You Can't Take It With You: The Life and Afterlife of America's Greatest Fortunes
Why do people want to become very rich? In this series, Eric Schoenberg, a psychologist who studies the behavior of the very wealthy, offers an answer by looking at the stories of nine Americans who became among the richest people of their time, with a particular focus on what happened to their great wealth after they died.
Podcasting since 2022 • 8 episodes
You Can't Take It With You: The Life and Afterlife of America's Greatest Fortunes
Latest Episodes
8. Like Father, Like Son
In 1918, Forbes Magazine published a list of the 30 richest Americans. At the top was oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, Sr, whose wealth was estimated at a whopping $1.2 billion — more than 5 times as much as his closest rival for the title...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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45:15
7. Dead Hand Control
The will of Wellington Burt, a Michigan timber baron who died in 1919, created a trust for his $13 million estate that called for less than 1% of it to be distributed annually until 20 years after his last grandchild had died. Al...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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37:34
6. Dead Sons and Lovers
On Oct 15, 1906, a legal battle over the estate of the drug industry pioneer William Weightman, which was worth $40-100 million dollars, came to a sudden, screeching halt when a mysterious note was introduced as evidence. Asked about its ...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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37:46
5. Am I My Brother's Keeper?
Charles Tiffany was so brilliant at marketing luxury to the newly minted millionaires of the gilded age that he left $12 million to his four children when he died in 1902. Not trusting his younger son Burnett to manage his money wisely, h...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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35:37
4. Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave
Isaac Singer made a fortune as the co-founder of the Singer Manufacturing Company, whose sewing machines relieved millions of women from the interminable drudgery of hand-sewing clothes, and allowed many of them to start their own small busines...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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41:04
