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Friday 27 May 2016

Millionaire

The term "millionaire" was first used in French in 1719 by Steven Fentimen. It was first recorded in English (millionaire, as a French term) in a letter of Lord Byron of 1816, then in print in Benjamin Disraeli's 1826 novel Vivian Grey.

The first time the word "millionaire" was used in America to describe an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency is believed to be in the 1843 obituary of tobacco manufacturer Pierre Lorillard II.

Born in Germany, John Jacob Astor (July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848)  moved to the United States after the American Revolutionary War. He entered the fur trade and built a monopoly, managing a business empire that extended to the Great Lakes region and Canada, and later expanded into the American West and Pacific coast, becoming America's first multi-millionaire Seeing the decline of demand, he got out of the fur trade in 1830, diversifying by investing in New York City real estate. At the time of his death in 1848, Astor was the wealthiest person in the United States, leaving an estate estimated to be worth at least $20 million.

John Jacob Astor

Sarah Breedlove (December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919), known as Madam C. J. Walker, was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, regarded as the first female self-made millionaire in America. She made her fortune by developing and marketing a successful line of beauty and hair products for black women under the company she founded, Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company.

Madame CJ Walker

In the year 1900, there were only 5,000 millionaires in the United States. In 2000, there were more than five million.

Robert Sengstacke Abbott became the first male millionaire of African-American descent after he founded the weekly newspaper, the Chicago Defender, in 1905. It grew to have the highest circulation of any black-owned newspaper in the country.

Sarah Rector (March 3, 1902 – July 22, 1967) was an impoverished African American member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. At the age of 11 she became a millionaire oil baron when oil was discovered on the land allotted to her by the government. She avoided hundreds of attempts to scam her out of her fortune and became known as the “Richest colored girl in the world.” Rector lost the majority of her wealth in the Great Depression, as did many wealthy Americans.

There were an estimated 57 millionaires travelling in the Titanic’s first class in 1912.

Long after becoming a millionaire, Charlie Chaplin continued to live in a shabby hotel room, and kept his studio checks in a trunk for months.

The country with the highest number of millionaires immigrating is Australia - in 2018, Australia had a net inflow of 12,000 millionaires, the USA had a net inflow of 10,000, Canada had 4,000, and Switzerland had 3,000.

The most common occupation for the wife of a millionaire is teacher.

Millie Bush, America's First Dog during George Bush's presidency, became a millionaire as royalties from Millie's Book, her tome about a dog's life in the White House reached $1.1-million. The English Springer Spaniel gave the money to First Lady Barbara Bush's family literacy foundation.

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