Hetty - by Charles Slack (Paperback)

About the Book

Slack looks beyond the lore and historical prejudices to reveal the real Hetty Green, known as the "Witch of Wall Street," who dueled with the giants of the Gilded Age and amassed a fortune of $100 million before women had the right to vote.

Book Synopsis

"Wonderfully detailed....Today's vilified moguls look like pussycats compared with Hetty." --Forbes

A biography of the "Witch of Wall Street," who amassed a fortune of $100 million before women had the right to vote

A full century before Oprah and Martha Stewart became icons of female entrepreneurship, there was Hetty Green, America's richest woman, who stood alone among the roguish giants of the Gilded Age. The Guinness Book of World Records memorialized her as the World's Greatest Miser, and, indeed, this unlikely robber baron--who parlayed a comfortable inheritance into a fortune that was worth about 1.6 billion in today's dollars--was frugal to a fault. But she lived by her own rules, buying and selling real estate and railroads, fighting hard and sometimes dirty, and amassing cash reserves to rival the great banks. In Hetty, Charles Slack reexamines her life and legacy, giving us, at long last, a splendidly "nuanced portrait" (Newsweek) of one of the greatest--and most eccentric--financiers in American history.

From the Back Cover

When J. P. Morgan called a meeting of New York's financial leaders after the stock market crash of 1907, Hetty Green was the only woman in the room. The Guinness Book of World Records memorialized her as the World's Greatest Miser, and, indeed, this unlikely robber baron -- who parlayed a comfortable inheritance into a fortune that was worth about 1.6 billion in today's dollars -- was frugal to a fault. But in an age when women weren't even allowed to vote, never mind concern themselves with interest rates, she lived by her own rules. In Hetty, Charles Slack reexamines her life and legacy, giving us, at long last, a splendidly "nuanced portrait" (Newsweek) of one of the greatest -- and most eccentric -- financiers in American history.

This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

Review Quotes

"Charles Slack has written an enormously readable book about a brilliant, avaricious, and complicated woman who accumulated vast wealth and bested some of Wall Street's most notable players. The story of her life is a fascinating snapshot of how greed and ambition provided unique success in an era not known for female financial accomplishment." - Arthur Levitt, former chairman of the SEC, and bestselling author of Take on the Street: What Wall Street and Corporate America Don't Want You to Know

"Want to be a tycoon? Hetty, Charles Slack's riveting history of America's pioneering billionairess, tells you how. As a cautionary tale of Hetty Green's iconoclastic, emotionally pinched life, and an inspiring one of an early 20th century woman tougher than any man, Hetty is a must read for all aspiring moguls." - Regina E. Herzlinger, Harvard Business School

"Slack concentrates on telling a good story and telling it well.... [An] entertaining biography." - Publishers Weekly

"Fascinating." - Tucson Citizen

"[An] instructive account.... Slack offers an exemplary retelling for a new generation." - Kirkus Reviews

"A lively and engaging portrait of the 19th century's Martha Stewart.... This detailed account will no doubt delight readers of 19th-century financial history and anyone who likes a good story." - Library Journal

"A fascinating book." - New York Post

"This book is more than the story of an eccentric, driven woman; it is a window on the country between the Civil War and World War I when great fortunes were made -- even by a woman." - USA Today

"A wonderfully detailed new biography." - Forbes

"A must read for all aspiring moguls." - Regina E. Herzlinger, Harvard Business School

"During her lifetime, journalists were quick to describe her as the 'least happy woman in New York, ' but Slack appears to get it right. 'In the end, ' he says, 'her principle crime seems to have been that the rules she chose to live by were her own rather than society's.'...Which practically makes you want to say, 'You go, girl!'" - New York Times Book Review

"Written with grace and authority, Hetty--Charles Slack's follow-up to the splendid Noble Obsession--further establishes Slack not just as a worthy chronicler of the roots of American business, but also of the American story itself--and of the fascinating, unquenchable men and women who people it." - Dean King, author of Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival

"In his new book Charles Slack gives us, at long last, a truly rounded portrait of one of the most fascinating characters in Wall Street, or, indeed, American history. In doing so, he rescues from caricature the uniquely gifted and uniquely sad Hetty Green." - John Steele Gordon, author of The Great Game: The Emergence of Wall Street As a World Power, 1653-2000

"[A] page-turning portrait of an important and complicated woman." - Richmond Times-Dispatch

"[A] nuanced portrait." - Newsweek