Carnegie Died Rich

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/04/carnegie-died-rich

In response to our item earlier this week on the president of the Carnegie Corporation, Vartan Gregorian, declaring to the New York Times that Mayor Bloomberg "shares Andrew Carnegie's notion that the person who dies rich dies disgraced, because he does not have the imagination to reinvest the money into society," a FutureOfCapitalism.com reader was kind enough to send in a copy of a page one article from the August 29, 1919, New York Times. The headline is "Carnegie's Estate, At Time of Death, About $30,000,000."

It reports, "Mrs. Carnegie receives all of her husband's real estate with his personal effects of every kind, believed to be worth between $5,000,000 and $10,000,000." Mr. Carnegie also gave annuities of "$10,000 a year to each of his married nephews and nieces," and annuities yielding the same amount to his brother-in-law and to his sister-in-law.

The point is, Mr. Gregorian's quote notwithstanding, Andrew Carnegie died rich.

by Ira Stoll  |  Apr 2, 2010 at 7:47 am Related Topics:  Definition of 'Rich', Press receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list