Hetty Green
American financier known as the "Queen of Wall Street" during the Gilded Age.
Chronology: 1834-11-21 – 1916-07-03
Origins & Early Life
Henrietta "Hetty" Howland Robinson Green (November 21, 1834 – July 3, 1916) was an American businesswoman and financier known as "the richest woman in America" during the Gilded Age. Those who knew her well referred to her admiringly as the "Queen of Wall Street" due to her willingness to lend freely and at reasonable interest rates to financiers and city governments during financial panics. Her extraordinary discipline during such times enabled her to amass a fortune as a financier at a time when nearly all major financiers were men. As a highly successful investor, with a Wall Street office, she was unusual for being a woman in a man's world.
Pivotal Works & Achievements
Unwilling to participate in New York City high society, conspicuous consumption, or business partnerships, she may have been eccentric and curt with the press but she was a pioneer of value investing. Her willingness to make low-rate loans (with her well-tended reserves of currency) in place of the failing banks during the Panic of 1907 helped bail out Wall Street, New York City, and the United States economy. Nonetheless, she was seen in her widowhood as an odd miser all in black, sometimes referred to sensationally as the "Witch of Wall Street...
Enduring Legacy & Impact
The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.
Source: Wikipedia