An Ugly Perseverance
Hello
I hope you are masking up and keeping safe. It does look like we are in the ‘end times’ in a good way but doesn’t hurt to be careful right?
Working on this podcast has made me look at quite a few interesting traits of famous business leaders. I say interesting to mean ‘interesting’. While most business leaders have a perseverant and ‘do-not-take-no-for-an-answer’ attitude, some do take it far. So far that it makes you go ‘jeeezzz’. J P Morgan’s biography had one such incident.
J P Morgan was always looking out for exceptional talent. While he did have a reputation for hiring men who were not too strong and were yes-men, he did have an eye for talent. One man who JPM was keen on hiring, was a man called Charles Steele. Charles Steel was a railway lawyer and an exceptional one. JPM was stubborn to have him on board and was not going to take no for an answer. He approached Charles at a public gathering.
“Charles,” he said, “it looks as if the Lord had taken charge of this question, and I am going ahead to make the partnership agreement.”
That doesn’t sound so bad. I know. But to understand why that sentence is morbid, we need the acquaintance of another JPM Associate, Charles Coster. Charles Coster was a legend at the time in the JP Morgan Co. He was a wizard with numbers and outworked most people at the office. This is saying a lot because the whole office outworked all of Wall Street. In line with its reputation of being a fancy sweatshop at the time, JP Morgan Co. put employees through enormous stress. During such times Charles Coster contracted mild flu at the age of 48. Having been significantly weakened by the stress, Coster succumbed to the illness. Within a week, he, like many other JPM partners at the time, died young.
JP Morgan for his part attended the funeral despite his busy schedule. He however needed a replacement for the key position that Coster held. As the funeral procession moved along, he walked up to a lawyer.
“Charles,” he said, “it looks as if the Lord had taken charge of this question, and I am going ahead to make the partnership agreement.”
That lawyer was Charles Steele. At Coster’s funeral.
JP Morgan - A man of will. Yikes.
See ya again with more stories! Have a great week.