Billionaires

Jay Gould Net Worth

Published

1 year ago

January 25, 2023

Daniel Wanburg

Leslie Jay Gould's Net Worth as of 2024
$71 Billion

Jason Gould was born on the 27th May 1836 in Roxbury, New York, USA, and was a railroad developer, speculator and financier. As Jay Gould he is best known for being one of the most ruthless “robber barons” who took advantage of United States’ Gilded Age to dramatically develop his business and become one of the richest men of his era, and reportedly the ninth richest citizen in the entire history of the States. He is famous for developing America’s railroad system which later led to the realization of Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific Railroads. Jay Gould passed away in December 1892.

Have you ever wondered how much wealth he would have today? How rich Jay Gould would be? According to sources, it is estimated that the total size of Jay Gould’s net worth, as of early 2017, would be around $71 billion, primarily acquired through his successful business in the United States’ railroads system.

Jay Gould Net Worth $71 billion

Jay was born into a family of farmers, to Mary More and John Burr Gould and is of American and Scottish ancestry, and was a great-grandchild of John More who founded the city of Moresville, New York. After attending local schools, Jay enrolled at Hobart Academy in Hobart, New York, where he studied mathematics and surveying. He began his business career in 1853 as a blacksmith’s bookkeeper, but within a year he became the shop’s owner. In 1954 he began creating maps of New York’s Ulster County, and in 1856 he published his book “History of Delaware County, and Border Wars of New York”. Later that year, Gould teamed up with Zadock Pratt Jr. and founded Gouldsboro, a small tanning company which soon grew to Gouldsboro Tannery – one of the leading leather traders and manufacturers. These involvements provided the basis for Jay Gould’s net worth.

In 1859, Gould turned towards investment speculating – he began buying stocks of small railway companies, and acquired possession of Rutland and Washington Railroad. During the Civil War era, he continued to invest in railroads, and in 1863 became the chief manager of Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad while in 1868 he was named as the president of Erie Railway. It is certain that all these ventures helped Jay Gould to dramatically increase the total size of his net worth.

During the same period, apart from investing and developing his business, Gould became involved in politics as a member of New York City’s Tammany Hall. Trading and manipulating with his own companies’ stocks and associated banks, Gould gathered huge power on Wall Street, which he used to bribe judges and legislators. He is also the man responsible for 1869 Black Friday – he attempted to corner the market by buying gold in order to increase the price of wheat which resulted in panic on Wall Street and a drastic reduction of the US Treasury’s gold value. These shady business endeavors resulted in significant reduction of Jay Gould’s net worth.

However, by 1872 he managed to get back on his feet and began building up the railroad system in the west and mid-west of the States. In 1873, Gould took control of Union Pacific, and by the end of 1879 he was in control of three major railroad companies with over 10,000 miles (16,000 km) of track in his possession, including the Missouri Pacific Railroad and Manhattan Elevated Railroad. In 1881, he took over the Western Union Telegraph Company, and between 1879 and 1883 he owned the New York World newspaper. These successful enterprises contributed significantly to Jay Gould’s net worth.

When it comes to his personal life, Jay Gould was married to Helen Day Miller with whom, during their 26 year-long marriage between 1863 and 1889, he had six children. His son George Jay Gould followed his father’s footsteps, and became a successful railroad company owner himself.

He died of tuberculosis at the age of 56, on the 2nd December 1892 and was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York.

Although he lived over 120 years ago, Jay Gould made an impact on modern culture as well – in 1976 he was featured in PBS’ miniseries “The Adams Chronicles” while in 2012 History Channel released the documentary “The Men Who Built America” in which he was portrayed by Cameron McNary. In 2014 his figure served as the main character of Marshall Goldberg’s historical mystery novel “The New Colossus”

Daniel Wanburg

As the Managing Editor at Net Worth Post, I lead a talented team in delivering compelling content on the lives and achievements of influential figures. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I oversee the production of insightful biographies that resonate with our audience. My role involves not only managing the editorial process but also conducting research, crafting engaging narratives, and ensuring the accuracy and quality of our publications. At NetWorthPost, we strive to provide our readers with in-depth profiles that offer valuable insights into the worlds of business, entertainment, and beyond. Through meticulous research and captivating storytelling, we bring to light the remarkable journeys and successes of individuals who inspire and captivate us.

Click to comment

Billionaires

Mark Zuckerberg Net Worth

Published

4 weeks ago

March 20, 2024

Daniel Wanburg

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg was born on 14 May 1984, in White Plains, New York State USA into a Jewish family. He is known for making billions of dollars at a very young age. However, even if a lot of people are jealous and sceptical about Mark, they should admit that not only does he deserve all that he has, but also respect and admiration for being smart and inventive. He has created a virtual empire which we all acknowledge nowadays: is there anyone in the world who has not heard of Facebook!

So how rich is Mark Zuckerberg? According to Forbes Magazine and Bloomberg’s Billionaires list, Zuckerberg‘s net worth is estimated at $56 billion as of early-2017, making him the seventh richest person in the world, up from 15th just nine months earlier. What strikes as most comic is that Mark has a salary of only $1 dollar per year as CEO of Facebook, however, that doesn‘t stop him from being a self-made billionaire, now head of a company ranked in the 10 largest in the world, valued at $275 billion.

Mark Zuckerberg Net Worth $56 Billion

Mark was indeed an ‘A’ grade student, apparently excelling in many subjects when at Ardsley High School, ranging from physics to classics. However, above Mark‘s interest in computers stands his father. He introduced Mark to computers and wanted him to take an interest in them. Edward Zuckerberg taught his son Atari BASIC programming and later hired a software developer to train Mark privately once a week. According to David Newman, the above-mentioned tutor, the kid was unbelievably talented and soon left his teacher standing and breathless. When Zuckerberg joined the community of Harvard University, he already had a reputation as a programming genius, because “Facebook” wasn‘t actually the first convenient and useful program he had developed. His works, such as Synapse Media Player, CourseMatch and Facemash received a lot of attention and popularity. Still they cannot rate with Facebook.

Unsurprisingly, a person who begins a world-wide revolution of communication faces a lot of problems, difficulties, intrigues and scandals. Mark was accused by his former friends, the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler, of stealing their ideas. The brothers actually dreamed of building a connection between all the students of Harvard University. As we all know now, Mark improved this idea by enlarging the range of people who were allowed to use this social network. So, the accusations were at least true in part and Zuckerberg was forced to give away 1.2m Facebook shares to them. Thus there‘s always a bright side of things – the company that Mark set up has made a lot of people wealthy, not just him alone.

Regardless, according to Vanity Fair magazine, Zuckerberg was the most influential person of the Information Age in 2010. That‘s surprising because a year before he ranked only at number 23 on the same list. What‘s more, not only does Vanity Fair consider Mark as the world‘s most influential in this relatively new industry, but also New Statesman. In 2010, they ranked him as number 16 in the top 50 of the world’s most important figures. “Facebook” is considered to be the biggest social networking website on the planet, used by people of all ages, sex or nationality. Zuckerberg is respected because all he had to create such a network were his ideas and fingers that instinctively knew what to press on a keyboard.

Even though Mark Elliot Zuckerberg lost all of his friends and it doesn‘t seem that he‘s ever going to regain them, he at least has a reliable source of income – Facebook, of course. All the other similar companies that Facebook has obtained recently such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and some more must also be taken into account.

In his personal life, Mark Zuckerberg married Priscilla Chan in 2012, having met her originally in 2002. Aside from his career, Mark is a noted philanthropist, particularly to educational projects. In 2010, he joined with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in promising to donate half of his wealth to charity over time. In 2013 he donated shares valued at $990 million to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and the following year $25 million towards combating the ebola disease.

Billionaires

Gautam Adani Net Worth

Published

4 weeks ago

March 20, 2024

Daniel Wanburg

Gautam Shantilal Adani was born on the 24th June 1962, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India and is a businessman, widely known as a founder and the chairman of the multinational conglomerate Adani Group. Adani has been active in the business of coal mining and gas distribution since 1988.

How much is the net worth of Gautam Adani? It has been estimated by authoritative sources that the overall size of his wealth is as much as $8.8 billion, as of the data presented in the middle of 2017. Adani Group is the main source of Adani’s fortune.

Gautam Adani Net Worth $8.8 Billion

To begin with, the boy with his seven siblings, was raised in Ahmedabad by his parents Shanta and Shantilal Adani. He was educated at the Sheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyalaya school, then entered Gujarat University to study commerce, yet he dropped out.

Currently, the billionaire Gautam Adani owns the largest brand of oil in India. The company was founded in 1988, with Gautam the founder and current president. He said he created his Group with a vision of Nation Building, that is to say by developing assets that he believes are important economic issues for the country. The Adani Group has grown rapidly by diversifying into import – export – it opened its own port in Mundra, to better control its trading operations. Construction began in 1995 and in 1998 it became one of the major sources of foreign exchange for India.

The following year, the company embarked on financial and energy speculation with coal trading, and soon created a joint venture (Adani Willmar) in the field of petroleum products trading in 2000. A second phase began for the group with the creation of large infrastructures. The company created a portfolio of ports, power stations, mines and a fleet of ships and railway lines in and out of India. In 2006, the company became the largest importer of coal in India – 11 million tons. Adani sought to be less dependent on the coal market, so he started to buy and control coal mines. Thus, he bought the Australian group Linc Energy, in order to supply the group’s coal-fired power stations. In 2008, he bought the Bunyu mine in Indonesia , with 180 million tons of coal reserves, and the following year, Adani Group became an energy company, producing 330 MW of thermal energy. In 2011, the group also decided to buy the exploitation rights of a large part of the Galilee coal basin in Australia. To prepare for the import of Australian coal, he ordered a large-capacity coal terminal at Mundra (the largest in the world) and in the same year he bought the Australian port of Abbot Point. This project is yet to come to fruition.

In 2012, the Group began a 3rd phase of development as integration infrastructure, renewing its logo and developing a new identity. The company focuses on three areas: resources, logistics and energy. Subsequently, under the direction of Gautam Adani, the Adani Group became a multinational conglomerate active in the production of electricity – especially through coal – and port terminals, logistics and agribusiness. It is India’s largest developer and port operator. The Group is the major source of Gautam Adani’s net worth.

Finally, in the personal life of Gautam, he is married to Priti and they have two children.