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In 1998, American Heritage Magazine compiled a list of the 40 richest Americans in history, based on 1998 dollars. There were 39 men and one woman on the list. The richest American woman who ever lived was Hetty Green, whose fortune when she died in 1916 was estimated at more than $100 million (over $17 billion in today's dollars). Hetty Green was famous in her day, not as much for her great wealth as for her great parsimony.
Hetty Green made her money the old-fashioned way - she inherited it. Born into a prosperous whaling family in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1834, Hetty Howland Robinson began a life-long love affair with numbers and money at the age of 6 when she tagged along with her father reading him financial newspapers. When she turned 13 she began working as a bookkeeper in the family business. She invested her earnings in the bonds market and established a pattern of conservative investing which was to serve her the rest of her days.
There is an saying from the Old West that when 'fact becomes legend, print the legend.' Hetty Green's stinginess was legendary. Some of the stories about her include:
On her 21st birthday Hetty refused to light the candles on her birthday cake so as not to waste them. The next day she wiped the cake off the candles and returned them to the store for a refund.
Upon her father's death, Hetty inherited one million dollars and a four million dollar trust fund. Two weeks after his death an aunt who had promised to leave her a fortune of $2 million also died but only willed Hetty $65,000. Determined to get her aunt's entire estate, Hetty produced a new will, handwritten by Hetty which she claimed her aunt dictated to her. It took five years to settle the case.
Always suspicious that prospective suitors were only interested in her money, Hetty Robinson did not marry until 33 when she wed businessman Edward Henry Green. Hetty was the superior money manager and when she was forced to pay one of his debts, she rid herself both of the debt and of Ted.
When her son Ned was 14, he dislocated his knee in a sledding mishap. Hetty refused to take him to a hospital and instead tried to treat the injury at home and by visiting free clinics. Eventually Ned's leg needed to be amputated.
She argued over every bill she received and that her battery of lawyers routinely had to sue her to collect legal fees.
She is said to have once spent half a night looking for a two-cent stamp.
After her ex-husband died in 1902, she moved from his hometown of Bellows Falls, Vermont to Hoboken, New Jersey to be closer to her money in New York City. Taking to wearing black, she traveled to her bankers' offices every day. The combination of her attire and eccentricities earned her the nickname 'The Witch of Wall Street.'
These frequent appearances only served to heighten the legend of Hetty Green. She lived in a series of grungy leased rooms, spending as little as $5 a week for living expenses. She would walk out of her way to buy broken cookies in bulk. She wore the same dress day after day until it was in tatters. When she absolutely had to wash the garment, she often instructed that it be laundered only on the bottom where it was dirty. Lunch would be a serving of oatmeal warmed on an office radiator. Her one extravagance seemed to be her dog, who ate better than Hetty.
When Hetty Green died in 1916 at the age of 81, her entire fortune was left to her son and daughter. They apparently did not learn their mother's lessons well. Both spent the money freely and generously.
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