Jay Gould
“I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half”.
Jason was an American financier, who became a leading American railroad developer and speculator.
Jay Gould earned his fortune by means of financial manipulation, using investments in western U.S. railroads to gain a virtual monopoly on rail traffic to the southwestern quarter of the United States, giving him almost exclusive control over the rails in this region. He was one of the Industrial Revolution's so-called robber barons—owners of businesses that stifled competition in industries while amassing enormous fortunes. His business tactics and unethical behavior in pursuit of wealth made him widely disliked, both personally and professionally.
The Tweed Ring was during the same period that Gould and James Fisk became involved with Tammany Hall. They made Boss Tweed a director of the Erie Railroad, and Tweed, in return, arranged favorable legislation for them, so they can make more money. Tweed and Gould became the subjects of political cartoons by Thomas Nast in 1869. In October 1871, when Tweed was held on $8 million bail, Gould was the chief bondsman.
Black Friday
In August 1869, Gould and Fisk began to buy gold in an attempt to corner the market, hoping that the increase in the price of gold would increase the price of wheat such that western farmers would sell, causing a great amount of shipping of bread stuffs eastward, and increasing freight business for the Erie railroad. During this time, Gould used contacts with President Ulysses S. Grant's brother-in-law, Abel Corbin, to try to influence the president and his Secretary General Horace Porter. These speculations in gold culminated in the panic of Black Friday, on September 24, 1869. Black Friday was when the premium over face value on gold Double Eagle fell from 62% to 35%. Gould made a tremendous profit from this operation, but lost it in the lawsuits that were held against him. The affair also cost him his...