A vintage piece of glurge - so, what the heck - it may not all be true, but that of it which is true offers us a lesson (or two)!

LISTEN:

In 1923, a very important meeting was held at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago.  Among those present at this meeting were nine of the world's most successfuly financiers.  The nine men were:

1.  The president of the largest independent steel company.

2.  The president of the largest utility company.

3.  The president of the largest gas company.

4.  The greatest wheat speculator.

5.  The president of the New york Stock Exchange.

6.  a member of the President's cabinet.

7.  The greatest "Bear" in Wall Street.

8.  The head of the world's greatest monopoly.

9.  The president of the Bank of International Settlements.

Certainly, we must admit that here were gathered a group of the world's most successful men.  At least men who had found the secret of "making money."  Let's see where these same nine men are today (in 1956).

1.  The president of the largest independent steel company ... Charles M. Schwab [no relation to Charles R Schwab, founder of the Charles Schwab Brokerage Firm] ... died a bankrupt, and lived on borrowed money for five years before his death.

2.  The president of the largest utility company ... Samuel Insull ... died a fugitive from justice, and penniless in a foreign land.

3.  The president of the largest gas company ... Howard Hopson ... is now insane.

4.  The greatest wheat speculator ... Arthur Cutten ... died in a foreign land ... insolvent.

5.  The president of the New York Stock Exchange ... Richard Whitney ... was recently released from Sing Sing Prison.

6.  The member of the President's Cabinet ... Albert Fall ... was pardoned from prisonso that he could die at home.

7.  The greatest "Bear" in Wall Street ... Jesse Livermore ... died a suicide.

8.  The head of the world's greatest monopoly ... Ivar Krueger ... died a suicide.

9.  The president of the Bank of International Settlements ... Leon Fraser ... died a suicide.

Ladies and gentlemen, all of these men learned extremely well the art of making money, but not one of them ever learned the greatest of all the arts ... how to live!

Dr. Murray Banks

How to Rub Shoulders With Hapiness

Sadly, I took the time to google some of these folks, and in the process discovered that this very interesting "story" which contains many verifiable facts contains a major fiction which, to some, anyway, lessen the impact or import of the story.

I choose, however, to LIKE the story are presented, and treat it as having enough truth to make it worth thinking about.

From SNOPES, on the origins of the story:

This is a vintage piece of glurge, one which appears to have been in continuous circulation since at least 1948.  Over the years it has been through a variety of alterations, with names being added and dropped from the list, the fates of various men changing in severity, and different morals being tacked on to the end.   

The introductory section about all these men meeting in Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel in 1923 appears to be apocraphyl: newspapers from 1923 make no mention of such a meeting nor suggest any event which could have plausibly brought so many prominent men from several diverse industries to Chicago all at the same time.