I’m sure everybody has a miser in its life. This can be a friend, relative or, why not, yourself. Among many other situations, this sort of people are used to invite themselves at your house to empty the fridge. Nevertheless, when you give them back the visit, you may be lucky if they offer you a tasteless glass of water… Whatever it may be, they are always disposed to do anything for not opening its wallet. But these inconsiderate details have no importance if we consider them with those who committed some billionaires of the last century.
One of them was the founder of the Getty Oil Company, Jean Paul Getty. His stinginess reached such extreme that he refused to pay a ransom of 17 millions in exchange for the freedom of one of his grandchildren. Getty declared in a newspaper: ” I have fourteen grandchildren. If I give the rescue of one of them, I would have 14 kidnapped grandchildren”. That was then the kidnappers decided to lower considerably the price of the rescue to three million and sent one of the ears of the grandchild and a letter demanded the new rescue. Seems to be Getty not replied right away, because photos of mutilated adolescent arrived days later with a warning: ” If no one pay the rescue, we will return the boy carved “. His grandfather only agreed to pay 2 millions and the rest was paid by his son, the father of the boy. But , although difficult to believe, that was the old Getty who would lend him money to his son’s rescue, although he acted more like a bank than a patriarch concerned about his family, since the loan carried implicit a 4% interest. There’s no denying that it is a case of extreme miserliness but the following wins it.
The next miser was the richest woman of 20th century, Hetty Green, more known as The Witch of Wall Street, whose details of stinginess leave no one indifferent. Since her childhood was interested in the business of his father, so that the age of 13 began to take accounting. She married with a rich man , but not as much as her. And just in case, before de wedding made separation of property. Ages later her husband made some bad investments on Wall Street and ruined, and as he couldn’t afford the upkeep of the house, she asked for divorce. When his father died, a little part of his inheritance was left to Hetty’s aunt, who decided to donate it all to charity associations. At the same moment that Hetty found out her intention, denounced her claiming that money did not belong to her. Hetty won the trial, although it said that was thanks to a bribe. But there is a grisly episode in which not only reaffirms their status as stingy, but it also demonstrates that it was a terrible mother. This occurred when his son suffered a knee injury. She took him to a charity hospital, but unfortunately for her son, the doctor who attended him recognized Hetty and told her that she was a wealthy woman and had to pay for the service, something to which she refused in resounding. Finally, she decided to take care herself son’s injury, but this got worse. When got her son to the doctor, he had to amputate the leg because the wound had already become gangrenous. So sad, isn’t it?
Fortunately for the world, not all people are the same. An example would be of the great magnate of steel, Andrew Carnegie. His reputation as a miser grew as did his wealth and arrived at the end leave a penny like tip by a real feast. However, at the end of his life he became a true philanthropist, because he donated millions of dollars to research and founded more than 3,000 libraries throughout United States and the rest of the world. Good for him by abandoning miserliness in time!
Finally, I want to say that I had fun and surprised to meet these so peculiar characters, and though the miserly millionaires list could continue, the time is gold and runs out and I am poor…
LITERARY TRUCE 