The Richest Woman In America: Hetty Green

Hetty Green bailed out New York City. Her decisions on what interest rates to charge moved markets and were reported in major newspapers. She was a one woman bank and the single biggest individual financier in the world. She took no partners and ran her own money. She built a financial empire of stocks, bonds, railroads, and real estate. She battled the great men of her day and kept a gun on her desk. She did all of this alone. Defiantly independent and ferociously intelligent she built a vast, liquid fortune at a time when women couldn't even vote. She used her intelligence to increase her wealth, her independence to live as she wished, and her strength to battle anyone who stood in her way. This episode is what I learned from reading Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America’s First Female Tycoon by Charles Slack https://amzn.to/4j1sHJD and The Richest Woman in America: Hetty Green in the Gilded Age by Janet Wallach https://amzn.to/3W6kfiC ---- Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp https://ramp.com/ and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more. https://ramp.com/ ---- Vesto: All of your company's financial accounts in one view. Connect and control all of your business bank accounts from one dashboard. Go to Vesto https://www.vesto.com/ and schedule a demo with the founder Ben. Tell him David sent you. https://www.vesto.com/ Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here. https://www.foundersnotes.com/ ---- Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book https://davidsenra.com ---- “I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast: https://www.amazon.com/shop/founderspodcast

David Senrahost

Jan 13, 202553mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: January 13, 2025
Duration: 53m
Channel: Founders Podcast
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Hetty Green bailed out New York City. Her decisions on what interest rates to charge moved markets and were reported in major newspapers. She was a one woman bank and the single biggest individual financier in the world. She took no partners and ran her own money. She built a financial empire of stocks, bonds, railroads, and real estate. She battled the great men of her day and kept a gun on her desk. She did all of this alone. Defiantly independent and ferociously intelligent she built a vast, liquid fortune at a time when women couldn't even vote. She used her intelligence to increase her wealth, her independence to live as she wished, and her strength to battle anyone who stood in her way. This episode is what I learned from reading Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America’s First Female Tycoon by Charles Slack https://amzn.to/4j1sHJD and The Richest Woman in America: Hetty Green in the Gilded Age by Janet Wallach https://amzn.to/3W6kfiC ---- Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp https://ramp.com/ and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more. https://ramp.com/ ---- Vesto: All of your company's financial accounts in one view. Connect and control all of your business bank accounts from one dashboard. Go to Vesto https://www.vesto.com/ and schedule a demo with the founder Ben. Tell him David sent you. https://www.vesto.com/ Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here. https://www.foundersnotes.com/ ---- Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book https://davidsenra.com ---- “I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast: https://www.amazon.com/shop/founderspodcast

SPEAKERS

David Senra
host
Host of the Founders Podcast, known for solo narrated episodes distilling lessons from biographies of entrepreneurs and business figures.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Founders Podcast, featuring David Senra, The Richest Woman In America: Hetty Green explores hetty Green: Gilded Age Financier Who Bought Panic and Trusted Herself Senra explains that Hetty Green was raised in a wealthy New Bedford whaling family where she was trained from childhood to read financial reports, keep strict accounts, and treat wealth as something to steward and grow.

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