2024-01-31
John Mackay was born in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland. In 1840, like many other Irish families, they immigrated to the US, particularly to Five Points in lower Manhattan, one of the worst neighborhoods in America. He only went to school for two years, and after his father's death, he worked as a newspaper boy. When he was a bit older, he built ships for William H. Webb. After the gold rush hit, he himself went to San Francisco, California, by ship in 1851 two years after the first goldrush hit. He had no real success for eight years. While many of his fellows were drinking or playing games after work, he was focused and learned as much as he could about the gold industry. 'His effort in self-improvement wasn’t a guarantee he would become successful. But he would have surely guaranteed himself to be poor if he hadn’t put in the hours that others wasted.' - Ian Cassel
Five Points New York
John Mackay
After his unsuccessful time in San Francisco, he went to Virginia City, Nevada, in 1859. He earned about $4 a day on his normal shift, while also working another shift where he got paid in 'feet,' shares of a mine. He slowly acquired smaller claims and became gradually more successful. In 1865, he bought the Kentuck mine and made $1.6 million. He further invested in mines with other companions, James Graham Fair, James C. Flood, and William S. O'Brien. Together, they bought the Hale & Norcross mine and founded the Consolidated Virginia Mining Company. In 1873, they found the biggest ore body ever found and made $181 billion (in today's terms). Mackay's stake was $50 billion. Together they were know as the Bonanza Kings
Comstock Lode Share claim boundaries
Comstock cross-section
Comstock miners
Virginia City
Mackay commuted between the Comstock Lode and Paris to visit his wife and kids. He only went once a year because the trip took three weeks. In Paris, he bought the Parisian mansion at 9 Rue de Tilsitt, directly in front of the Arc de Triomphe.
Parisian mansion at 9 Rue de Tilsitt
In 1884, he formed the Commercial Cable Company to combat Jay Gould's Western Union Telegraph Company, which held a significant monopoly. He laid the first transatlantic cables, and Jay Gould said this about Mackay: 'If he needs another million, he will go into his silver mines and dig it out.' John Mackay died in 1902 of heart failure in London. He never lost his good name like Rockefeller, Carnegie, Huntington, and Stanford did. He earned his money right out of the earth, never stole from others, and was a man of his word. He lived through the bad times to deal with the good times, trusted his managers, did not fall prey to greed, and took responsibility. John Mackay could not have started any lower as an Irish immigrant in Five Points but became the fifth richest man in the world by his mid-forties.
One of the main lessons from John Mackay is that, in the end, hard work pays off. While everybody else gambled, had fun, and drank, he put in the extra shifts and consistently learned more over more than a decade without any success in the beginning.
Read this book if you want to learn more: The Bonanza King
James G. Fair
James Clair Flood
William O’Brien
John William Mackay
Thanks,
Finn