Henry Schiff and His Actions that Saved a Generation

Henry Schiff was a German-born American businessman, banker and philanthropist. He was known as one of financiers of the Russo-Japanese War, helping the efforts of the Japanese military against Tsarist Russia. Schiff was born on January 10, 1847 in Frankfurt, Germany. Following the American Civil War, Schiff migrated to the US. In the US, he ended up in Wall Street, joining the firm Kuhn, Loeb & Co.

For his involvement in solving the issues and problems concerning the Jews between 1880 and 1920, Schiff was credited for that period of time called “Schiff era”. Among the issues he helped solve were the plight of the Russian Jews under the anti-semitism in Russia and America. He cared for the needs of the Jewish immigrants. While being involved in various civic actions, Schiff became active in business, becoming the director of significant companies including Equitable Life Assurance Society, National City Bank of New York and Wells Fargo & Co.

Perhaps, the most important action of Schiff was that of the Russo-Japanese War. Schiff extended loans to the Empire of Japan amounting to $200 million through his connections in the Kuhn, Loeb & Co. For the first time, Japanese bonds floated in the Wall Street. According to Schiff, the loan was his answer to the anti-semitic tendencies of the Russian Empire.

David Sarnoff: Pioneering a Huge Industry

American businessman David Sarnoff became popular in the world of broadcasting for his pioneering work in radio and TV broadcast in the US. Following the founding of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1919, Sarnoff served the company in various capacities until he retired in 1970. He led RCA into a huge empire in the telecom and consumer electronics sector. Sarnoff was nicknamed “The General” for being a reserved Brigadier General in the Signal Corps. The Sarnoff law was credited to him. In the law, it was said that the value of the broadcast network is directly proportional to the number of its viewers.

Sarnoff was born on February 27, 1891 in Uzlyany, Belarus. His family was of Jewish descent. Sarnoff spent his childhood in a traditional Hebrew school where he studied and memorized the Torah. Sarnoff and his four siblings were brought by their mother to the US when she decided to immigrate to New York in 1900. Sarnoff has to sell newspapers during his free times to help the family in raising funds. He developed love of the newspaper business and wanted to pursue a future career. But he landed a job in the Commercial Cable Company as office boy. In September 1906, Sarnoff joined the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America where he started his sixty-year career in electronic communications.

From being an ordinary office boy, Sarnoff rose to the ranks to become a commercial manager in thirteen years. His hand on exposure to work provided him opportunity to learn the business of electronic communications. Sarnoff served in Marconi stations in ships and in posts. In 1919, he installed a wireless equipment on a ship that hunts seals in Labrador and Newfoundland. During this installation, Sarnoff became the first person to relay a medical diagnosis using the technology from the doctor on board the ship to a radio operator at Belle Isle who was suffering from tooth infection. One year thereafter, Sarnoff led two other radio operators at Wanamaker station in confirming the sinking of Titanic.

The US Congress legislated the continuing staffing of commercial vessels with radio stations. Sarnoff’s revenue grew in leaps and bounds. Sarnoff also became the first to demonstrate the use of radio in railroad lines through the Lackawanna Railroad.

Dame Marjorie Scardino: Woman Power

Dame Marjorie Scardino is a British executive who served Pearson Plc. as CEO while simultaneously serving as trustee at Oxfam. The magazine Private Eye criticized Scardino for spearheading tax avoidance in Luxembourg companies while Oxfam advocates against tax avoidance. With her appointment at Pearson, Scardino became the first woman executive to be named as CEO of a FTSE 100 company. Pearson tripled its profits when Scardino was at its helm. Pearson reported profits of £942 million at that time.

Scardino was born on January 25, 1947 in Flagstaff, Arizona. She spent her adolescence in Texarkana, Texas. She earned her degree in BA in French and psychology at Baylor. She attended the George Washington University law school but quit when she started with journalism. Later, Scardino finished her law degree at University of San Francisco School of Law.

Aside from Pearson Plc, Scardino brought her sharp business acumen to other companies where he served as director or non-executive director, such as MacArthur Foundation, Carter Center, Nokia, and Twitter. She is a recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal. In 2007, Scardino was listed at the 17th place in the Forbes 100 most powerful women in the world.

Past and Present Influences of Russell Sage

Russell Sage was a New York-based financier, businessman, and railroad executive. He was politically allied with the Whigs. He amassed a huge fortune along with his longtime partner Jay Gould. His fortunes were inherited by his second wife Olivia Slocum. Because of restrictions, Olivia used his fortunes in charitable causes, especially those that would benefit the women. Among the institutions that she established were the Russell Sage Foundation (1907) and the Russell Sage College (1916).

Sage was born on August 4, 1816 in Oneida County, New York. He studied in a public school while working as a farm hand. He was an errand boy for his brother Henry who ran a grocery store. Perhaps this was necessary because later, Sage would own a retail grocery and a wholesale store in Troy, New York.

In politics, Sage became the alderman in Troy in 1841 and served in that capacity until 1848 after being re-elected. Simultaneously, Sage served as the treasurer of Rensselaer County for seven years. He served in the US House of Representatives where he was with the Oppositionists. While in the House, Sage was the first to advocate that the government should buy the plantation of George Washington in Mount Vernon.

In 1874, Sage became a financier in the New York Stock Exchange where he acquired a seat. There, Sage saw the potential of the future of railroads. He invested in the stocks of western roads, especially in the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway where he served as president. He became very wealthy with his investments in railroads.

Later on, Sage became associated with Jay Gould. The duo managed a number of railroads such as the st. Louis-San Francisco Railway, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and the Wabash Railway. Sage served these railroads ad director. At the same time, Sage was also a director for the Western Union telegraph company.

Something Beautiful Out of South Africa

Anthony Rupert was one of the most popular businessmen, conservationists and philanthropists in South Africa. He was born on October 4, 1916 in Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape, South Africa where he also spent his boyhood. He founded the Rembrandt Group, a tobacco manufacturing conglomerate. Rupert oversaw the Group’s transition into luxury goods later.

At the height of the “Verwoerd must go” campaign, Rupert emerged as a possible replacement for the position of Prime Minister. The National Party was looking for someone who would improve the reputation of South Africa internationally. The National Party thought his “moderate” image can unify South Africa.

For six decades, Rupert built a business empire out of a investment of £10 only in 1941. Eventually, Rupert was named to the Forbes’ list of the 500 wealthiest families in the world. He died on January 18, 2006. At time, his fortunes were estimated to stand at $1.7 billion.

The Rise of James Rouse

James Rouse was an American urban planner, real estate developer and civil activist. He founded The Rouse Company and pioneered urban planning development in the US. He was born on April 26, 1914 in Easton, Maryland. His father, Willard Rouse, lost his bid for the state attorney for Harford County, he moved the family to Easton. Rouse spent his boyhood there. He was home-schooled by his mother until he reached second grade. He transferred to a public school after that. He lost both of his parents to sickness at 16. Thereafter, their family home was foreclosed. His brother Bill funded his schooling.

Soon the family was unable to fund his school fees because of money problems so the family appealed to the husband of his oldest sister who happened to be a Navy officer based in Hawaii. He was declared as his sister’s dependent and secured his connections with the Navy. With this, Rouse was able to continue his studies at University of Hawaii. Another scholarship was secured by his family so he transferred to the University of Virginia. He continued his political science while working as waiter. Later, he decided to move to Baltimore and continue on his own.

At Baltimore, Rouse worked with St. Paul Garage. Although he could not drive, he was fortunate to find this job when he convinced his supervisor that hiring and teaching him to drive would be better than firing him. After one year at St. Paul, Rouse was hired by the Federal Housing Administration as clerk for loans to Maryland banks. He qualified to take law so he borrowed from Guy Hollyday who was seeking FHA loan for Title Guarantee and Trust Company at that time. He went to University of Maryland law school while Hollyday mentored him.

After graduation, Rouse became partner of the Moss-Rouse Company, a mortgage banking firm. Eventually, this became the Rouse Company. Rouse Company specialized in FHA loans. Rouse hired Churchill Carey, who worked for a company that granted loan capital to Moss-Rouse Company.

When the World War II was over, Rouse established the Citizens Housing and Planning Association. The organization’s mission was to rehabilitate the decaying housing stock in The Baltimore Plan. This was the beginning of Rouse’s participation in the Dwight D. Eisenhower’s National Housing Task Force where he introduced urban renewal.

The Inspiring Success Story of Helena Rubinstein

Helen Rubinstein was a Polish-born American businesswoman who founded the Helena Rubinstein, Inc. Her cosmetics business was the source of her fortunes and made her as one of the richest women in the world during her time.

Rubinstein was born as Chaja Rubinstein on December 25, 1870. She left Poland in 1902 to emigrate to Australia. She had no money, and she knew only a little English. However, she used her milky complexion and fashion style to sell the jars of beauty cream she brought from Poland. Convinced of the potential of the market, Rubinstein decided to produce her own products.

Western Victoria is home to 75 million sheep. Huge quantities of grease (chemically known as lanolin) are secreted as wool is produced. Lanolin was the primary ingredient of Rubinstein’s products. She experimented using pine bark, water lilies and lavender to remove the pungent odor of lanolin.

In just a short time, Rubinstein launched her Crème Valaze as she opened a salon in Collins Street. She expanded to Sydney and in five years, she used her profits to open Salon de Beauté Valaze in London. Rubinstein was recognized as one of the firsts to establish a cosmetics company. As her company grew, she was known as a regular contributor to charities that support health and education.