Episode 11: Spencer Trask (Audio Version)
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Episode 11 Description:
Spencer Trask (1844-1909) embodied the sort of dichotomy only 19th century America could produce—a calculating businessman and ardent support of the arts, a man with faith in technology and a head full of Romantic ideals. The motto found on a scrap in his wallet upon his death aptly summarizes the fundamental tension inherent in this industrialist and philanthropist: "For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth." A native of Brooklyn and graduate of Princeton, he joined with his uncle to found his first investment firm at the tender age of twenty-two. The firm would become Spencer Trask and Company, which from its inception till this day has invested heavily in the new ideas and technologies that have shaped the modern era. Trask amassed such a vast fortune he was able to purchase the New York Times in 1896, and successfully reorganized it under the famous motto "All the News that is Fit to Print." But the motto found in his wallet proved the more prophetic, for Trask was a man deeply committed to humanitarian and philanthropic efforts. When, in 1899, his wife Katrina had a vision for how best to spend their fortune, Spencer didn't hesitate. He knew a good investment.
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Posted at 12:27PM Oct 06, 2008
by rich in General |
