Millionaire

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

the owner of a million or millions. The term was used formerly as the limit of personal wealth, but of late a new word, multi-millionaire, has been coined for those who have large wealth. No one knows how many millionaires there are in the world. Many a man who poses as such proves at death to have had little, and many a man who attracts little attention owns a large estate. Once when property had the form of lands, improvements, and flocks, or merchandise, or even money, it was possible to give a shrewd guess, at least, at the private wealth of the rich; but in modern times the personal property of the millionaire is likely to lie in his own safe, or in a vault, in the shape of bonds or shares of stock. The public has slender means of estimating private fortunes. In the opening decade of the twentieth century there were in the whole world about 100 fortunes of $20,000,000 or over. This number includes those who hold estates handed down from father to son, as well as those who have amassed their property by modern methods. Several sovereigns, including the Czar of Russia and King George, are of the number. Fifty-one of the multi-millionaires are American. Nearly all have gained their wealth within the memory of living men. Fourteen of these fortunes have been acquired in connection with banking and "high finance," seven from oil, three from steel, three from sugar, two from journalism, two from real estate , two from copper, one from beer, one from meat, and one from tobacco. By way of contrast, it may be noted that ninety-five per cent of the inhabitants of the earth live from hand to mouth, not knowing where the next week's food is to come from. In fact, the world's supply of food is barely sufficient to last mankind a twelvemonth. See Trusts; Rothschild ; Rhodes ; Vanderbilt ; Astor ; Rockefeller ; Croesus ; Midas ; Money ; Capital; Socialism