George Jay Gould
His father was a leading American railroad developer and speculator who has been referred to as one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age, whose success at business made him one of the richest men of his era.
[3] Upon his father's death George inherited a portion of the Gould fortune (Jay Gould left $15 million to George and $10 million to each of his other 5 children) and his father's railroad holdings, including the DRGW and the Missouri Pacific Railroad.
Through legal wranglings led by E. H. Harriman, who at the time led both the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads, Gould was forced to set up third-party companies to manage the surveying and construction to disguise his role.
[15] He died of pneumonia on May 16, 1923, on the French Riviera after contracting a fever in Egypt where he visited the tomb of Tutankhamun.
[16][2] Gould's estate in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, is now the site of Georgian Court University.
Gould as depicted in Vanity Fair , September 1894. Gould had bought Vigilant, [ 1 ] the winner of the previous year's America's Cup , and was racing it in England.
