Hetty Green: The Witch of Wall Street

Hetty Green (1834-1916) was known as The Witch of Wall Street. She amassed a fortune through shrewd investing and was the richest woman in America at the time.

She bought low, sold high, and gave zero f*cks what people thought.

That, my friends, is how she got rich.

It wasn’t just a solid investment strategy. It was an unshakeable belief in her judgment.

“When I see a good thing going cheap because nobody wants it, I buy a lot of it and tuck it away.”¹

Hetty Green understood the power of compounding modest returns, living within one’s means (OK, she was a little extra in the frugality department), and thorough research (“Before deciding on an investment, I seek out every kind of information about it.”¹).

Her investment advice?

“I buy when things are low, and nobody wants them. I keep them until they go up, and people are crazy to get them. That is, I believe, the secret of all successful business.”¹

When it came to women and money, she was way ahead of her time.

“It is the duty of every woman, I believe, to learn to take care of her own business affairs.”¹

Want help doing your duty? Sign up for my weekly letter on Cultivating Your Riches. I can’t guarantee Hetty Green-like returns, but you will learn about sound investing strategies and develop confidence in your financial acumen.

 

¹ 𝖶𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖺𝖼𝗁, 𝖩𝖺𝗇𝖾𝗍 (𝟤𝟢𝟣𝟤). 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢: 𝘏𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘨𝘦.

To learn more about Hetty Green click here.

Mariko Gordon, CFA

I built a $2.5B money management firm from scratch, flying my freak flag high. It had a weird name, a non-Wall Street culture, and a quirky communication style. For years, we crushed it. Read More »

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