In 1923, a very important meeting was held at Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. Attending this meeting were 9 of the world's most 'successful' financiers and businessmen.
Those present were:
1. the President of the largest independent steel company;
2. the President of the largest utility company;
3. the President of the largest gas company;
4. the greatest wheat speculator;
5. the President of the New York Stock Exchange;
6. a member of the President's cabinet;
7. the greatest 'bear' in Wall Street;
8. the head of the world's greatest monopoly; and
9. the President of the Bank of International Settlement.
This, we must admit, was a gathering of some of the world's most successful men - or at least men who had found the secret of making money.
Twenty five years later (1948) let us see what had happened to these men:
1. the President of the largest independent steel company had died, bankrupt, having lived on borrowed money for five years before his death;
2. the President of the largest utility company had died a fugitive from justice, penniless in a foreign land;
3. the President of the largest gas company was insane;
4. the greatest wheat speculator had died abroad - insolvent;
5. the President of the New York Stock Exchange had recently been released from Sing Sing penitentiary;
6. the member of the President's cabinet had been pardoned from prison so that he could die at home;
7. the greatest 'bear' in Wall Street had died - a suicide;
8. the head of the world's greatest monopoly had died - a suicide;
9. the President of the Bank of International Settlement had died - a suicide.