.
Having received permission to carry weapons, the "Witch of Wall Street" never parted with her revolver, being in constant fear of assassination. So, even going on a visit, she took food with her so as not to be poisoned.
Only in her old age did she get herself a dog, calling her son's nickname "Ned", for which she begged for free bones in a butcher's shop, but the animal's nutrition was recognized better than that of the mistress.
Witch of Wall Street
From the age of 2, the grandfather was engaged in raising the girl because of the constant illnesses of the mother. He taught her how to read financial statements and how to count from accountant's reports. At the age of 13, she was engaged in accounting and saved family money, which she spent on the services of a specialist. Getty's education consisted of a 12-month accounting course, as she left the Boston school because of her behavior without receiving a certificate. Not knowing how to live in society, constantly provoking scandals and fights with peers, Green did not understand the purpose of education. She learned to count phenomenally before school, better than any computer that will appear after her death only after 100 years, and the girl was not interested in other areas at all.
From childhood, she earned on a par with adult family members - she kept records, caught and sold fish, organized expeditions for her father's whaling fleet, and supervised the construction of docks.
Getty did not see prospects in the family business, as the popularity of whale oil, which was used for heating and lighting, as well as in industry, was influenced by the appearance of kerosene. On the one hand, technological progress led to the rescue of the whale population, which was destroyed in huge numbers, on the other hand, the end of the family business. Trade with China also did not bode well.
The young lady saw prospects only in the stock market and dreamed of moving to a big city, which happened only after the death of her mother.
Stock market became a vocation - she skillfully predicted changes in the stock price, knew where to invest in order to receive income. Many exchange participants repeated her actions in order to earn money, since all transactions were profitable.
After several years of successful trading, the nickname " Witch of Wall Street» because of the incredible ability to predict the rise and fall of securities, real estate prices, promising areas in the economy.
According to another theory, it is believed that she received her nickname at a venerable age. Every day she went to the bank, where she met with borrowers who could not get a loan from the bank. The usual image is a black cloak, a hat with a veil, an angry face and a sharp gait. The photograph taken by one of the journalists was very reminiscent of a fabulous ominous image.
Career
Getty (or, as it happens, Hetty Green) made her first investments as a child, when she opened a bank account and wore it every cent saved on purchases and earned for fulfilling orders from relatives.
At the age of 19, the father sent his daughter to New York for the whole winter, giving her 1000 USD. to “dresses and ladies' things,” Getty returned in an old dress and worn-out shoes, tightly clutching a package of papers to her chest - bank shares.
It was rumored that Getty used table napkins several times. If there were no stains on them, they were sprinkled with water and ironed. Sperm whale oil candles, considered an expensive product, were extinguished even before the guests left during rare receptions at home. The next day, Green was selling the rest of them.
After the death of their mother in 1860, they moved with their father to New York, which always attracted the future storm of Wall Street, as it had more opportunities to earn money.
All the funds inherited from her father, who died in 1865, the daughter invested in loan bonds civil war 1861-1865 and actively engaged in trading on the stock exchange.
In 1867, her aunt died and Getty expected to receive an inheritance, being her only niece. Disappointment overtook the day the will was announced - out of $ 2 million, only 65,000 a year relied on her, the rest was given to charity and unfamiliar people. The young lady forged a will, according to which everything was supposed to be hers, and began a years-long legal battle. An examination established deception and, in order to avoid prosecution, she marries and leaves for London.
Getty took up currency trading on the stock exchange and correctly calculated the possibilities of the American economy after the Civil War, speculating on the exchange rate of dollars and pounds. In the first year, the income was $ 1.25 million. Bonds were bought with the 650,000 aunt's inheritance received over 10 years.
The main mistake in business there was an investment in railway communication. It was promising direction, however, Green's interests intersected with the main competitor Huntington, who, in addition to money, could still influence the state administration, so all the lawsuits for the purchased plots were lost and funds were no longer invested in this business.
In 1875, the statute of limitations for a suit for falsification expired. The Greens returned to the US and continued to engage in investment activities. The couple settled into the cheapest room in the cheapest hotel they could find.
The affairs of the spouses were conducted in parallel, without intersecting on the stock exchange and without consulting among themselves, as Getty started from the moment the marriage contract was signed.
Edward had his own affairs, his wife had her own. The economic crisis of 1885, as well as poor money management, made Mr. Green bankrupt. Later, Getty found out that he was stealing her money, and parted ways with her husband. Edward stayed at the family estate, Henrietta and the children went to New York.
She later invested all her funds in Chemical Bank and began to engage in loansharking. Since she was saving on renting her office, the bank provided her with workplace, and every day she went there to borrow money against real estate.
Thus, the business was conducted on two priority areas- securities and secured lending, and only liquid real estate in megacities was taken as collateral. The result of the transactions was the ownership of entire neighborhoods in Chicago, New York and other cities of the country.
The peak of investment activity was in 1907 during the stock market and banking panic. Securities fell in price, the country needed cash. Mrs. Greene lent the operating stock exchanges and $1 million to the government against bonds, and bought out mortgages all over the country. The state of the "witch" against the background of general panic increased in geometric progression.
She carried out all the calculations and operations personally, as well as knocked out debts from unscrupulous borrowers.
One of the components of success, in addition to accurate calculations of the effectiveness of investments, is the availability of free capital.
Personal life
In 1867, Henrietta married Edward Henry Green, who was 12 years older than his wife. The millionaire from Vermont had aristocratic roots, he may have counted on the fortune of the bride, but before registration he was forced to sign a marriage contract. Getty immediately indicated that everyone has their own accounts and the spouse will never, and under no circumstances, claim her property.
Since women in those years had few rights, a spouse was needed only to obtain a position in society and the right to participate in trading on the stock exchange. Marriage was also an investment.
The groom organized a luxurious wedding, paying all expenses. The couple settled on ManGetten in Edward's family mansion. When the court accused Getty of forging his aunt's will and threatened with arrest, the Greens left for London, where their children were born. After 8 years, they returned to the States to wait out the consequences of the financial crisis. However, Edward went bankrupt in 1885, never being able to rebuild his fortune. The couple have separated. Mrs. Green was not going to support and provide for anyone. However, we must pay tribute to paid for the medical care of her husband until his death in 1902.
Green's famous quote “One should always buy low, sell high, combining this rule with three simple things - insight, perseverance and frugality” became the key to success.
This principle is the main successful business and is still used by managers in many business sectors.
The second principle of the miser is economy, "To save a cent is to earn it."
Green was well versed in US tax law. Each state had its own requirements and amendments. Not wanting to pay taxes, she constantly moved from place to place, carried out transactions in different parts of the country. In order to force them to pay taxes rich woman In 1913, the 16th amendment to the Constitution was adopted, which established uniform principles for levying income tax.
The uniqueness of Getty's life was that in terms of the scale of her business, she was on the same level as Morgan, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, but she did it in an era when women were excluded from business.
She died of a stroke in another half-cent dispute with a maid in 1916 at the age of 80. Her condition ( which in terms of this moment, amounted to about 4 billion dollars) was divided equally between son Ned and childless daughter Sylvia.
Ned immediately married after the death of his mother and his first purchase was a car. After he got out of his mother's control, Ned quickly spent all the money.
Getty Green is remembered for her analytical mindset, ability to predict financial ups and downs in the economy of countries, ascetic lifestyle and incredible greed.
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