Sir Titus Salt: Social Conscience to Capitalism Was His Advocacy

During Sir Titus Salt’s time, capitalism was known for being a ruthless system where workers were exploited by capitalists and lived in abject poverty. However, Sir Salt (20 September 1803 – 29 December 1876) was a unique capitalist because bringing a social conscience, as influenced by his Methodist faith, to capitalism was his advocacy.

He was a successful businessman whose model factory and village raised awareness about the role and responsibility of capitalists to improve worker conditions. He was, indeed, one of the earliest proponents of corporate social responsibility.

Sir Salt learned the wool trade when he was 17 years old, a decision that would serve him well when he became the leader of his family’s wool business. His business gamble of investing in Donskoi and Alpaca wool paid off when his business became one of Bradford’s most successful ventures.

When he became Bradford’s second mayor in 1848, the Yorkshire working class suffered from poor standards of living. He tried to resolve the situation starting with his workers when he opened a huge mill and its facilities in Saltaire, a town about 3 miles from Bradford and located in the cleaner Aire Valey. The facilities for his workers included 823 houses, shops and chapels as well as recreation facilities, parks and a school, all of which were designed with the improvement of living standards for workers in mind.

Such was the quality of the facilities that workers enjoyed unprecedented living standards for the 19th century. Aside from being a well-known philanthropist, Sir Salt was known for requiring his workers to attend Sunday mass and to abstain from gambling and drinking as part of their contracts.

While his family wool business disappeared just 16 years after his demise, his buildings including the mills were used well into the 20th century before falling into disuse. Sir Salt’s legacy continues with many capitalists exercising social conscience in their management policies.

Jan Koum Turns Frustration and Rejection Into Success

Few people know how to turn frustration and rejection from employers into success as wealthy entrepreneurs. Fortunately, Jan Koum is not like many people.

Koum, a Ukrainian-born engineer, was turned down by the social media giant, Facebook, for a job and toiled for nearly ten years at Yahoo, the giant Internet corporation. But why toil when you can rock and roll, so to speak, with your own company?

He then co-created WhatsApp with Brian Acton, his former Yahoo officemate. His idea behind the now-popular messaging app was combining a free mobile app that allows users to send and receive texts, calls, photos and videos. His start-up eventually acquired millions of users before it was snatched up by Facebook for $19 billion in February 2014, the most expensive acquisition to date for a venture-backed startup.

With the sale, Koum became one of the richest persons in the United States (i.e., ranked #62 by Forbes magazine) with his estimated net worth of $7.5 billion.

Richard M. DeVos, Sr. Wears Many Hats – And That’s Not an Exaggeration

Richard M. DeVos, Sr. wears many hats. With his innate intelligence, personal charm, and business savvy, he has created, managed and led many successful corporations, acquired sports teams, and enjoyed accolades from the industry, among other notable achievements. He is a rich man, indeed, considering his $5 billion estimated net worth; Forbes listed him as the 205th richest person in the world and the 60th in the United States in 2012.

His business career started in 1949 when he established Ja-Ri Corporation as a distributor of products on a direct sales basis. In 1959, he then co-founded Amway Corporation, one of the largest private corporations in the United States. In 2000, the multilevel marketing company became one of four subsidiaries under Alticor Inc.

DeVos has his hands full with various roles and responsibilities in several industries, a testament to his busy lifestyle. He is the Founding Chairman and Board Member of the National Organization on Disability; the President of Amway Environmental Foundation; and a Board Member of the Florida Board of Governors, among others. He is also the owner of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, the WNBA’s Orlando Miracle, and the IHL’s Orlando Solar Bears.

He is not just a business owner either. DeVos is a well-renowned speaker with his most notable talk being “Selling America” for which the Freedoms Foundation has awarded him the prestigious Alexander Hamilton Award for Economic Education. He has written books with topics ranging from compassionate capitalism to enduring faith in the face of apparently insurmountable odds, said books of which are written from his personal experience. He is, after all, known as a compassionate capitalist and he has undergone a life-changing experience (i.e., heart transplant at 71 years old).

DeVos has also received several awards including the Excellence in Business Award from Davenport University, the Humanitarian Award from House of Hope, and the American Spirit Award from the Republican House and Senate, among others.

If that’s not being an overachiever, then we don’t know what to call it.

Charles Scribner I: Laying Down the Foundation of Legacy for Ages

Charles Scribner I was an American publisher who co-founded a publishing company with his friend Isaac D. Baker. This company was later known as Charles Scribner’s Sons. Scribner was born on February 21, 1821 in New York City. He studied at the New York University for one year, after which he moved to Princeton University where he earned his bachelors degree in 1840. He proceeded to take law but was forced out of the university to Europe because of a sickness.

In 1846, Scribner returned from Europe to become Baker’s partner in founding the new publishing company Baker and Scribner. Unlike traditional publishing companies which are outgrowths of book sellers and printing companies, Baker and Scribner is purely a publishing company. Its publications are focused on the works of contemporary writers. Following the death of Baker in 1850, the company became solely under the control of Scribner and renamed it Charles Scribner and Co.

For the first time, Charles Scribner and Co. ventured into the publication of magazines in 1865. Its first monthly issue was the Hours at Home. In 1870, Scribner merged Hours at Home with the Scribner’s Monthly. When Scribner died in 1871, the surviving partners renamed the company as Scribner, Armstrong and Co. Later, his sons renamed the company again as Charles Scribner’s Sons.

The Richard Warren Sears Legacy

Richard Warren Sears was an American businessman and executive who founded the Sears, Roebuck and Company together with his business partner Alvah Curtis Roebuck. He was born on December 7, 1863 in Stewartville, Minnesota. By June 1870, the Sears were living in Springville where James, the father of the family, served as one of the city councilmen. James, who was also in blacksmith and wagon-making business, sold his shop in 1875.

After acquiring sufficient knowledge in telegraphy, Sears served in the railroad industry. He joined the North Branch, Minnesota of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway in 1880 as telegraph operator. He was excellent in his job. Later, he became the company’s station agent in Redwood Falls, Minnesota.

The greatest shift in Sears’ career started when he was 23 years old. In 1886, a Minnesota retailer named Edward Stegerson refused an entire shipment of gold-filled pocket watches from a manufacturer in Chicago. At that time, a scam existed involving wholesalers who ship products to retailers even though they did not make orders. As the retailer refuses the shipment, the wholesaler would offer the price-hiked shipment to the retailer at a much lower cost by asking him to save him the high cost of shipping the items back. As the unsuspecting retailer agrees to the new bargain, he marks up the items and sells them at a very small profit.

Being a retailer savvy, Stegerson refused the shipment. Sears grabbed the opportunity and made a deal with the wholesaler to keep the profit he earned above $12. He offered the items to other agents in the railway at $14. The agents sold the watches easily for two reasons: the items were considered urban sophistication, and, the farmers needed an accurate timepiece because of the recent implementation of time zones.

Sears earned as much as $5,000 in six months. Armed with a higher level of confidence, he moved to Minneapolis to establish the R. W. Sears Watch Company. He embarked on massive advertising campaigns. His personal approach in the flyers convinced potential customers from rural and small town communities to purchase watches from him through mail-order.

Sears moved the company to Chicago in 1887 as the city became a very important transportation interchange for the midwestern states. He hired a watch repairman named Alvah Curtis Roebuck who repaired the returned watches. From being his first employee, Roebuck helped Sears establish the Sears, Roebuck & Company in 1893. Sears was just 30 years old at that time.

From watches, Sears offered other product lines such as men’s and ladies’ wear, athletic equipment, bicycles, silverware and plows.

George Scranton: Coal and Iron Magnate

George Scranton was the Representative for the state of Pennsylvania in the US House of Representatives between March 4, 1859 and until his death on March 24, 1861. He was a Republican.

Before he got active with politics, Scranton spent his years in agricultural pursuits and in the manufacture of iron. In 1839, Scranton and his brother Selden purchased the lease and stock of Oxford Furnace in Washington, New Jersey. Within one year, Scranton partnered with other businessmen to organize a company that would acquire large tracts of lands rich in coal in Lackawanna. He experimented on smelting ore using anthracite coal. Later, this company became known as Lackawanna Iron & Coal Company in Slocum (now Scranton, Pennsylvania, a town named after him). At Lackawanna, Scranton was also responsible for constructing its Northumberland Division.

In 1839, Scranton and his brother Selden purchased the lease and stock of Oxford Furnace in Washington, New Jersey. Within one year, Scranton partnered with other businessmen to organize a company that would acquire large tracts of lands rich in coal in Lackawanna.

At the House of Representatives, Scranton served in the 36th Congress.

Edward W. Scripps and the Building of a Newspaper Empire

Edward W. Scripps was an American newspaper publisher who founded his own publishing company, The E. W. Scripps Company. This company has diversified into a media conglomerate. He also founded the news service United Press. In 1958, United Press merged with International News Service, creating the United Press International (UPI). Ohio University honored Scripps by naming the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism after him.

Scripps was born on June 18, 1854 in Rushville, Illinois. Like many businessmen of his time, Scripps preferred to use his initial instead of writing his first and middle names. He started his career in newspaper publishing when his older half-brother, James, founded The Detroit News. He worked there with his half-sister, Ellen.

At The Detroit News, Scripps began as an office boy. There, he was exposed to the ins and outs of the newspaper publishing business. Using the amount he loaned from his half-brothers, Scripps founded The Penny Press in Cleveland in 1878. Later, the company became known as Cleveland Press. Ellen also granted him financial help in acquiring 25 small newspaper companies. This started Scripps’ hue media empire which known today as E. W. Scripps Company.

As his way of helping the young and promising local newspaper publishers, Scripps lent them his money. Scripps acquired at least 51% of the more successful ones and held on to these companies. Scripps knew that the local editors know better in running their own local newspapers so he rated them considerable autonomy while grooming them to become successful publishers. Scripps also started distributing newspapers to the suburbs.

Scripps founded the UPI in 1907 which created the best competition for Associated Press. Scripps also founded the Science Service (later known as Society for Science & the Public) to inform the public of scientific achievements. Today, the organization operates as a non-profit and continues to promote science. Scripps was also honored by the name of the Scripps University after him for his endowments that came largely from the fortunes he accumulated from his newspaper empire.

Thomas Scott: Master of Mentoring

Thomas A. Scott was an American businessman and railroad executive. He was the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1874 and 1880. Later, Pennsylvania Railroad became one of the world’s largest public companies. His investment in the railroad sector was significant in that it gave Scott the opportunity to take a leading role in the creation of the Compromise of 1877 which ended federal interventions and civil rights efforts during the Reconstruction Era in the South. Scott also served in the American Civil War as Assistant Secretary of War.

In 1850, Scott started his career with the Pennsylvania Railroad as station agent. He was promoted to general superintendent in 1858. He mentored some of the aspiring employees in the company, among them was Andrew Carnegie. Under the tutelage of Scott, Carnegie learned the basics of railroading, management and investment. It was said that this association played a huge impact in the success of Carnegie in iron and steel in later years.

From being the vice president of Pennsylvania Railroad, Scott assumed the presidency in 1874 following the death of the president and friend, J. Edgar Thomson. With Scott at the helm of the company, Pennsylvania Railroad evolved from being a railway liner in the 1840s through the 1850s to a huge transportation empire in the 1960s and onwards.