“The stingiest woman in history” recognized by Guinness: Billionaire but asks for free bones for dogs, only washes skirt hems to save soap

The Guinness Book of Records recognized her as the stingiest person who ever lived.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Hetty Green (1834 -1902), an American billionaire, is recognized as the stingiest person who ever lived, despite her enormous wealth.

The surprisingly stingy billionaire

Born a wealthy lady, Hetty Green inherited a huge fortune from her father after he died when she was 30. She received an inheritance of more than $100 million in today’s money and by the end of her life owned the equivalent of $3.8 billion in today’s money. Not only that, her husband was also a millionaire.

Often referred to as the “Witch of Wall Street,” the tycoon is known for her extreme frugality and shrewd investment strategies. Her reputation for being stingy stems from her astonishing lifestyle.

Hetty Green

Hetty Green lived in a small, shabby apartment in New York City rather than a lavish house. She moved frequently to avoid paying residency taxes. She wore the same old, ragged black dress, washed only the hems to save money on soap, shopped for bargains, ate oatmeal warmed over the stove for lunch, walked blocks to buy broken biscuits in bulk, and once spent hours looking for a two-cent stamp. She even begged for free dog bones for her dog every day.

According to the most damning story about Hetty Green, she was so stingy that she didn’t get her son treated for a leg injury in a skiing accident, instead taking him to a free clinic for the poor. Doctors later amputated the boy’s leg. However, the accuracy of this information remains an open question.

In her work, Hetty Green was also very cautious with her investments. She often preferred government bonds and other low-risk options over more speculative projects, which contributed to her wealth but also reflected her conservative nature. Her strict spending caused deep rifts in her family.

The woman who saved New York

Besides being ridiculed by the press as “stingy”, Hetty Green was also a quiet hero during the financial crisis of 1907 in New York. She predicted the collapse and used her huge fortune to rescue the city and many other investors and businesses.

Despite his reputation for thrift and gruff exterior, Green pioneered value investing strategies that have made many of today’s top investors billionaires. And when times were tough, when people really needed help, the heiress used her wealth to save the day.

Perhaps there is no better example of Green’s misunderstood legacy than the Knickerbocker Crisis. Also known as the Panic of 1907, the Knickerbocker Crisis is largely forgotten today. But this economic nightmare is seared into the memories of those who lived in the early 20th century. Its origins are complex, but in short: Wall Street greed gone bad, eventually leading to bank runs and a severe recession.

Within three weeks of the start of the crisis on October 22, 1907, the New York Stock Exchange had fallen nearly 50% from its 1906 peak. And a year later, in 1908, Gross National Product (GNP), a measure similar to today’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), fell 12%.

The problems of the banks and trust companies eventually caused a widespread panic with bank runs across the country. As the situation worsened, John Pierpont Morgan (the American financier who founded what is now JPMorgan Chase) was eventually forced to convene a group of Wall Street’s best and brightest at the Morgan Library to help decide how to revive the ailing economy and stock market. Hetty Green was the only woman invited to attend that meeting during the height of the crisis.

A 1916 issue of The Literary Digest detailed an earlier New York Tribune article quoting Green as saying she had predicted the crash of 1907. She then proceeded to bail out many investors, businesses, and even the city of New York.

“I saw this coming,” she said, noting that there were undeniable signs of stress. “Some of the most resilient people on Wall Street came to me and wanted to sell everything from luxury homes to cars.”

Green said she then gave the New York Central Railroad a “big loan” after they came knocking, and that made her “sit up and think a little bit.” She decided to start collecting as much cash as possible, knowing a crisis might be coming.

“When the crash happened, I had money, and I was one of the very few people who actually had money. Other people had their ‘stocks’ and their ‘values.’ I had cash and they had to come to me,” she said.

Green describes how men from all over the country came to New York to borrow money during the Panic of 1907. But despite being labeled a “stingy” throughout her life, she did not take advantage of the situation.

“Those to whom I lend money all charge 6% interest,” she explained. “I could easily charge 40%. Never in my life – no matter what people say against me – have I lent money at high interest, and no one knows that better than the rich people who have had business dealings with me.”

Green later lent the New York City government $1.1 million at the height of the 1907 crash, equivalent to about $33 million today. And it wasn’t the first time she’d offered help, according to the 1930 book The Witch of Wall Street: Hetty Green. A few months before the crash, she lent the city $4.5 million, worth nearly $150 million today.

“On many occasions, when New York was running low on money, she would lend it to the city,” explains Charles Slack, author of Green’s biography, Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America’s First Female Tycoon. “She always did so at a reasonable rate. She never begged or forced the city.”