In his book, Fresh Packet of Sower’s Seeds, Brian Cavanaugh tells of an anonymous account of lives out of balance: In 1923, nine of the world’s most successful financiers met at Chicago’s Edgewater Beach Hotel. Financially, they literally ‘held the world by the tail’. Anything that money could buy was within their grasp; they were rich, rich, rich! Here are their names and the high positions they held:

  1. Charles Schwab, president of the largest steel company;
  2. Samuel Insull, president of the largest electric utility company;
  3. Howard Hopson, president of the largest gas company;
  4. Arthur Cutten, the great wheat speculator;
  5. Richard Whitney, president of the New York Stock Exchange;
  6. Albert Fall, Secretary of Interior in President Harding’s Cabinet;
  7. Leon Fraser, president of the Bank of International Settlements;
  8. Jesse Livermore, greatest “bear” on Wall Street;
  9. Ivar Kreuger, head of the world’s greatest monopoly.

Certainly, we must admit that there 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 men were 25 years later, in 1948:

  1. The president of the largest independent steel company, Charles Schwab died 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 was insane;
  4. The great wheat speculator, Arthur Cutten died abroad, insolvent;
  5. The president of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney was released from Sing Sing Penitentiary;
  6. The member of the president’s cabinet, Albert Fall was pardoned from prison so he could die at home, broke;
  7. The president of the Bank of International Settlements, Leon Fraser died a suicide;
  8. The “great bear” of Wall Street, Jesse Livermore committed suicide;
  9. Ivar Kreuger, the greatest monopoly player, also took his own life.

All these men learned well the art of making money, but not one of them learned how to live. A vast amount of talent and potential went down the drain with these men. What happened? Their lives were out of balance.

Source: Brian Cavanagh, 1994, Fresh Packet of Sower’s Seeds, New Jersey: Paulist Press, p.52-54