CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 6:43
Jay Gould's Reputation and the Book's Premise
David Senra opens with an excerpt from American Rascal by Greg Steinmetz and the book's inside flap. They frame Gould as a Wall Street creature richer than Rockefeller, praised by his peers and widely maligned. Senra also notes the size of the fortune he left his children.
- •Gould was punched at Delmonico's while courts failed to hold him accountable
- •Vanderbilt and Rockefeller admired his business mind
- •He is remembered for Black Friday and the 1869 gold market collapse
- •He died of tuberculosis at 52 and left his children vast sums
- 6:43 – 13:46
Childhood Tragedy and a Relentless Teenager
Senra goes through the early deaths in Gould's family, his alcoholic father, and the traits that formed young. Gould's work ethic, self-teaching, surveying and county map business show his drive, and illness repeatedly followed his overwork.
- •His mother died when he was four, and he remembered only her cold lips
- •Four family deaths in four years, plus an alcoholic father who forgot he'd locked Jay in the cellar
- •He left home at 13 and taught himself accounting and surveying
- •He sold county maps and wrote a 426-page county history while bedridden
- 13:46 – 21:02
Zadock Pratt and the Tannery Partnership
Senra introduces Zadock Pratt, the prideful tanning magnate who became Gould's first backer. Gould did the work, built a profitable tannery, and then realized the real money was made by the merchants in the swamp, not the manufacturers.
- •Pratt built his fortune in leather in hemlock-rich Catskills
- •Pratt's pride showed in his self-portrait banknotes and a rock carving of his likeness
- •Gould wrote to his father that brokers earn the largest share with the least labor
- •The swamp convinced him that value came from decisions, not making things
- 21:02 – 29:11
The Buyout Fight, Focus, and the Rockefeller Parallel
Gould and Pratt fought over the buyout, and Gould raised $60,000 from swamp traders to turn Pratt's bluff against him. Senra ties this to Munger's warning against multitasking and to Ryan Holiday's story of a young Rockefeller beating his partners at auction.
- •Pratt offered $10,000, then challenged Gould to buy him out for $60,000 in 10 days
- •Gould raised the money from Charles Leupp and others
- •Pratt was distracted by many interests while Gould had one focus
- •Rockefeller used similar financing and an auction to take over his refinery
- 29:11 – 31:54
Entering Wall Street and Learning Through Diligence
Gould left tanning at 24 to learn stocks and bonds. Senra links his thorough preparation to David Ogilvy's advice to become the best-informed person, and Gould's sobriety is set against his drunk opponents.
- •Gould paid his soldiers in cash and kept them sober while his rivals were paid in whiskey
- •He said there were magician skills to be learned on Wall Street
- •Ogilvy's line 'the good ones know more' parallels Gould's diligence
- •His edge was being more methodical and patient with minutiae
- 31:54 – 36:18
The Rutland and Washington Railroad Win and a Found Purpose
Gould's first big success came from buying cheap bonds in a small Vermont railroad, taking control, and selling after 18 months. At 28 he wrote that ambition had become a clear path, and Senra describes his domestic habits and his father's death.
- •Converted cheap bonds into stock to seize the Rutland and Washington
- •Turned a $5,000 investment into $100,000 in 18 months
- •He sold because there were too many railroads and not enough freight
- •He wrote that his ambition was now divine and his road was laid out
- 36:18 – 41:24
The Erie Railroad War Against Vanderbilt
Senra summarizes the Erie fight among Gould, Drew, Fisk and Vanderbilt, drawing the lesson that Gould attacked goals from every angle. Gould exploited an injunction loophole to issue stock to Vanderbilt, which led to flight to New Jersey and a forced settlement.
- •The executive committee issued shares the board was barred from issuing
- •They took about $7 million from Vanderbilt before he noticed
- •Gould and partners fled to New Jersey to avoid arrest
- •Vanderbilt made them return the money and put a bounty on Drew's head
- 41:24 – 44:30
Black Friday Litigation and Good Versus Bad Railroads
After the gold market collapse, Gould's lawyer stretched out more than 100 cases, and Gould said he let the other fellow tire first. Senra then covers the booms and busts in railroad speculation, which show that not all railroads were good businesses, and mentions James J. Hill.
- •Gould's lawyer dragged litigation out over a decade
- •Gould said he avoids bad luck by being patient
- •European investors treated American railroads as a sure bet
- •Debt, terminal location, and builder versus speculator ownership mattered
- 44:30 – 47:08
The Lord Gordon-Gordon Affair
Senra reads the Wikipedia entry on Gould's attempt to use Lord Gordon-Gordon in 1873. Gordon-Gordon was an imposter who cashed Gould's stock, and the attempt to kidnap him caused an international incident.
- •Gould tried to gain Erie control with foreign investment through a supposed Scottish lord
- •Gordon-Gordon cashed the stock and fled to Canada
- •Future members of Congress joined the kidnapping attempt
- •The Mounted Police arrested them, and Minnesota's governor readied the militia
- 47:08 – 49:08
The Cattle Trick and Adapting to the Game
Senra explains why Gould was disliked and tells the cow episode, in which Vanderbilt cut cattle rates to a dollar a carload. Gould and Fisk instead bought cattle in Chicago and shipped it at Vanderbilt's cost. Senra takes from this that Gould reacted to the game on the field.
- •Many people disliked Gould because they had lost to him
- •A rate war saw Vanderbilt charge a token dollar per carload
- •Gould and Fisk profited by shipping their own cattle at those rates
- •Senra sees Gould's skill in reacting to unpredictable changes
- 49:08 – 54:07
Edison, the Telegraph, and Gould's Peculiarities
Senra covers Gould's move into telegraphs, an adjacent industry, by buying Edison's quadruplex to pressure Western Union. Edison's recollections describe Gould as strange but thorough, and Gould wanted railroad consolidation as Rockefeller pursued in oil.
- •Edison watched Black Friday as a telegraph operator
- •Gould bought the quadruplex to force a Western Union buyout
- •Edison said Gould collected all the data on his schemes
- •Traders who kidnapped Gould's messenger made $500,000 from his Western Union orders
- 54:07 – 56:22
Daily Routine, Family Life, and the Transcontinental Dream
Senra describes Gould's strict, domestic routine, his lack of interest in socializing, and the loss of his wife. Even in poor health he pursued a transcontinental railroad centered on the Union Pacific, but his illness stopped him and he died at 52.
- •He kept a rigid schedule and spent evenings with his family and books
- •He said his tastes were domestic and not calculated to make him popular
- •His wife died young a few years before he did
- •He called the transcontinental rail link too beautiful to let go
- 56:22 – 58:52
Judging Gould's Legacy and Closing Notes
The book ends by weighing Gould's legacy through the views of historians who credited his contributions yet could not reach a firm verdict. Senra closes with the line that you can't hate him properly, and promotes Founders Premium AMA episodes.
- •Maury Klein argued Gould's family life should count in judging him
- •Gradinsky credited lower freight rates and capital drawn into railroads
- •Gradinsky could not reach a definitive judgment
- •Senra says Gould lied, cheated and stole yet was so good you can't hate him properly
- •Founders Premium now offers long-form AMA episodes
