Andrew Mellon

“By 1894, they controlled 10% of America's oil exports, prompting Andrew to confidently tell one associate, we have every facility possessed by the Standard Oil Company and receive and deliver oil under as favorable conditions in every way.”

“Only 2.5% of Americans owned stocks in 1929, and his own wealth remained largely insulated, tied up in mostly private enterprises like Gulf Oil and Alcoa, rather than publicly traded securities.”

“In fact, while the market crashed around him, his personal income actually increased from 5.2 million in 1928 to 7.8 million in 1929.”

“Within five years, the price of aluminum had dropped by 75%, and sales had skyrocketed from a few hundred pounds to 600,000 pounds annually in 1895.”

“Other collectors he noticed were reluctant to donate their treasures to the buildings that bore another person's name. His solution was characteristic Mellon. Maximize the outcome by minimizing ego. He explicitly refused to put his name on the building, instea…”

“His companies regularly paid dividends of 20, 30, even 100% annually. Gulf Oil once declared a staggering 500% dividend, so large that it attracted the attention of the regulators.”

“Refinance the loans at lower rates, saving the treasury two hundred million annually, while extending and staggering repayment terms from 23 to 28.”

“By 1927, his reforms meant most Americans paid no federal income tax at all.”

“Mellon's personal fortune exploded from fifty-five million in 1913 to eighty million by 1921, but these were merely book values. They really understated how much he was worth. His Gulf oil holdings alone were valued at 17.4 million on paper, but they were wort…”

“Well, you can't predict when the next crisis will hit. You know there will be one. When it does, those who borrowed too much or expanded too fast fight for survival while those who stayed strong and liquid pounce on opportunities.”

“His personal fortune exceeded that of all the entire cabinet combined. Herbert Hoover, the self-made Secretary of Commerce, was worth a mere four million compared to Mellon's understated hundred million plus.”

“The roaring twenties saw tax revenues remain stable or increase even as tax rates dropped, well, federal debt shrank considerably.”