Who Was Hetty Green?

She was known as the ‘Witch of Wall Street’

Fact checked by Yarilet PerezReviewed by Thomas J. CatalanoFact checked by Yarilet PerezReviewed by Thomas J. Catalano

Upon Hetty Green’s death on July 3, 1916, she was heralded by the press as “the wealthiest woman in the world,” with her estate estimated at over $100 million.  However, she was also known by a less flattering nickname, the “Witch of Wall Street.” The origins of this nickname remain debated—whether it was a result of her financial practices or simply a reflection of the sexism of her time, as she was a highly successful woman in a predominantly male-dominated field.

Green’s achievements in investing were unmatched during her era. In a period of 51 years, she took an inheritance received in 1865, estimated to be between $5 million and $10 million, and grew it to a sum equivalent to over $2.8 billion in today’s dollars.

Her life was not without controversy, including sensational stories about her personal life and legal battles over family wills. Green passed away in July 1916, with her estate estimated at around $100 million, though the exact value remained a mystery due to the absence of an estate inventory in her will.

Key Takeaways

• Hetty Green amassed a fortune worth $2.8 billion in 2024 dollars on the stock market in the years between 1865 and 1916, making her the richest woman in the world at that time.
• Due to her Quaker upbringing, which emphasized living abstemiously, her decision to wear black after the death of her husband, and the penchant of her male colleagues to seek her investing advice, Green became known as the Witch of Wall Street.
• Green was one of the pioneers of value investing, predating even Ben Graham, the acknowledged father of this investment philosophy. Through instinct and early exposure to finance, she mastered value investing principles.
• Green’s strategic investments and resilience allowed her to provide crucial financial support during crises, notably the Panic of 1907. Green bailed out New York City when the banks refused to do so.

Early Life and Education

Born Henrietta Howland Robinson on November 21, 1834, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of Edward Mott Robinson, a successful whaling agent and oil manufacturer, and Abby Howland, the granddaughter of another even more successful whaling agent, Isaac Howland Jr., who headed one the great mercantile families of New England.

Raised as a strict Quaker, she was taught to live with austerity. At the tender age of 6, she was required to read the newspaper financial pages to her father and grandfather, both of whom had poor eyesight. At the age of 8, she opened her first bank account with money she had saved from her allowance. She began going to school at age 10, attending a strict Quaker boarding school in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

When she reached 15, she went to a summer session at Friends Academy and then three years of finishing school in Boston. She was also put to work as her father’s bookkeeper or, as she told the accomplished American journalist Dorothy Dix in adulthood, “I was forced into business. I was the only child of two rich families and I was taught from the time I was 6 years old that I would have to look after my property.”

Notable Accomplishments

Aside from the fortune she made, Green’s most notable accomplishment is probably living her life exactly as she wished in a male-dominated society and industry at a time when by law a woman’s property was controlled by her husband. She was known to use salty language, carry a gun, and travel great distances alone, all considered scandalous conduct for a woman.

She also created an early example of a prenuptial agreement to circumvent the law on marital property. When she married Edward H. Green, a wealthy Vermont businessman, in 1867, she saw to it legally that their financial lives would be entirely separate. This is probably due to the fact that, unlike herself, he was a very incautious investor who liked to speculate wildly and live extravagantly.

Nevertheless, she repeatedly rescued him from debt, at least until 1885, when she found out that he planned to use $550,000 of her money to ameliorate a loss without her consent. Thanks to her legal agreement, her bank refused the transfer of funds. Though she didn’t divorce her husband, they separated and the marriage never entirely recovered from his betrayal.

Additionally, Hetty Green’s strategic approach to maintaining a substantial reserve of liquid assets enabled her to navigate the financial turmoil of the Panic of 1907 successfully. She provided critical financial support to New York City during this crisis when banks were unwilling to help, earning the gratitude and indebtedness of numerous major investors. After parting ways with her husband, she established an office within Chemical Bank, where she further expanded her wealth through astute investments on Wall Street. Her reputation for financial wisdom attracted a constant flow of men seeking her counsel, leading the press to bestow upon her a more favorable nickname: the Queen of Wall Street.

Personal Life

Green’s lifestyle was marked by extreme thriftiness and simplicity, leading many of her peers to regard her as an oddity or, more critically, a miser. This reputation was solidified when the Guinness Book of World Records labeled her as “the World’s Greatest Miser,” as noted by biographer Charles Slack. A March 26, 1899, San Francisco Call article highlighted Green’s efforts to minimize her tax liabilities and her preference for modest living spaces. It also covered her intense fear of being targeted by lawyers, which prompted her to hire personal security and arm herself for self-defense.

Green’s choice of residence was consistently economical, settling on a small apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey, after her children reached adulthood. Her attire was notably plain, and following her husband’s death in 1902, she predominantly wore black mourning garments. Green was known to seek medical care from charitable organizations, and her frugality was famously criticized in the case of her son’s sledding accident. Rather than opting for immediate, potentially costly medical intervention, her delay is believed to have resulted in the need for his leg to be amputated.

Her son, however, had a different take in a New York Times interview published six days after her death. He clarified that the sledding accident he experienced at age 7 wasn’t initially thought to be severe, leading to the decision against seeking immediate medical attention. It was only in his adult years that amputation became a necessary course of action. He further addressed the portrayal of his mother, stating, “Much has been printed about my mother that is untrue. She has been represented as being parsimonious; but such is not the case.”

Green’s austere lifestyle was deeply influenced by her Quaker roots. She explained, “My early training disciplined me towards pomp and show,” she said. “My family has been wealthy for five generations. We need make no display to insure recognition of our position.” However, an editorial in the New York World criticized her statement as “insolent.” Green also shared her approach to personal finance with the media, stating, “I do my own shopping because I get full value for every dollar spent. If more people practiced this, there would be fewer complaints about difficult economic times and the rising cost of living.””

Green’s detachment from the elite social circles also raised eyebrows. At the age of 20, her father attempted to enhance her prospects of marriage by purchasing elegant dresses for her, only for Green to sell them and invest the proceeds in government bonds.

Wealth and Philanthropy

Green amassed her vast fortune through disciplined and conservative methods. As she told the New York Times in 1905, “I buy when things are low and nobody wants them. I keep them until they go up and people are anxious to buy.” She refused to buy stocks on margin and generally preferred investing in real estate. However, she did not follow a buy-and-hold philosophy: “I never buy anything just to hold it,” she said. “There is a price on everything I have. When that price is offered, I sell.” This has caused her to be called “the grandmother of value investing.”

Her son explained her investing philosophy thusly: “My mother never made any money in speculation. The Greens don’t speculate. She has been what you might call a one-man bank. When currency has been scarce in New York, she has always had plenty to lend on good collateral. There is no better judge of commercial paper in the United States.”

Her philanthropy was not engaged in publicly, as per her Quaker beliefs. However, she made loans at below-market rates to 30 churches and, according to her son, secretly supported a variety of charities while also providing a regular income for at least 30 families.

Crimes

Although Green was never legally convicted of any wrongdoing, she faced significant scrutiny and criticism from the public, notably regarding the incident with her son’s sledding injury. Nonetheless, there were instances where her actions raised ethical questions.

For example, following the death of her Aunt Sylvia in 1865, which occurred shortly after her father’s passing, Green anticipated inheriting her aunt’s $2 million estate. Contrary to her expectations, the will allocated $1 million to various charities, with the remainder placed in a trust under the administration of her aunt’s physician for Green’s benefit. Challenging this arrangement, Green presented what she claimed was an alternative will that left the entire estate directly to her. However, the court suspected this document was forged and dismissed her claim, leading to her defeat in the legal dispute.

She also, on at least one occasion, demonstrated her willingness to use force to protect her interests and family. One example is her contentious business dispute with Collis P. Huntington, a prominent Texas railroad tycoon. Huntington confronted her at her Chemical Bank office, threatening her son Ned, who was representing Green’s business dealings in Texas. In defense, Green drew a gun on Huntington and issued a stark warning: “Up to now, Huntington, you have dealt with Hetty Green, the businesswoman. Now you are fighting Hetty Green, the mother. Harm one hair of Ned’s head and I’ll put a bullet through your heart.” This confrontation ended with Huntington hastily retreating, even leaving his hat behind in his rush to escape.

Why Was Hetty Green Known as the Witch of Wall Street?

The calumny began to be used after Green’s husband died and she took to wearing mourning clothes. Dressing in unrelenting black, in combination with stories of her miserliness, brought to the popular mind the image of a witch.

Why Was Hetty Green So Prepared for the Panic of 1907?

Green said that she saw the panic coming. Thus, she made a special attempt to have a lot of cash on hand that she could lend when disaster finally struck. She then bailed out the city of New York when the banks either couldn’t or wouldn’t.

Where Is Hetty Green Buried?

The maritally separated Green returned to nurse her husband in his final illness, moving in with him in Bellows Falls, Vermont. He died in 1902 and she lived as a widow for the next 14 years, converting to his Episcopal faith so that she could be buried next to him in Bellows Falls in the Immanuel Episcopal Church cemetery.

The Bottom Line

Hetty Green’s moniker, the “Witch of Wall Street,” likely owes more to the prevalent misogyny of her time than to any factual basis. Her demeanor, while undoubtedly unique and influenced by her strict Quaker upbringing, masked a sharp and disciplined investment acumen, honed by her father and grandfather. As an early adopter of value investing, she skillfully built her estate to over $100 million through perseverance, astute judgment, and talent, securing her status as the wealthiest woman of her era.

Regarding the fate of her vast fortune, Green distributed it equally between her son and daughter upon her passing. Ned, who lived a life of luxury, eventually passed on his remaining wealth to his sister, Sylvia. In keeping with her mother’s example, Sylvia maintained her finances independently from her husband. The couple did not have any children, and upon Sylvia’s death, she bequeathed her entire fortune to various charities.

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