Sublime

Complicated financial stuff was being dreamed up for the sole purpose of lending money to people who could never repay it.

Years later, he made millions by using the same psychology in business. For example, he wanted to sell steel rails to the Pennsylvania Railroad. J. Edgar Thomson was the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad then. So Andrew Carnegie built a huge steel mill in Pittsburgh and called it the ‘Edgar Thomson Steel Works.’

Thus, with Farley’s open cooperation, the trio of Hill, Kittson, and Smith began probing to see what sort of offer might be sufficient to interest the Dutch bondholders, who were understandably nervous about their jeopardized investment.

Years ago, hospitals didn’t have mortgage financing available to them. And traditional corporate loan packages would force hospitals to lock up all of their asset value as collateral. So Ed’s team set out to offer lease financing as a low-cost and flexible alternative. Thus far, it’s been a fantastic niche—Ed & Co. have grown their zero assets

Interestingly, Hill resembled his contemporary John D. Rockefeller in that he usually did well only by investing in his main area of focus; his many side forays into other projects quite often failed. The one truly notable exception, as we shall see, was his investment in iron ore.