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The Richest Fifty-One in the United States

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 9, 1908

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 85, No. 2.

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The Richest Fifty-One in the United States

[The subjoined article is a remarkable comment upon the statements made in James 5: 1-3. It is taken from the speech of Hon. Jeff Davis, of Arkansas, in the Senate of the United States, Dec. 11, 1907.—ED.]
When the average present-day millionaire is bluntly asked to name the value of his earthly possessions, he finds it difficult to answer the question correctly. It may be that he is not willing to take the questioner into his confidence. It is doubtful whether he really knows.
If this is true of the millionaire himself, it follows that when others attempt the task of estimating the amount of his wealth, the results must be conflicting. Still, excellent authorities are not lacking on this subject, and the list of the richest fifty-one persons in the United States has been satisfactorily compiled.
The following list is taken from Munsey’s Scrap Book for June, 1906, and is a fair presentation of the property owned by fifty-one of the very richest men of the United States.
NAME TOTAL FORTUNE
John D. Rockefeller $600,000,000
Andrew Carnegie 300,000,000
W. W. Astor 300,000,000
J. Pierpont Morgan 150,000,000
William Rockefeller 100,000,000
H. H. Rogers 100,000,000
W. K. Vanderbilt 100,000,000
Senator Clark 100,000,000
John Jacob Astor 100,000,000
Russell Sage 80,000,000
H. C. Frick 80,000,000
D. O. Mills 75,000,000
Marshall Field, jr. 75,000,000
Henry M. Flagler 60,000,000
J. J. Hill 60,000,000
John D. Archbold 50,000,000
Oliver Payne 50,000,000
J. B. Haggin 50,000,000
Harry Field 50,000,000
James Henry Smith 40,000,000
Henry Phipps 40,000,000
Alfred G. Vanderbilt 40,000,000
H. O. Havemeyer 40,000,000
Mrs. Hetty Green 40,000,000
Thomas F. Ryan 40,000,000
Mrs. W. Walker 35,000,000
George Gould 35,000,000
J. Ogden Armour 30,000,000
E. T. Gerry 30,000,000
Robert W. Goelet 30,000,000
J. H. Flagler 30,000,000
Claus Spreckels 30,000,000
W. F. Havemeyer 30,000,000
Jacob H. Schiff 25,000,000
P. A. B. Widener 25,000,000
George F. Baker 25,000,000
August Belmont 20,000,000
James Stillman 20,000,000
John W. Gates 20,000,000
Norman B. Ream 20,000,000
Joseph Pulitzer 20,000,000
James G. Bennett 20,000,000
John G. Moore 20,000,000
D. G. Reid 20,000,000
Frederick Pabst 20,000,000
William D. Sloane 20,000,000
William B. Leeds 20,000,000
James P. Duke 20,000,000
Anthony N. Brady 20,000,000
George W. Vanderbilt 20,000,000
Fred W. Vanderbilt 20,000,000
Total .................. $3,295,000,000
It will thus be seen that fifty-one persons in the United States, with a population of nearly 90,000,000 people, own approximately one thirty-fifth of the entire wealth of the United States. The Statistical Abstract of the United States, 29th number, 1906, prepared under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor of the United States, gives the estimated value of all property in the United States for that year at $107,104,211,917.
Each of the favored fifty-one owns a wealth of somewhat more than $64,600,000, while each of the remaining 89,999,950 people get $1,100. Not one of these fifty-one owns less than $20,000,000, and no one on the average owns less than $64,600,000. Men owning from $1,000,000 to $20,000,000 are no longer called rich men. There are approximately 4,000 millionaires in the United States, but the aggregate of their holdings is difficult to obtain. If all their holdings be deducted from the total true value of all the property in the United States, the average share of each of the other 89,995,000 people would be less than $500.
John Jacob Astor is reputed to have been the first American millionaire, although this is a matter impossible to decide. It is also claimed that Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati, the great grandfather of Congressman Longworth, was the first man west of the Alleghany Mountains to amass a million. It is difficult to prove either one of these propositions, but they prove that the age of the millionaire in the United States is of a comparatively recent thing. In 1870 to own a single million was to be a very rich man; in 1890 it required at least $10,000,000, while to-day a man with a single million or even ten millions is not in the swim. To be enumerated as one of the world’s richest men, you must own not less than $20,000,000.