Jay Gould: America's Most Ruthless Robber Baron

It's hard to deny that Jay Gould was one of the wealthiest American businessmen of the 19th century, but he also might have been the most brazen criminal in North America.

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Credits:
Host - Simon Whistler
Author - Radu Alexander
Producer - Jennifer Da Silva
Executive Producer - Shannon Harris

Other Biographics Videos:

Andrew Carnegie: Robber Baron, or America's Greatest Philanthropist?

Cornelius Vanderbilt: America's First Tycoon

JP Morgan: The World's Bank

Charles Ponzi: Natural Born Swindler

Sources/Further reading:

[darrenmclellan]

At the end of his life, Gould owned the Gothic Mansion Lyndhurst near Tarrytown. He left it to his daughter who left it to the state of New York. It can be visited today and is worth it.

[ciobanubucur]

So this is who Jan Levinson was married to before she met Michael Scott. That explains a lot..

[Scout-Fanfiction]

That one time when something exciting ALMOST happened in Minnesota.

[emilyshmelimy]

I want to know more about Lord Gordon-Gordon

[ignitionfrn]

1:40 - Chapter 1 - Early years
3:35 - Chapter 2 - Young businessman
5:40 - Chapter 3 - The erie war
10:15 - Chapter 4 - Gould meets gordon
14:15 - Chapter 5 - Black friday
17:30 - Chapter 6 - Final years

[coolguyhino]

Geographics, Biographics, Today I Found Out, Megaprojects, & Business Blaze....Simon has single handedly saved me from brain death from boredom. Keep up the quality work, my friend.




But on that note, you can slow down man. We will ALL be here if you need a little breather.

[legendre]

Jay Gould has always fascinated me as a historical figure. Thank you for profiling him. 😊

[MC-gjfg]

I hear about ruthless people all the time. Nobody ever seems to actually have ruth. Are we sure ruth is actually a thing?

[rjskillz]

Jay Gould's private railcar, the Atalanta, Is parked up near downtown Jefferson, Texas. The city famously would not allow one of Gould's railroads to pass through the town in 1872, and upon leaving his stay in the town, he wrote "The End of Jefferson" in the guestbook of the Excelsior Hotel, which still stands today. It is also claimed that he declaired due to their refusal to allow his railroad, Jefferson would have "Grass growing in the street and bats in the belfries." At the time, Jefferson was one of the largest inland ports in the US, and was a large center for trade. The next year in 1873, the US Army Corps of Engineers blew up the large logjam that cause water levels to be high enough for ships to travel to Jefferson, and the Big Cypress Bayou was drained significantly, which spelled doom for the town as a center of commerce. Some say that the railroad companies, especially Gould's, had a hand in making this happen. The town of about 2, 500 still exists today though! While I don't vibe with someone like Gould in the slightest, It was great fun getting to see the lavish railcar, you could really tell how rich the guy was. I recommend paying a visit sometime!

[stephenwright]

"I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half." - Jay Gould

[augsdoggs]

Please do an episode on John Jacob Astor; America’s first (multi)millionaire.

[parkerj]

I attended the school that his grandson started...the wealth that he had obtained was quite evidently used to create the school. Never once did they mention his name to us 😂😂😂.

[stewartgardiner]

Sounds like Monty Burns from the simpsons

[AceGibson]

Jay Gould. A huge influence on my business career. Be ruthless, be cunning, out work your competition and win at any cost.

[abelb.]

If I remember correctly there was a movie with Cary Grant about fisk’s life which included all the characters mentioned.

[kendl.v]

Please do one of Ray Kroc the founder of McDonald’s lol. I watched the movie today and I feel as if something is missing and his story wasn't fully told! I love your channels your voice helps me with my insomnia

[dhawthorne]

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanks Giving in the US. It is the day where nearly every business ends up with their books in black ink (profit) rather than red ink (losses) because of all the holiday season shopping and sales.
The Market crash was Black Monday. Not quite sure how it got it's name, possibly because it was the single worst day in stock market history. (The Great Depression was a slower decline but lasted much longer).

[wietzepost]

Gould sounds a bit like 'Galt' in Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged"

[Michael-jfnp]

If I could request- I'd love to see a Biographics on Jesse James!

[elweasel]

0:56 A technique still employed today, "Click bait"