Not Quite a Robber Baron

Empty Mansions claimed to be a mystery book for extravagant houses, meticulous maintained, yet unoccupied by their owner for decades. The enormous amount of money wasted on them is mind-boggling. Why is that? Who’s behind all these?

No. It is really a history book about W.A. Clark and his youngest daughter, Huguette.

Who? That’s what I was thinking. Never heard of any Huguette Clark, or W.A. for that matter. This is the cleverness of Bill Dedman. He knew that nobody heard of them and used the houses as the hook. It worked.

W.A. Clark accumulated wealth that rivaled American’s richest: J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, etc. He was the king of copper mining and moved on to establish an enterprise so huge that, in today’s money, he will be #3 in Forbes’ rich people list (behind Bill Gates and Warren Buffet). Yet hardly anyone ever heard of him. He pretty much vanished from the history book.

Think about it. Which billionaires from 100 years ago that you actually can name? There are really two kinds: those who built an enterprise that bears his name and still in operation; and those who established an institute that has become world-renowned. Of course you knew about J.P. Morgan, his banks are still standing quite tall. You knew about Rockefeller for the musical center in New York. Stanford will be remembered for the university, also Carnegie-Mellon.

But does that matter? Is leaving a legacy or being remembered by the history book really important? If one’s legacy is really the most important thing (as we human beings always want immortality), would accumulating wealth the best way to achieve that? Or this legacy thing is what one will pursue only after having accumulated wealth?

The best part of the book is the epilouge on the relationship between wealth and happiness. Yes, Mr. Dedman said, money cannot buy you happiness. But it can sure remove most of the unpleasantness from your life. Ms. Huguette Clark lived a very fulfilled and long life. Do not feel sad for her.

This entry was posted in Books & Reviews. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.