Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America's First Female Tycoon

Slack has given us the first cut of a remarkable life. How many biographies exist for John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Jay Gould and the others? This book opens up a whole new unexplored territory. Stack provides a platform for future biographers and their field is fertile. Why was Hettie forgotten? Was it lack of self-memorialization in libraries and museums? Wrong gender? No progeny to carry the name/flame? No Newport mansion for tourists to visit? What made her tick? The distant father? The need to succeed/prove? Protestant ethic? Loneliness? What of Mr. Green, a man so adventurous in early life? How did he FEEL when his wife so publically demonstrated her financial independance (in Victorian America)? What did he do in the years following this.. and how did he relate to his children? What of the son who honors his mother in public, leaves Texas to assist her, but marries Mable "Harlot" so soon after his mother's death. Why has this not been a DocumDrama already?

Hetty Green was heir to a fortune but what she did with that inheritance is a significant example of capitalism run amok during the late 19th, early 20th centuries. She turned that modest inheritance into hundreds of millions of dollars. Had she been a man, in my opinion, she would have come to us--through the decades--as powerful a name as Morgan, Carnegie or Rockefeller. Instead, she is remembered, if she is remembered at all, as an eccentric old lady, at best, and a ruthless miser, at worst. Thankfully, Charles Slack's HETTY, The Genius and Madness of America's First Female Tycoon offers us a look at the woman beneath the austere black dresses. At times ruthless, at times vindictive, Hetty Green could also be compassionate and sentimental. While she was not exactly an ideal wife or mother, her husband and children never villified her; in fact her children, in public at least, only said kind words for her (even though her son could have legitimately accused her of costing him his leg). What ultimately comes across though is a strong, looming sense of loneliness. To me, she seemed isolated as a child, isolated as a young adult, and in later years, as isolated as her Aunt Sylvia. In the end, money couldn't buy her love. It couldn't even pay for a friend. Charles Slack, however, doesn't want you to think of this as some sort of penance. She was surrounded by what little family was left, and by his account, left this world peacefully. Mr. Slack actually makes it seem she preferred it that way. And I believe he's right. This was a fascinating biography of a woman who deserved one.

I would make this book required reading for students of American History. One single page can interest the reader to do more research. For instance, the whaling industry in the 1830's, historical homes to visit, a view of Wall Street so long ago... The writing is excellent and I am an avid reader of biographies. I am also a daughter of a Wall Street stock broker. I had heard of the infamous Hetty Green; the "Witch of Wall Street". And to think.. someone finally wrote a book...WOW! I grabbed the book off the shelf at Barnes & Noble and was not dissappointed. Excellent writing. So well written.. Three cheers for the author. I am grateful that somone wrote a book on this incredible woman. Now I know more about her. Facinating...

Hetty Green was an outsider, a woman in the man's world of Wall Street in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries who was estimated to be worth $100m at the time of her death, or over $1.5bn in today's money. Hetty became incredibly wealthy by following the "buy low, sell high" rule ruthlessly in real estate, bonds, and stocks. She is remembered as a miser, pedant, and grouch but this reflects the prevailing attitude of the times, where a woman doing the "dirty" work of investing and wealth creation was generally looked down upon. This short and tidy synopsis of Hetty's life and times makes for great reading, covering the period 1830 to around 1920. The book seems very balanced, finding much good to say about Hetty but she is not idolized and her rough demeanor and pushy personality are evident. After reading this, I am convinced that Warren Buffett would have found her a very tough competitor.

Hetty Green is commonly called the Witch of Wall Street and has the dubious distinction as being listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as a miser. While her frugality is well documented, a lot of her reputation for meanness is undeserved. Much of that is due to the fact that she was the only woman of that time who managed her own money and the fact that she was very successful in doing so. Unlike so many of her fellow superrich of the time, she did not flaunt her wealth, taking public transportation and living in a modest dwelling. Also, in direct contrast to many people of wealth and power, she did not care what others (her fellow rich) thought of her. The most distinctive point regarding her life is the contrast between her and the male robber barons of her time. People such as Andrew Carnegie, Jay Gould, John D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan considered it their god-given right to exploit their workers and customers. Worker injury rates were high, work hours were long, and these men amassed massive fortunes on the backs of others. The fact that they spent millions for public works in their later years should not overshadow that fact. Furthermore, wealthy men often thought nothing of milking the public treasury and deceiving investors. As Slack points out in great detail, Hetty was different, in that while she had a competitive fire that made her ferocious in her business dealings, it was reserved for her opponents. There were many times when she loaned money to public institutions at rates much lower than she could have otherwise earned. She single-handedly bailed the city of New York out several times, loaning money at an interest rate almost half the current rate. She personally financed the water works project of the city of Tucson, Arizona and she also loaned money to many churches. She was always fair in her dealings, as Slack puts it, "Although she could be ruthless in dealing with an enemy, she rarely if ever took the opportunity to kick a borrower when he was down." In no way could such a statement be made about the other, male icons of industry in the late nineteenth century. When the leader of one of her church debtors was in trouble and tried to shame her into forgiving the debt, many other church leaders rose to her defense, noting how much she had helped them and would continue to do so in the future. Much has been made about how she refused to allow her son's leg to be cared for until she could find free medical care, and the delay led to it having to be amputated. As Slack so emphatically makes clear, this is false. Those who perpetuate the story have no knowledge of the primitive level of medical care at that time. Many doctors were incompetent and Hetty was aware of this. She was constantly shopping around for a cure, looking anywhere she might find one. The fact that her son Ned showed no animosity and followed so well in her footsteps is a tribute to her role as a mother and role model. While Ned did not share he