What do you think?
Rate this book
American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune
The gripping biography of Jay Gould, the greatest 19th-century robber barons, whose brilliance, greed, and bare-knuckled tactics made him richer than Rockefeller and led Wall Street to institute its first financial reforms.
Had Jay Gould put his name on a university or concert hall, he would undoubtedly have been a household name today. The son of a poor farmer whose early life was marked by tragedy, Gould saw money as the means to give his family a better life…even if, to do so, he had to pull a fast one on everyone else. After entering Wall Street at the age of twenty-four, he quickly became notorious when he paralyzed the economy and nearly toppled President Ulysses S. Grant in the Black Friday market collapse of 1869 in an attempt to corner the market on gold—an event that remains among the darkest days in Wall Street history. Through clever financial maneuvers, he gained control over one of every six miles of the country’s rapidly expanding network for railroad tracks—coming close to creating the first truly transcontinental railroad and making himself one of the richest men in America.
American Rascal shows Gould’s complex, quirky character. He was at once praised for his brilliance by Rockefeller and Vanderbilt and condemned for forever destroying American business values by Mark Twain. He lived a colorful life, trading jokes with Thomas Edison, figuring Thomas Nast’s best sketches, paying Boss Tweed’s bail, and commuting to work in a 200-foot yacht.
Gould thrived in an expanding, industrial economy in which authorities tolerated inside trading and stock price manipulation because they believed regulation would stifle progress. But by taking these practices to new levels, Gould showed how unbridled capitalism was, in fact, dangerous for the American economy. This eye-opening history explores Gould’s audacious exploitation of economic freedom triggered the first public demands for financial reform—a call that still resonates today.
Had Jay Gould put his name on a university or concert hall, he would undoubtedly have been a household name today. The son of a poor farmer whose early life was marked by tragedy, Gould saw money as the means to give his family a better life…even if, to do so, he had to pull a fast one on everyone else. After entering Wall Street at the age of twenty-four, he quickly became notorious when he paralyzed the economy and nearly toppled President Ulysses S. Grant in the Black Friday market collapse of 1869 in an attempt to corner the market on gold—an event that remains among the darkest days in Wall Street history. Through clever financial maneuvers, he gained control over one of every six miles of the country’s rapidly expanding network for railroad tracks—coming close to creating the first truly transcontinental railroad and making himself one of the richest men in America.
American Rascal shows Gould’s complex, quirky character. He was at once praised for his brilliance by Rockefeller and Vanderbilt and condemned for forever destroying American business values by Mark Twain. He lived a colorful life, trading jokes with Thomas Edison, figuring Thomas Nast’s best sketches, paying Boss Tweed’s bail, and commuting to work in a 200-foot yacht.
Gould thrived in an expanding, industrial economy in which authorities tolerated inside trading and stock price manipulation because they believed regulation would stifle progress. But by taking these practices to new levels, Gould showed how unbridled capitalism was, in fact, dangerous for the American economy. This eye-opening history explores Gould’s audacious exploitation of economic freedom triggered the first public demands for financial reform—a call that still resonates today.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 30, 2022
167 people are currently reading
1249 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
September 5, 2022
According to Steinmetz, Mark Twain wrote, “Jay Gould (1836-1892) was the mightiest disaster which has ever befallen this country…The people had desired money before his day, but he taught them to fall down and worship it.”
Steinmetz himself summarizes, “That’s the thing about Gould. He lied. He cheated. He stole. But he was so good at what he did, so intelligent in the execution, and such a ‘clean, kind, and industrious’ family man that try as you might, you can’t hate him properly.”
For me, that logic is just a little too tortured. I have side with Twain. Gould made Gordon Gekko look like a choirboy, although it must be said that a lot of the cheating that Gould brought to Wall Street was perfectly legal at the time.
Steinmetz is a good writer and the book is well researched. I personally found no entertainment value to the story, however. Many people start out in modest circumstances but nonetheless resist the temptations that Gould embraced.
There is one educational nugget to Gould’s story, however. And that message is the fallacy that the capital markets are capable of managing themselves. “As much as Gould’s career showed the creative power of laissez-faire economics, it also shone a light on its shortcomings and made a mockery of Emerson’s faith in free markets.” Self-restraint is no match for the man or woman determined to acquire wealth for the sake of wealth itself.
For Gould it was railroads and Western Union. Today, it’s Big Tech. That’s not to suggest that they practice Gould’s methods. The lesson of Gould, however, despite the modicum of regulation that has been put in place since his time – and largely dismantled in recent years – has not been fully taken to heart.
Steinmetz himself summarizes, “That’s the thing about Gould. He lied. He cheated. He stole. But he was so good at what he did, so intelligent in the execution, and such a ‘clean, kind, and industrious’ family man that try as you might, you can’t hate him properly.”
For me, that logic is just a little too tortured. I have side with Twain. Gould made Gordon Gekko look like a choirboy, although it must be said that a lot of the cheating that Gould brought to Wall Street was perfectly legal at the time.
Steinmetz is a good writer and the book is well researched. I personally found no entertainment value to the story, however. Many people start out in modest circumstances but nonetheless resist the temptations that Gould embraced.
There is one educational nugget to Gould’s story, however. And that message is the fallacy that the capital markets are capable of managing themselves. “As much as Gould’s career showed the creative power of laissez-faire economics, it also shone a light on its shortcomings and made a mockery of Emerson’s faith in free markets.” Self-restraint is no match for the man or woman determined to acquire wealth for the sake of wealth itself.
For Gould it was railroads and Western Union. Today, it’s Big Tech. That’s not to suggest that they practice Gould’s methods. The lesson of Gould, however, despite the modicum of regulation that has been put in place since his time – and largely dismantled in recent years – has not been fully taken to heart.
November 11, 2023
A competent and well researched biography. The author falls into the trap of making excuses for their subject matter and believes that things are worse back then than they are today. I don’t want an ideological screed but these are common issues that impact biographies. I still recommend reading but these are some major flaws in an otherwise decent biography.
October 30, 2022
Jay Gould was a brilliant and ruthless man who was born in poverty and became one of the richest men in America in the age of robber barrons. He competed to control various railroads during the time of Cornelius (Commodore) Vanderbilt and was an expert in insider trading and stock market manipulation which were legal at the time. He was also involved in bribing members of the NY legislature which was seen at the time as a price of doing business.
Some things haven’t changed. Businessman today contribute to the political campaigns of politicians with the expectation that those same politicians will look favorably on any legislation that helps their business. On a personal level, Gould was an introverted and private man who was devoted to his wife and six children and by all accounts very loyal to them.
Gould is not as well known as some of the other captains of industry/robber barrons of the time such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, Leland Stanford and John D. Rockefeller. Perhaps it’s because his philanthropic pursuits were not anywhere near as substantial and he died young at the age of 56 of tuberculosis.
The author writes, “In Babbitt, written in 1922, Sinclair Lewis dissected American values and reproached the moneygrubbing businessman of a fictional midwestern town. He could just as easily have been talking about Jay Gould when he describes the ‘clean, kind industrious family men who use every known brand of trickery and cruelty to ensure the prosperity of their cubs.’ Gould was all these things.”
This is an interesting read about a major figure in the gilded age.
Some things haven’t changed. Businessman today contribute to the political campaigns of politicians with the expectation that those same politicians will look favorably on any legislation that helps their business. On a personal level, Gould was an introverted and private man who was devoted to his wife and six children and by all accounts very loyal to them.
Gould is not as well known as some of the other captains of industry/robber barrons of the time such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, Leland Stanford and John D. Rockefeller. Perhaps it’s because his philanthropic pursuits were not anywhere near as substantial and he died young at the age of 56 of tuberculosis.
The author writes, “In Babbitt, written in 1922, Sinclair Lewis dissected American values and reproached the moneygrubbing businessman of a fictional midwestern town. He could just as easily have been talking about Jay Gould when he describes the ‘clean, kind industrious family men who use every known brand of trickery and cruelty to ensure the prosperity of their cubs.’ Gould was all these things.”
This is an interesting read about a major figure in the gilded age.
December 20, 2022
An interesting, detailed life of one of the infamous robber barons of the Gilded Age. Jay Gould tends to be portrayed as a scheming, greedy person. Author Greg Steinmetz does an admirable of humanizing him. You come away realizing that he wasn't so much a schemer as he was very enterprising. It's also clear that in the mid to late 1800s, ruthlessness was the name of the game in the business world. Without it, there wouldn't have been such a fascinating Gilded Age society to read about over and over again. Definitely recommended reading for Gilded Age fans. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC, which I voluntarily read and reviewed.
April 4, 2023
Over the past few decades, lengthy "kitchen-sink" biographies have dominated bestseller lists, because, to state the obvious, there have been some good ones led by the likes of David McCullough and Ron Chernow. The subjects of these tomes are usually worthy of extended discussions, be they Harry Truman or Alexander Hamilton. I've wondered, though, just how many people actually make it through the entirety of these books, or if they do just how much is remembered by most readers.
AMERICAN RASCAL is a useful option to this trend. It is a breezy read about a character in U.S. History, Jay Gould, who may not be known to most of us. Sure, he may pop up in classroom discussions of the Gilded Age robber barons, but even there he doesn't come first to mind. In AMERICAN RASCAL, author Greg Steinmetz recounts Gould's rise to wealth and notoriety in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Gould manipulated companies and people, didn't really care about the consequences of his connivances for other folks, and generally believed that the ends justified the means. From his relatively poor youth on he was grasping for material gains above all else.
In the process of AMERICAN RASCAL, Gould (who is typically portrayed as an immoral and greedy villain) becomes more understandable, but he doesn't even come close to heroic redemption. His best case defense is that everybody else was committed to nefarious moneymaking schemes too, and that doesn't resonate. After all, if you wouldn't accept "he started it" as an excuse from your child, why would that rationale be okay for historical figures. Worst case, he remains a case study for greed for greed's sake.
Steinmetz quickly tells Gould's story without a lot of embellishment or context. For example, he ably describes the impact of the Civil War on Wall Street in quick strokes, without going down any explanatory rabbit holes. This kind of apt but skimpy context happens many times in the book. Yes, nuance and depth are lost. Yes, some foreknowledge of U. S. history helps. And, yes, sometimes less isn't more. But, the book is easily digested and that works if you are looking for a brief introduction to a topic rather than chasing some level of expertise. Experts in Gilded Age history may cringe at some of the shortcuts but it works for most.
AMERICAN RASCAL is a worthwhile read about a flawed man who left little in the way of a legacy other than a sordid reputation. The book will whet your appetite for more on Gilded Age politics and culture; perhaps it might be a look at how the rich lived in the burgeoning cities of the East Coast, or a study of the Knights of Labor and other working class political movements, or perhaps it might be a discussion of railroads and their impact on American history. All of these topics, and many more, are introduced in AMERICAN RASCAL but not fully developed. That makes the book useful if not definitive.
Jay Gould made the Wall
Street most don't trust or really
understand. Our loss.
AMERICAN RASCAL is a useful option to this trend. It is a breezy read about a character in U.S. History, Jay Gould, who may not be known to most of us. Sure, he may pop up in classroom discussions of the Gilded Age robber barons, but even there he doesn't come first to mind. In AMERICAN RASCAL, author Greg Steinmetz recounts Gould's rise to wealth and notoriety in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Gould manipulated companies and people, didn't really care about the consequences of his connivances for other folks, and generally believed that the ends justified the means. From his relatively poor youth on he was grasping for material gains above all else.
In the process of AMERICAN RASCAL, Gould (who is typically portrayed as an immoral and greedy villain) becomes more understandable, but he doesn't even come close to heroic redemption. His best case defense is that everybody else was committed to nefarious moneymaking schemes too, and that doesn't resonate. After all, if you wouldn't accept "he started it" as an excuse from your child, why would that rationale be okay for historical figures. Worst case, he remains a case study for greed for greed's sake.
Steinmetz quickly tells Gould's story without a lot of embellishment or context. For example, he ably describes the impact of the Civil War on Wall Street in quick strokes, without going down any explanatory rabbit holes. This kind of apt but skimpy context happens many times in the book. Yes, nuance and depth are lost. Yes, some foreknowledge of U. S. history helps. And, yes, sometimes less isn't more. But, the book is easily digested and that works if you are looking for a brief introduction to a topic rather than chasing some level of expertise. Experts in Gilded Age history may cringe at some of the shortcuts but it works for most.
AMERICAN RASCAL is a worthwhile read about a flawed man who left little in the way of a legacy other than a sordid reputation. The book will whet your appetite for more on Gilded Age politics and culture; perhaps it might be a look at how the rich lived in the burgeoning cities of the East Coast, or a study of the Knights of Labor and other working class political movements, or perhaps it might be a discussion of railroads and their impact on American history. All of these topics, and many more, are introduced in AMERICAN RASCAL but not fully developed. That makes the book useful if not definitive.
Jay Gould made the Wall
Street most don't trust or really
understand. Our loss.
March 18, 2023
Good primer on Gould. Reads quick and hits the highlights. What I didn’t appreciate was how Steinmetz used Goulds like to make a case for less regulation in the financial markets. There was a lot that WASN’T included that didn’t give the full picture.
January 2, 2023
It reads well and held my interest. That said, I think John Steele Gordon's "The Scarlet Woman of Wall Street" about the Erie Railroad wars is a better book for that portion of history.
American Rascal gives more insight into Gould and Fisk and did expand my understanding of their roles both in the Erie wars and on Wall street overall. Ron Chernow's "Grant" previously gave me another view into Gould's attempted gold corner. The three of them together makes for a nice perspective.
Prior to this book, I saw Jay Gould as almost entirely a Hollywood style stock villain. While I object to the term "rascal" (a word perhaps best reserved for mischievous children), the author does provide much more insight into Gould that goes beyond his most despicable behaviors on Wall Street. The railroads he invested in actually did lay track and add value - much more than I thought. He, by all accounts, was also a decent husband and father - the same can not be said for Jim Fisk.
Given that the Hunt brothers attempted a corner on silver as recently as 1980, long after we supposedly had the right sorts of financial controls in place, it becomes a philosophical question as to how to think about Gould's legal but clearly immoral market manipulations a century earlier.
I'm glad I read it, but if you only want to read one gilded age railroad baron book, then I would recommend John Steele Gordon's, "The Scarlet Woman of Wall Street", as a better choice.
American Rascal gives more insight into Gould and Fisk and did expand my understanding of their roles both in the Erie wars and on Wall street overall. Ron Chernow's "Grant" previously gave me another view into Gould's attempted gold corner. The three of them together makes for a nice perspective.
Prior to this book, I saw Jay Gould as almost entirely a Hollywood style stock villain. While I object to the term "rascal" (a word perhaps best reserved for mischievous children), the author does provide much more insight into Gould that goes beyond his most despicable behaviors on Wall Street. The railroads he invested in actually did lay track and add value - much more than I thought. He, by all accounts, was also a decent husband and father - the same can not be said for Jim Fisk.
Given that the Hunt brothers attempted a corner on silver as recently as 1980, long after we supposedly had the right sorts of financial controls in place, it becomes a philosophical question as to how to think about Gould's legal but clearly immoral market manipulations a century earlier.
I'm glad I read it, but if you only want to read one gilded age railroad baron book, then I would recommend John Steele Gordon's, "The Scarlet Woman of Wall Street", as a better choice.
March 1, 2024
Would have been five stars if not for the incredibly dumb conclusion chapter.
Read
December 17, 2023The life story of one of the biggest Gilded Age Robber Barons of the late 1800s - Jay Gould. Steinmetz tells an interesting rags-to-riches tale of how Gould built his transportation and communications empire with accumulation of railroads and speculation in the pre-SEC stock market. Of course, he made his fortune largely through means that are not legal today - manipulation, price-fixing, monopolizing, insider trading, blackmail, and enough bribery of politicians to keep him on the right side of the law. He even owned a newspaper to help do his bidding. In Gould’s story, there are plenty of echoes into today’s climate of income inequality, worker’s rights, monopolies in the tech world, and the importance of investigative journalism. Although he’s not a particularly charismatic figure, and the repetitive buying of new railroad lines would make for a dull TV show in itself… it was still interesting to learn Gould’s personal and business history as it reminded me of a combination of Succession and the Gilded Age (in which he plays a minor character). Overall, a good read to get more of an insight into one of the key characters of a turbulent time.
“The Gilded Age was a golden time for facial hair. No president before Grant had a beard or a mustache in their official portrait. Then came six in a row, one after another with chins and upper lips constituents would never see. It took William McKinley, who took office in 1897, to break the string.”
“[Gould’s] was a career like no other. No one before or after locked up the money supply to bring down every stock on the exchange and profit from the decline. No one else ever held the country's gold market hostage. No one else used the tricks of Wall Street to grab control of the nation's most important communications business and to dominate many of the country's most essential transportation lines.
Nobody other than Jay Gould, a poor country boy who fought ill health all his life, used the same mix of brains, guile, and brute force to build one of the country's great fortunes.”
“Gould embarked on a dizzying shopping spree. The pace and volume of activity was like nothing ever seen in corporate America. It was as if Delmonico's was offering railroads as entrees and Gould ordered everything on the menu. Gould bought the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; the Central of New Jersey; the Denver & Rio Grande; the International-Great Northern; the Missouri-Kansas-Texas; the New York & New England; the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern; the Texas & Pa-cific; and the Utah Central. He didn't buy a hundred percent of any of them. With some he only took a small bite. But he bought enough of each to put himself in charge. In every instance, he became the sole decision maker.
The acquisitions gave Gould breathtaking scope. Only a year earlier, the biggest city he touched was Omaha. Now he was in Kan-its City, St. Louis, and Memphis. He was in Dallas, Denver, and Datroit. He was in San Antonio. He was in Buffalo, Newark, Hartford, Cleveland, and Toledo. Some 115,000 miles of railroad track across the United States. Gould was the master of 16,00 miles by the end of 1881.”
“He was more open than most about what he expected of politicians. ‘It was the custom when men received nominations to come to me for contributions,’ he said when he was with Erie. ‘I made them and considered them good-paying investments for the company.’”
“Gould was a hardcore capitalist… He believed the eight-hour day, an idea then on the political agenda, was foolish. ‘Your best men do not care how many hours they work,’ he said. ‘They are looking to get higher up.’”
“[One of Gould’s contemporaries, Cooke] ran into trouble two vears after breaking ground. In what must have been the most arresting statement to ever appear in an annual report, he flagged the cause of his ruin. "Our men and their escorts have been resisted and fought by the Indians," he wrote. "The company's engineers have in effect been driven by Indians out of the Yellowstone Valley." Sitting Bull, the chief of the Lakota Sioux, had warned Cooke to stay away. When Cooke ignored him, Sitting Bull attacked. Cooke was a first-rate bond salesman. He was not a military strategist. Sitting Bull explained himself. "I hate all white people," he said.”
“Historians of more recent vintage offer some balance. They argue Gould should be judged in light of his times and against his peers. Insider trading and market manipulation were legal so Gould can hardly be faulted for that. Bribing the New York legislature was morally reprehensible but, given the corruption of the age, a cost of doing business. In a 1986 biography, University of Rhode Island professor Maury Klein suggested Gould be judged in his entirety rather than on his business activity alone. Gould's record as an upstanding family man should be figured into the equation.”
“[Despite Gould’s transgressions], Washington waited until 1887, toward the end of Gould's career and nearly twenty years after the Erie battle, to enact the Interstate Commerce Act and get into the regulation business. Three years later came the Sherman Antitrust Act. The laws were meant to combat price fixing and monopolies. Both were ignored. It would be another decade before Teddy Roosevelt came along and put the laws to good effect. And it wasn't until the Great Depression, with the Securities Act, that the government went after securities fraud, insider trading, and market manipulation. In our own time, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren has cast a doubtful eye on Big Tech and likened Amazon, Apple, Face-book, and Google to the railroads of the nineteenth century.”
“Mark Twain argued [Gould’s] exploits had lasting consequences. By disregarding social norms in pursuit of lucre, Gould inspired others to follow. ‘The gospel left behind by Jay Gould is doing giant work,’ he wrote. ‘Its message is get money. Get it quickly. Get it in abun-dance. Get it in prodigious amounts. Get it dishonestly if you can, honestly if you must.’”
“Gould chose to be buried in what is now the most interesting cemetery in America… Woodlawn celebrates individual achievement… No mausoleum at Woodlawn is bigger than Gould's. With Doric columns, a sturdy pediment, and proportions that follow the Pythagorean ratios, it looks like the Parthenon.”
“We build monuments to those who do the impossible or save people from death. We build monuments to explorers, artists, scien-tists, and inventors. We build them for generals and fallen soldiers. We do not build monuments for businesspeople. It doesn't matter how many jobs they created. It doesn't matter how they changed the world. They have money. If they want statues, if they want people to stand before their frozen features and consider their magnificence, they can build the damn things themselves.”
“The Gilded Age was a golden time for facial hair. No president before Grant had a beard or a mustache in their official portrait. Then came six in a row, one after another with chins and upper lips constituents would never see. It took William McKinley, who took office in 1897, to break the string.”
“[Gould’s] was a career like no other. No one before or after locked up the money supply to bring down every stock on the exchange and profit from the decline. No one else ever held the country's gold market hostage. No one else used the tricks of Wall Street to grab control of the nation's most important communications business and to dominate many of the country's most essential transportation lines.
Nobody other than Jay Gould, a poor country boy who fought ill health all his life, used the same mix of brains, guile, and brute force to build one of the country's great fortunes.”
“Gould embarked on a dizzying shopping spree. The pace and volume of activity was like nothing ever seen in corporate America. It was as if Delmonico's was offering railroads as entrees and Gould ordered everything on the menu. Gould bought the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; the Central of New Jersey; the Denver & Rio Grande; the International-Great Northern; the Missouri-Kansas-Texas; the New York & New England; the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern; the Texas & Pa-cific; and the Utah Central. He didn't buy a hundred percent of any of them. With some he only took a small bite. But he bought enough of each to put himself in charge. In every instance, he became the sole decision maker.
The acquisitions gave Gould breathtaking scope. Only a year earlier, the biggest city he touched was Omaha. Now he was in Kan-its City, St. Louis, and Memphis. He was in Dallas, Denver, and Datroit. He was in San Antonio. He was in Buffalo, Newark, Hartford, Cleveland, and Toledo. Some 115,000 miles of railroad track across the United States. Gould was the master of 16,00 miles by the end of 1881.”
“He was more open than most about what he expected of politicians. ‘It was the custom when men received nominations to come to me for contributions,’ he said when he was with Erie. ‘I made them and considered them good-paying investments for the company.’”
“Gould was a hardcore capitalist… He believed the eight-hour day, an idea then on the political agenda, was foolish. ‘Your best men do not care how many hours they work,’ he said. ‘They are looking to get higher up.’”
“[One of Gould’s contemporaries, Cooke] ran into trouble two vears after breaking ground. In what must have been the most arresting statement to ever appear in an annual report, he flagged the cause of his ruin. "Our men and their escorts have been resisted and fought by the Indians," he wrote. "The company's engineers have in effect been driven by Indians out of the Yellowstone Valley." Sitting Bull, the chief of the Lakota Sioux, had warned Cooke to stay away. When Cooke ignored him, Sitting Bull attacked. Cooke was a first-rate bond salesman. He was not a military strategist. Sitting Bull explained himself. "I hate all white people," he said.”
“Historians of more recent vintage offer some balance. They argue Gould should be judged in light of his times and against his peers. Insider trading and market manipulation were legal so Gould can hardly be faulted for that. Bribing the New York legislature was morally reprehensible but, given the corruption of the age, a cost of doing business. In a 1986 biography, University of Rhode Island professor Maury Klein suggested Gould be judged in his entirety rather than on his business activity alone. Gould's record as an upstanding family man should be figured into the equation.”
“[Despite Gould’s transgressions], Washington waited until 1887, toward the end of Gould's career and nearly twenty years after the Erie battle, to enact the Interstate Commerce Act and get into the regulation business. Three years later came the Sherman Antitrust Act. The laws were meant to combat price fixing and monopolies. Both were ignored. It would be another decade before Teddy Roosevelt came along and put the laws to good effect. And it wasn't until the Great Depression, with the Securities Act, that the government went after securities fraud, insider trading, and market manipulation. In our own time, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren has cast a doubtful eye on Big Tech and likened Amazon, Apple, Face-book, and Google to the railroads of the nineteenth century.”
“Mark Twain argued [Gould’s] exploits had lasting consequences. By disregarding social norms in pursuit of lucre, Gould inspired others to follow. ‘The gospel left behind by Jay Gould is doing giant work,’ he wrote. ‘Its message is get money. Get it quickly. Get it in abun-dance. Get it in prodigious amounts. Get it dishonestly if you can, honestly if you must.’”
“Gould chose to be buried in what is now the most interesting cemetery in America… Woodlawn celebrates individual achievement… No mausoleum at Woodlawn is bigger than Gould's. With Doric columns, a sturdy pediment, and proportions that follow the Pythagorean ratios, it looks like the Parthenon.”
“We build monuments to those who do the impossible or save people from death. We build monuments to explorers, artists, scien-tists, and inventors. We build them for generals and fallen soldiers. We do not build monuments for businesspeople. It doesn't matter how many jobs they created. It doesn't matter how they changed the world. They have money. If they want statues, if they want people to stand before their frozen features and consider their magnificence, they can build the damn things themselves.”
February 16, 2023
Great insights into that era. With investing, macro environment etc
June 19, 2023
Probably more like 4.5 stars. I really enjoyed the stories about Jay Gould, how he rose from very limited ranks to become a titan, the deals he did, etc. He was an investor, an operator and an all around savvy business man who was willing to do whatever it took to get what he wanted. He went toe to toe with people like Vanderbilt to take over companies, often railroads, and he generally improved them greatly when he did so. While his tactics were often a bit unsavory (shorting companies he was on the board of, cornering markets, etc), he was generally taking advantage of the fact that laws weren't in place to prevent him from doing so. Review below is copy/paste.
------------------------------------
Over the past few decades, lengthy "kitchen-sink" biographies have dominated bestseller lists, because, to state the obvious, there have been some good ones led by the likes of David McCullough and Ron Chernow. The subjects of these tomes are usually worthy of extended discussions, be they Harry Truman or Alexander Hamilton. I've wondered, though, just how many people actually make it through the entirety of these books, or if they do just how much is remembered by most readers.
AMERICAN RASCAL is a useful option to this trend. It is a breezy read about a character in U.S. History, Jay Gould, who may not be known to most of us. Sure, he may pop up in classroom discussions of the Gilded Age robber barons, but even there he doesn't come first to mind. In AMERICAN RASCAL, author Greg Steinmetz recounts Gould's rise to wealth and notoriety in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Gould manipulated companies and people, didn't really care about the consequences of his connivances for other folks, and generally believed that the ends justified the means. From his relatively poor youth on he was grasping for material gains above all else.
In the process of AMERICAN RASCAL, Gould (who is typically portrayed as an immoral and greedy villain) becomes more understandable, but he doesn't even come close to heroic redemption. His best case defense is that everybody else was committed to nefarious moneymaking schemes too, and that doesn't resonate. After all, if you wouldn't accept "he started it" as an excuse from your child, why would that rationale be okay for historical figures. Worst case, he remains a case study for greed for greed's sake.
Steinmetz quickly tells Gould's story without a lot of embellishment or context. For example, he ably describes the impact of the Civil War on Wall Street in quick strokes, without going down any explanatory rabbit holes. This kind of apt but skimpy context happens many times in the book. Yes, nuance and depth are lost. Yes, some foreknowledge of U. S. history helps. And, yes, sometimes less isn't more. But, the book is easily digested and that works if you are looking for a brief introduction to a topic rather than chasing some level of expertise. Experts in Gilded Age history may cringe at some of the shortcuts but it works for most.
AMERICAN RASCAL is a worthwhile read about a flawed man who left little in the way of a legacy other than a sordid reputation. The book will whet your appetite for more on Gilded Age politics and culture; perhaps it might be a look at how the rich lived in the burgeoning cities of the East Coast, or a study of the Knights of Labor and other working class political movements, or perhaps it might be a discussion of railroads and their impact on American history. All of these topics, and many more, are introduced in AMERICAN RASCAL but not fully developed. That makes the book useful if not definitive.
------------------------------------
Over the past few decades, lengthy "kitchen-sink" biographies have dominated bestseller lists, because, to state the obvious, there have been some good ones led by the likes of David McCullough and Ron Chernow. The subjects of these tomes are usually worthy of extended discussions, be they Harry Truman or Alexander Hamilton. I've wondered, though, just how many people actually make it through the entirety of these books, or if they do just how much is remembered by most readers.
AMERICAN RASCAL is a useful option to this trend. It is a breezy read about a character in U.S. History, Jay Gould, who may not be known to most of us. Sure, he may pop up in classroom discussions of the Gilded Age robber barons, but even there he doesn't come first to mind. In AMERICAN RASCAL, author Greg Steinmetz recounts Gould's rise to wealth and notoriety in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Gould manipulated companies and people, didn't really care about the consequences of his connivances for other folks, and generally believed that the ends justified the means. From his relatively poor youth on he was grasping for material gains above all else.
In the process of AMERICAN RASCAL, Gould (who is typically portrayed as an immoral and greedy villain) becomes more understandable, but he doesn't even come close to heroic redemption. His best case defense is that everybody else was committed to nefarious moneymaking schemes too, and that doesn't resonate. After all, if you wouldn't accept "he started it" as an excuse from your child, why would that rationale be okay for historical figures. Worst case, he remains a case study for greed for greed's sake.
Steinmetz quickly tells Gould's story without a lot of embellishment or context. For example, he ably describes the impact of the Civil War on Wall Street in quick strokes, without going down any explanatory rabbit holes. This kind of apt but skimpy context happens many times in the book. Yes, nuance and depth are lost. Yes, some foreknowledge of U. S. history helps. And, yes, sometimes less isn't more. But, the book is easily digested and that works if you are looking for a brief introduction to a topic rather than chasing some level of expertise. Experts in Gilded Age history may cringe at some of the shortcuts but it works for most.
AMERICAN RASCAL is a worthwhile read about a flawed man who left little in the way of a legacy other than a sordid reputation. The book will whet your appetite for more on Gilded Age politics and culture; perhaps it might be a look at how the rich lived in the burgeoning cities of the East Coast, or a study of the Knights of Labor and other working class political movements, or perhaps it might be a discussion of railroads and their impact on American history. All of these topics, and many more, are introduced in AMERICAN RASCAL but not fully developed. That makes the book useful if not definitive.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2023
I have long been fascinated by the financial and industrial history of our country and how it influenced our social history. Most books of the era include parts of the different wars of the Robber Baron and relate Jay Gould's role in each event. This is one of the best books I have read that concentrates on the career of Jay Gould. Rather than the almost cartoonish portrayal as a totally unprincipled villain, Steinmetz humanizes him and puts his acts in the context of the times.
Gould lived in a time of almost complete laissez-faire capitalism. There was virtually no government involvement. Because of weak laws and even weaker enforcement, bribery of legislators and judges was just a normal cost of business and actually expected. This gave rise to the rise of the Robber Barrons who amassed unimaginable fortunes and concentrated power in the hands of fewer businesses and people. This led to productivity gains that accelerated the post civil war growth that provided millions of new jobs and advanced the standard of living and improved the lives of most Americans.
The down side of this much unchecked power means that the wealth disparity is magnified. (Vanderbilt's Newport, Rhode Island mansion, Marble House, used just for the 6 weeks summer season was built for 12million dollars when his average employee earned just $500 a year.) Cheap labor could easily be replaced by even cheaper immigrant labor allow for wage decreases, leaving working men out in the cold. When a recession hit, banks collapsed with depositors losing everything and great business going bankrupt leaving millions unemployed. All this led to the Progressive age starting with Teddy Roosevelt and continued through FDR that introduced and strengthen government regulation led to the rise and strength of labor unions that led to the great growth of the middle class of the second half of the 20th century. ]
The pendulum started the swing back under Ronald Regan with the push for government deregulation. That was the start of the rise again of the great wealth, a raising the gap of wealth disparity to levels not seen since the the gilded era. The effect of more and more deregulation is blamed for the financial meltdown of 2008 that sent us into the worst recession of our lifetimes with the slowest recovery. Now the power is centered in Big Tech like Amazon, Apple, Social media companies that not only control our economy but also our information (and unchecked misinformation) that determines or at least influences our thoughts.
While capitalism has proven to be the best system for creating wealth, it has also proved that it must be governed to some extent to keep it from becoming a total oligarchy. Finding that balance is the problem.
Gould lived in a time of almost complete laissez-faire capitalism. There was virtually no government involvement. Because of weak laws and even weaker enforcement, bribery of legislators and judges was just a normal cost of business and actually expected. This gave rise to the rise of the Robber Barrons who amassed unimaginable fortunes and concentrated power in the hands of fewer businesses and people. This led to productivity gains that accelerated the post civil war growth that provided millions of new jobs and advanced the standard of living and improved the lives of most Americans.
The down side of this much unchecked power means that the wealth disparity is magnified. (Vanderbilt's Newport, Rhode Island mansion, Marble House, used just for the 6 weeks summer season was built for 12million dollars when his average employee earned just $500 a year.) Cheap labor could easily be replaced by even cheaper immigrant labor allow for wage decreases, leaving working men out in the cold. When a recession hit, banks collapsed with depositors losing everything and great business going bankrupt leaving millions unemployed. All this led to the Progressive age starting with Teddy Roosevelt and continued through FDR that introduced and strengthen government regulation led to the rise and strength of labor unions that led to the great growth of the middle class of the second half of the 20th century. ]
The pendulum started the swing back under Ronald Regan with the push for government deregulation. That was the start of the rise again of the great wealth, a raising the gap of wealth disparity to levels not seen since the the gilded era. The effect of more and more deregulation is blamed for the financial meltdown of 2008 that sent us into the worst recession of our lifetimes with the slowest recovery. Now the power is centered in Big Tech like Amazon, Apple, Social media companies that not only control our economy but also our information (and unchecked misinformation) that determines or at least influences our thoughts.
While capitalism has proven to be the best system for creating wealth, it has also proved that it must be governed to some extent to keep it from becoming a total oligarchy. Finding that balance is the problem.
August 9, 2023
Let’s get one thing clear: I know nothing about how financial markets work. I had to look up what the terms “bull” and “bear” meant (something to do with looking up and looking down apparently). I can’t describe what it means to “short” a stock. And yet I found Greg Steinmetz’s book on Jay Gould fascinating and totally accessible to readers such as myself.
Gould’s riches came at the height of the Gilded Age. He started life humbly enough, working hard to make money in the blacksmithing and tanning industries, and taught himself additional skills such as surveying and map making. He built his wealth gradually in these industries but moved into the railroad business courtesy of his father-in-law. From then it appears he never looked back, especially once he discovered the power and thrill of investing. Ten years after his first railroad investment, Gould and his co-conspirators caused a gold panic which undermined President Grant’s Washington Administration. Gould not only avoided being wiped out financially, he avoided judicial penalties also even though other speculators were ruined due to his actions.
From then on, Gould increased his activities in the railroad industry. Steinmetz carefully explains the Erie War, and how Gould engaged in a fight against Cornelius “the Commodore” Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt had wanted to build a railroad empire, but Steinmetz shares how Gould thwarted him through the continual issuance of stock. Gould was eventually forced to relinquish control of the Erie Railroad, which eventually went bankrupt, but this was only the beginning of Gould’s railroad adventures. Steinmetz’ description of Gould buying up all the railroads reminded me of a Monopoly player going on a spree around the gameboard; buying everything in sight before anyone else could and getting to the point where his competitor realized there was no point in buying what was left.
Throughout the book, however, Steinmetz insists that much of what Gould did was legal. His actions might not have been moral or ethical, but the country’s relaxed laws of the time meant that he wasn’t committing any crimes and couldn’t be charged let alone convicted. Instead, the current United States financial laws could be said to have developed due to Gould’s actions, and Steinmetz concludes that maybe we’d all be better off without the stringent market protections of today. I’m not sure I agree with him, even with his examples of Enron and other frauds, but at least I could understand why he might feel like this in light of the life of Jay Gould.
Disclaimer: Although I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher, the opinions above are my own.
Gould’s riches came at the height of the Gilded Age. He started life humbly enough, working hard to make money in the blacksmithing and tanning industries, and taught himself additional skills such as surveying and map making. He built his wealth gradually in these industries but moved into the railroad business courtesy of his father-in-law. From then it appears he never looked back, especially once he discovered the power and thrill of investing. Ten years after his first railroad investment, Gould and his co-conspirators caused a gold panic which undermined President Grant’s Washington Administration. Gould not only avoided being wiped out financially, he avoided judicial penalties also even though other speculators were ruined due to his actions.
From then on, Gould increased his activities in the railroad industry. Steinmetz carefully explains the Erie War, and how Gould engaged in a fight against Cornelius “the Commodore” Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt had wanted to build a railroad empire, but Steinmetz shares how Gould thwarted him through the continual issuance of stock. Gould was eventually forced to relinquish control of the Erie Railroad, which eventually went bankrupt, but this was only the beginning of Gould’s railroad adventures. Steinmetz’ description of Gould buying up all the railroads reminded me of a Monopoly player going on a spree around the gameboard; buying everything in sight before anyone else could and getting to the point where his competitor realized there was no point in buying what was left.
Throughout the book, however, Steinmetz insists that much of what Gould did was legal. His actions might not have been moral or ethical, but the country’s relaxed laws of the time meant that he wasn’t committing any crimes and couldn’t be charged let alone convicted. Instead, the current United States financial laws could be said to have developed due to Gould’s actions, and Steinmetz concludes that maybe we’d all be better off without the stringent market protections of today. I’m not sure I agree with him, even with his examples of Enron and other frauds, but at least I could understand why he might feel like this in light of the life of Jay Gould.
Disclaimer: Although I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher, the opinions above are my own.
April 20, 2025
What a little weasel! I'm surprised that, especially in the 1800's, when people seemed to be freer in breaking out the fisticuffs than nowadays, his antics only got his face slapped a handful of times. He certainly made his fair share of enemies and they were pretty vocal about their distaste for Gould.
Some of their thoughts on Gould:
"His touch is death."
"The most sinister figure to have flitted bat-like across the vision of the American people."
"His face...no man could have such a countenance and still be honest."
"There was a strain of insanity somewhere."
"A despicable worm."
"The skunk of Wall Street."
"The worst man on Earth since the beginning of the Christian era."
"A pitiless human carnivore."
The Gilded Age (whose sequel we rapidly appear to be entering into 100+ years after the first one ended) produced some of the most well known figures in American history: Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie. Jay Gould's wealth was at their level, although it seems that Gould appears less well-known these days. That's probably partly because J.P. Morgan's eponymous company is still well known, while Carnegie and Rockefeller have well-known places like Carnegie Hall and Rockefeller Plaza named after them. Vanderbilt also has some more famous recently living descendants, like Gloria Vanderbilt.
Although Gould was involved in businesses like railroads and had a goal of making the first "true" transcontinental railroad, he wasn't really so much a titan of industry as he was a just a stock speculator. That was his bread and butter and he was fine with destroying a company and other people if he could make a profit off of it.
Dying at the relatively young age of 56 from tuberculosis, it would have been interesting to see if Jay Gould would have eventually gone bust, like some of his associates. He was very intelligent but also a big risk taker, and things almost did blow up in his face on occasion. He also actually passed away right before The United States entered a severe depression in 1893.
Not counting the end notes etc, this bio comes in at less than 300 pages, so it's pretty succinct, but it gives a good summary of the most important episodes of Gould's life, like The Erie Wars and Black Friday.
The author does reach some, what are in my opinion, erroneous conclusions, though. Near the end he writes that "It's a rule of economics that productivity gains advance living standards." It is? News to me. What about the distribution of the gains? One of the famous mottos of The Gilded Age was "more, for less," after all.
Some of their thoughts on Gould:
"His touch is death."
"The most sinister figure to have flitted bat-like across the vision of the American people."
"His face...no man could have such a countenance and still be honest."
"There was a strain of insanity somewhere."
"A despicable worm."
"The skunk of Wall Street."
"The worst man on Earth since the beginning of the Christian era."
"A pitiless human carnivore."
The Gilded Age (whose sequel we rapidly appear to be entering into 100+ years after the first one ended) produced some of the most well known figures in American history: Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie. Jay Gould's wealth was at their level, although it seems that Gould appears less well-known these days. That's probably partly because J.P. Morgan's eponymous company is still well known, while Carnegie and Rockefeller have well-known places like Carnegie Hall and Rockefeller Plaza named after them. Vanderbilt also has some more famous recently living descendants, like Gloria Vanderbilt.
Although Gould was involved in businesses like railroads and had a goal of making the first "true" transcontinental railroad, he wasn't really so much a titan of industry as he was a just a stock speculator. That was his bread and butter and he was fine with destroying a company and other people if he could make a profit off of it.
Dying at the relatively young age of 56 from tuberculosis, it would have been interesting to see if Jay Gould would have eventually gone bust, like some of his associates. He was very intelligent but also a big risk taker, and things almost did blow up in his face on occasion. He also actually passed away right before The United States entered a severe depression in 1893.
Not counting the end notes etc, this bio comes in at less than 300 pages, so it's pretty succinct, but it gives a good summary of the most important episodes of Gould's life, like The Erie Wars and Black Friday.
The author does reach some, what are in my opinion, erroneous conclusions, though. Near the end he writes that "It's a rule of economics that productivity gains advance living standards." It is? News to me. What about the distribution of the gains? One of the famous mottos of The Gilded Age was "more, for less," after all.
February 24, 2025
This is a fun, but limited biography of an uncomplicated man. I don't blame Steinmetz. He's a fine writer, telling the quick and dirty story of a business giant.
When I read a biography by Chernow, McCullough, Goodwin or Roberts, I feel completely satisfied,stuffed by the historical immersion. I know the person, his or her era, and the issues. Always, I feel like I never need to read another book about, say, Grant or Truman.
And, in fairness, I feel like the subject of the story is worth my time.
Little Jay Gould – you'd surely know the name if you were alive in the late 1800s.
Born and raised in the Catskills of New York, Gold was barely over 5-feet-tall, but everyone on Wall Street insisted he was a giant. He was created for the term Robber Baron.
Gould was a self-made financier. He did not smoke, drink or chase women. His idea of a good time was working hard then going home to be with his wife and six children. He was as modest as a man with millions could be.
He probably was most famous for attempting to corner the gold market with “Big” Jim Fisk and with the help of President Grant. It would have worked too, but, at the last minute, Grant opted to sell some of the government's gold, thereby bringing down the price of gold owned privately.
It sent the country into an economic tailspin, but Gould did not care.
To make money, Gould manipulated and watered stock, deliberately running businesses down and then building them up to his advantage. He was a ruthless speculator and strike breaker. He bribed judges, politicians and regulators.
He probably was the most hated man in America.
Not everyone was impressed. Mark Twain called him “the mightiest disaster which has ever befallen this country.
“The people had desired money before his day, but he taught them to fall down and worship it.”
He lied. He cheated. He swindled, broke laws, bribed judges. Yet he made money and made sure railroad lines and telegraph lines got built. He made the machinery of capitalism humm in the guilded age and, some would say, he built the country.
I enjoyed reading “American Rascal” although I think “rascal” is not quite the word I would put there. People who enjoy history will like this story but maybe wish for more substance.
When I read a biography by Chernow, McCullough, Goodwin or Roberts, I feel completely satisfied,stuffed by the historical immersion. I know the person, his or her era, and the issues. Always, I feel like I never need to read another book about, say, Grant or Truman.
And, in fairness, I feel like the subject of the story is worth my time.
Little Jay Gould – you'd surely know the name if you were alive in the late 1800s.
Born and raised in the Catskills of New York, Gold was barely over 5-feet-tall, but everyone on Wall Street insisted he was a giant. He was created for the term Robber Baron.
Gould was a self-made financier. He did not smoke, drink or chase women. His idea of a good time was working hard then going home to be with his wife and six children. He was as modest as a man with millions could be.
He probably was most famous for attempting to corner the gold market with “Big” Jim Fisk and with the help of President Grant. It would have worked too, but, at the last minute, Grant opted to sell some of the government's gold, thereby bringing down the price of gold owned privately.
It sent the country into an economic tailspin, but Gould did not care.
To make money, Gould manipulated and watered stock, deliberately running businesses down and then building them up to his advantage. He was a ruthless speculator and strike breaker. He bribed judges, politicians and regulators.
He probably was the most hated man in America.
Not everyone was impressed. Mark Twain called him “the mightiest disaster which has ever befallen this country.
“The people had desired money before his day, but he taught them to fall down and worship it.”
He lied. He cheated. He swindled, broke laws, bribed judges. Yet he made money and made sure railroad lines and telegraph lines got built. He made the machinery of capitalism humm in the guilded age and, some would say, he built the country.
I enjoyed reading “American Rascal” although I think “rascal” is not quite the word I would put there. People who enjoy history will like this story but maybe wish for more substance.
February 24, 2024
To the extent that Americans recognize the great robber barons of the late 19th century, Jay Gould probably does not rank among the more familiar names of Rockefeller, Carnegie, or Vanderbilt. Partly this has to do with the fact that Gould died before he could give away so much of his wealth to charity like those other figures did towards the end of their lives. But another reason was that Gould’s methods were viewed even at the time as somehow more craven or disreputable as those of others.
“American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune” by Greg Steinmetz was an excellent look into Gould’s life and times, revealing a figure who made his fortune through insider trading, bribery, and stock market manipulations. And yet as Steinmetz points out, most of Gould’s activities were not criminal and Gould is also portrayed as industrious, intelligent, humble, rarely holding grudges or taking anything personal, and loyal to his family.
The book has many portions that read as financial thrillers, especially Gould’s efforts to manipulate President Grant and again during Gould’s crashing the gold market, leaving a trail of impoverished small investors and taxpayers behind him.
The unintentional villain of the story is not Gould but the legal, regulatory, and cultural environment around corruption that by the late 19th century had not kept up with industrialization and the large scale monopoly and graft that came with it. There were no laws against security fraud, insider training, or market manipulation and any laws that did exist against bribery, perjury, or witness tampering were seldom enforced because everyone knew which judges belonged to whom.
Throughout, Steinmetz does an impressive job bringing so many of these characters to life without skipping over the, greed, racism, etc. that exemplified the Gilded Age.
If I had one criticism, it would be that outside of some of more gripping episodes, the narrative at times does drag on. In addition, Steinmetz rarely uses crucial caveats to acknowledge that like any historian, he is reliant primarily on what others say about Gould and therefore his understanding of what the key players are truly thinking is necessarily speculative.
Overall though a nice quick read of a largely forgotten era.
“American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune” by Greg Steinmetz was an excellent look into Gould’s life and times, revealing a figure who made his fortune through insider trading, bribery, and stock market manipulations. And yet as Steinmetz points out, most of Gould’s activities were not criminal and Gould is also portrayed as industrious, intelligent, humble, rarely holding grudges or taking anything personal, and loyal to his family.
The book has many portions that read as financial thrillers, especially Gould’s efforts to manipulate President Grant and again during Gould’s crashing the gold market, leaving a trail of impoverished small investors and taxpayers behind him.
The unintentional villain of the story is not Gould but the legal, regulatory, and cultural environment around corruption that by the late 19th century had not kept up with industrialization and the large scale monopoly and graft that came with it. There were no laws against security fraud, insider training, or market manipulation and any laws that did exist against bribery, perjury, or witness tampering were seldom enforced because everyone knew which judges belonged to whom.
Throughout, Steinmetz does an impressive job bringing so many of these characters to life without skipping over the, greed, racism, etc. that exemplified the Gilded Age.
If I had one criticism, it would be that outside of some of more gripping episodes, the narrative at times does drag on. In addition, Steinmetz rarely uses crucial caveats to acknowledge that like any historian, he is reliant primarily on what others say about Gould and therefore his understanding of what the key players are truly thinking is necessarily speculative.
Overall though a nice quick read of a largely forgotten era.
December 10, 2022
Review: American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune (Greg Steinmetz) This is the selection for the December Music Hall Book Club, to be moderated by my good friend Bill, and I suspect that after we meet Monday night for discussion that I will appreciate the book even more. It is, in fact, well written and easy to read through, and I did very much like the historical background of the late 1800's brought vividly to the fore in the telling. Yet.... even though the author does explain what many of the financial terms (schemes, calculations, ploys...) meant, I couldn't wrap my uninitiated head around things like cornering, shorting, and so forth. I could only feel rather sick to my soul at the ruthlessness and non humanist worldview of the robber barons whose race to wealth and whose utter greed casts most of their fellow citizens in the wastebasket along the way with no remorse. Jay Gould was the best? worst? of this cohort, as is well explained in the book. Some of his tactics would be illegal today, but even so, being legal doesn't mean they weren't shady and selfish. I think most of us can sense that, in spite of the regulations government has since put on the financial dealings of the wealthy, it mitigates the damage to the non-wealthy but doesn't prevent the race to find loopholes or to try to take over the wealth of the nation/world for oneself. I had no idea that "back then" people like Jay Gould would hire gangs and thugs to do kidnappings or even to attack with mercenaries and kill others to keep themselves on the top. The Wild West on Wall Street, sort of. A glimpse of the main character:
"No one before or after locked up the money supply to bring down every stock on the exchange and profit from the decline. No one else ever held the country's gold market hostage. No one else used the tricks of Wall Street to grab control of the nation's most important communications business and to dominate many of the country's most essential transportation lines." Unbelievably sad...
"No one before or after locked up the money supply to bring down every stock on the exchange and profit from the decline. No one else ever held the country's gold market hostage. No one else used the tricks of Wall Street to grab control of the nation's most important communications business and to dominate many of the country's most essential transportation lines." Unbelievably sad...
October 29, 2022
“Jay Gould era un bandito famoso nel Far East…” Parafrasando così la canzoncina su Jesse James, non si va molto lontani dalla verità. Il protagonista di questa succinta biografia è il più autorevole esponente dei predatori di Wall Street, che nell’era dei Robber Barons (altrimenti nota come Gilded Age), studiavano il modo più rapido per fare soldi a palate, totalmente noncuranti delle macerie che si lasciavano alle spalle. Con una spruzzata di feroce ipocrisia, i maneggi qui descritti con dovizia di particolari si giustificavano agli occhi degli audaci finanzieri come indispensabili per consolidare l’industria ferroviaria, perno cruciale di un’economia che doveva espandersi da est a ovest senza soluzione di continuità. L’obiettivo dichiarato per ottenere benevolenza dal pubblico era liberarsi dei monopoli consolidati che avevano azzerato la qualità del servizio e alzato i prezzi a scapito dell’utente comune. L’unico modo per raggiungere l’obiettivo, tuttavia, era quello di crearne un altro, in uno schema “buoni contro cattivi” che ricordava più i film western che l’economia. Il motto di Gould però era: non si fanno prigionieri. Si fece dunque numerosi nemici che patirono più o meno gravi conseguenze e lo detestarono in eterno. Dopo di lui, anche grazie a lui, arrivarono i primi timidi tentativi di regolare le transazioni azionarie e l’insider trading divenne (anche se molto più tardi) illegale. Lui invece lo praticò senza scrupoli, conscio dell’impunità che lo garantiva e convinto fino alla fine di aver agito per il bene comune. Una lettura educativa come poche altre.
April 23, 2023
I heard about this book when it was referenced during a recent episode of Founders, a brilliant podcast that highlighted the life of Jay Gould. I found this book to be entertaining and quite well written. Gould’s life was adventurous, ambitious, and filled with risky bets — of which most paid off. The author portrays Gould in a light that is relatively objective. While Gould made some arguably unscrupulous business decisions, Gould was never portrayed to be a immoral man. In fact, he’s made out to be a hard-working family man who spends nearly every waking hour with his family — a man who, while addicted to winning the game of capitalism, appears to be a relatively trustworthy character in his non-professional life.
American Capitalism in the 1900s feels like the “Wild West” compared to modern day capitalism. While there weren’t cowboys, there were wars fought between companies, legalized insider trading, immense bribery, and a very free market without a central bank willing to bail large financial groups out who fail after making poor financial decisions.
Part of me wishes we could have a form of capitalism that emphasizes personal responsibility for the largest institutions (cough big banks cough), as that was a big deal during Gould’s time. I’ll do without the insider trading and bribery though — I’m glad we are beyond that (or so it appears ha ha)
American Capitalism in the 1900s feels like the “Wild West” compared to modern day capitalism. While there weren’t cowboys, there were wars fought between companies, legalized insider trading, immense bribery, and a very free market without a central bank willing to bail large financial groups out who fail after making poor financial decisions.
Part of me wishes we could have a form of capitalism that emphasizes personal responsibility for the largest institutions (cough big banks cough), as that was a big deal during Gould’s time. I’ll do without the insider trading and bribery though — I’m glad we are beyond that (or so it appears ha ha)
May 14, 2023
This is a fun read about a truly audacious man clawing his way to the top. But the blurb claims that "Gould showed how unbridled capitalism was, in fact, dangerous for the American economy." That's nonsense on stilts. Jay Gould was a croniest, not a capitalist. It wasn't the unfettered free market that enabled most of his shenanigans, especially the really damaging ones, but rather the government. Virtually all of his major manipulations were dependent on the state and federal government's ability, and willingness, to interfere with the free market. The Battle for Erie? Without the intervention of the New York City and State governments, never would have happened. Black Friday? Without the Federal governments ability to manipulate gold prices, never would have happened. It wasn't the free market that gave him a five-year term on the board or insulated him from removal. And that's without getting into the corruption of Tammany Hall or the Grant administration. Had any level of government been interested in actually doing its job, he would have been arrested after Black Friday. But they weren't, so he wasn't. That's not a market failure. That's a government failure.
If the government was not interfering with the market, why did Jay Gould spend so much time and money bribing politicians? And how did Boss Tweed get so rich?
It was nice to see that the head of the first regulatory agency was an elitist moron who wasn't qualified for his position and completely failed when given the opportunity to put his supposed "expertise" into action. It's comforting to know that there are some fixed stars in the heavens that we can always rely on.
If the government was not interfering with the market, why did Jay Gould spend so much time and money bribing politicians? And how did Boss Tweed get so rich?
It was nice to see that the head of the first regulatory agency was an elitist moron who wasn't qualified for his position and completely failed when given the opportunity to put his supposed "expertise" into action. It's comforting to know that there are some fixed stars in the heavens that we can always rely on.
March 13, 2024
In terms of accounting for Gould's life, I think this book does a really good job. This has really burgeoned my interest in the Gilded Age and the dog eat dog world of speculative investing. Though throughout the book and the end, the author really seems to be holding water for Gould and his defense is flimsy at best.
"He employed thousands of people that brought food to the table," but you also mentioned that he was ruthless, cutting wages whenever possible. Employing people is just a means to an ends, not some noble enterprise to help people. In today's context Gould would have 100% used automation to cut his workforce. His free regulation take is also terrible. Sure you would get some retributive karma by not bailing out the speculators, but if institutions like banks fail and go under that causes suffering to millions of lives. The depression of 1873 being a prime example. These are just a couple examples of the author trying to mitigate the things Gould did. Sure he does have a charming slime ball quality (example Trump) that some people admire, but at the end of the day Gould was an amoral shark in the pool of wall street.
"He employed thousands of people that brought food to the table," but you also mentioned that he was ruthless, cutting wages whenever possible. Employing people is just a means to an ends, not some noble enterprise to help people. In today's context Gould would have 100% used automation to cut his workforce. His free regulation take is also terrible. Sure you would get some retributive karma by not bailing out the speculators, but if institutions like banks fail and go under that causes suffering to millions of lives. The depression of 1873 being a prime example. These are just a couple examples of the author trying to mitigate the things Gould did. Sure he does have a charming slime ball quality (example Trump) that some people admire, but at the end of the day Gould was an amoral shark in the pool of wall street.
October 20, 2022
Good introduction to an underappreciated titan of American finance and industry. The text is under 300 pages, so the work can only be episodic. But it's very well written--even the crazy stock shenanigans make sense. (So much so that I'm going to read Steinmetz' previous The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: The Life and Times of Jacob Fugger.)
The author is even-handed, with very little chronological snobbery. He appreciates the value that economic advancement provided for everyone, even while being sure to point out that many of Gould's hijinks were less than stellar, morally speaking. To put it simply, this country would be in a much worse place if it weren't for the Gilded Age. (Speaking of which, if you happened to see Julian Fellowes' HBO series with that title, you'll recognize many of the plot lines in this book!). Thanks to the WSJ for directing me to this biography.
The author is even-handed, with very little chronological snobbery. He appreciates the value that economic advancement provided for everyone, even while being sure to point out that many of Gould's hijinks were less than stellar, morally speaking. To put it simply, this country would be in a much worse place if it weren't for the Gilded Age. (Speaking of which, if you happened to see Julian Fellowes' HBO series with that title, you'll recognize many of the plot lines in this book!). Thanks to the WSJ for directing me to this biography.
September 25, 2022
These were the days of Vanderbilt, Astor, Rockefeller, and Edison. Shady characters like Boss Tweed. The Gilded Age. Jay Gould leverages expertise in the stock market to build a massive fortune in late 19th century America.
From his teens, Gould demonstrated an ability to learn valuable skills (mapmaking, surveying, accounting), and turn those into a money making business. He moved to tanneries, a significant business at the time, learned the necessary business skills, and made a significant amount of money. But the Wall Street of the day proved the most attractive route to earning Big Bucks. Repeatedly, he used clever (and often questionable) techniques, to take advantage of financial opportunities.
Much of the second half of the book recounts the numerous times he shorted stock, spread questionable rumors, then took advantage of the market's reaction.
You don't really need an education in stock picking, etc. The author spells out the tactics used in each incident.
From his teens, Gould demonstrated an ability to learn valuable skills (mapmaking, surveying, accounting), and turn those into a money making business. He moved to tanneries, a significant business at the time, learned the necessary business skills, and made a significant amount of money. But the Wall Street of the day proved the most attractive route to earning Big Bucks. Repeatedly, he used clever (and often questionable) techniques, to take advantage of financial opportunities.
Much of the second half of the book recounts the numerous times he shorted stock, spread questionable rumors, then took advantage of the market's reaction.
You don't really need an education in stock picking, etc. The author spells out the tactics used in each incident.
December 29, 2022
I listened to the audiobook on this one and nearly drove off the road any number of times in shock over the sheer greed and audacity of this man. Rascal does not come close to describing Jay Gould. More like American Hardened Criminal! The lengths this man would go to to make a buck is just astonishing and his lack of emotion or feelings for the people he stepped on and ruined in the process, just incomprehensible. I live not far from Lyndhurst, his home in the Hudson Valley, so I knew of him, and indeed knew he was the least palatable of the giants of his day, the Rockefellers, the Carnegies, the Vanderbilts, but words just cannot express how unpalatable. How I found myself in tears as he lay dying is a mystery to me after the life he led, but weep I did.
Should be an interesting book club discussion later this month!
Should be an interesting book club discussion later this month!
June 8, 2023
The titan you never heard of...
What my 👂 heard below 👇
Your fault if you're too greedy to consider the downside
Don't get in the habit of backing out of what you undertake
From the moment I partnered with Curtis my fortune was secure
To discourage and avoid turnover I eat meals with my men
I win customers with my reliability
Phony conviction
Broke but unbroken
Your audacity is breathtaking
Their love ignored age
I'm sick of your conjure tails of apocalypse
It's a valley of skulls
Markets are forward looking
I'll squeeze you like a maid ringing a mop
My timing was unlucky
I'm awake to your game
Traders are quick Buck artists
He dreamed of attaining fantastic wealth
I'm there with a fishing net scooping it up
I lost my taste for alcohol
I have the disadvantage of not being sociable
Get $ honestly if you can
You're not a leader if you act like a bureaucrat
What my 👂 heard below 👇
Your fault if you're too greedy to consider the downside
Don't get in the habit of backing out of what you undertake
From the moment I partnered with Curtis my fortune was secure
To discourage and avoid turnover I eat meals with my men
I win customers with my reliability
Phony conviction
Broke but unbroken
Your audacity is breathtaking
Their love ignored age
I'm sick of your conjure tails of apocalypse
It's a valley of skulls
Markets are forward looking
I'll squeeze you like a maid ringing a mop
My timing was unlucky
I'm awake to your game
Traders are quick Buck artists
He dreamed of attaining fantastic wealth
I'm there with a fishing net scooping it up
I lost my taste for alcohol
I have the disadvantage of not being sociable
Get $ honestly if you can
You're not a leader if you act like a bureaucrat
February 18, 2025
Had never heard of this person (even given that his last name is in my hubby's family - Gee, I hope his family tree isn't from this "Rascal")
Learned an enormous amount from this. Gould was right there with Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Astor and all the titans of industry that have their names plastered across our country and culture. His area was in finance and railroads - so much of it by trickery and methods that were not illegal at the time, but certainly would be deemed fraudulent now. Thank goodness there are some regulations and laws in place now, although . . . .one wonders today . . . . .
Not a simple page turner - I took a lot of notes to keep names and dates straight. However, well worth the time investment to marvel at the abilities (good & not-so-good) of this man.
May 30, 2022
If you are looking for a good description of what Jay Gould did to amass his fortune, this book is for you. Gould began by making maps as a teenager. He proved himself a hard worker in the leather tanning business. He then graduated to using shady tactics to manipulate the stock market. I use the term shady instead of illegal because at the time most of the tactics he used were not illegal. Insider trading, whispers planted in media, manipulating the market. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I read this as a demonstration of what of what crimes you can commit when you own the right public officials (looking at you the 2022 Manhattan District Attorney).
3 Stars
ARC review copy via NetGalley
I read this as a demonstration of what of what crimes you can commit when you own the right public officials (looking at you the 2022 Manhattan District Attorney).
3 Stars
ARC review copy via NetGalley
November 29, 2022
Kudos to Greg Steinmetz for writing a bio on someone very few people were likely to hear about. It's a shame that he comes out very biased in Gould's favor. We're really offered a view that sees him as just a savvy, innovative customer and not someone whose greed nearly wrecked the entire economy. His attempt to corner the US gold market caused a long and deep depression which caused banks to fail and businesses to close and the rest of the dominos to fall. In fact, any downside to any of Gould's manipulations is completely ignored.
It's an interesting but strongly biased story of a man thought by some to be a crook. Read but be warned.
It's an interesting but strongly biased story of a man thought by some to be a crook. Read but be warned.
January 1, 2023
Thoroughly researched and well written, this book does not really add that much new to the story of Jay Gould. The only insights I added here were his deep sense of family (kind of incongruous with the robber baron concept) - and also a sense that he was playing the game according to the rules which existed then. He lied and cheated and spread misinformation and made a fortune doing it - but so was everyone else and there were no specific laws in place then that prohibited that. Most of his peers at the time resented him not for his actual methods, but for the fact that he was so much better at playing the game than everyone else.
March 27, 2024
I signed this out with the great Libby app for a work trip to Albany. I don't think it's something I would have wanted to read and would rather listen to it. I kept thinking it made me feel gross. Most biographies I have read are of great men who have done great things. Jay Gould lived most of his life in the darker shades of gray. I don't like him, nor do I aspire to be him. However, someone did have to come along and do these things to push the system to progress. The book itself is interesting and covers a period of history from Reconstruction until the early 20th century that I don't know as much about. 3.5/5 stars. Recommend the audio book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews