E35 - #34 Jay Gould Master of Wall Street & King of the Railroads

In April 1873, a lawyer walked up to financier Jay Gould at Delmonico's, the fanciest restaurant in New York, and punched him in the face. It wasn't the first time someone had tried to get physical with Gould, and it wouldn't be the last. By age 36, he was the most notorious businessman in America. He was a man Mark Twain called "the mightiest disaster which has ever befallen the country." Vanderbilt called him the smartest man in America. Rockefeller, without missing a beat, named him the best businessman he'd ever known.

This episode covers Gould's life through Greg...