James Hazen Hyde

Théobald Chartran : Portrait by James Hazen Hyde, oil on canvas, 1901

James Hazen Hyde (born June 6, 1876 in Manhattan , New York City , New York , † July 26, 1959 in Saratoga Springs , New York) was an American heir to millions and was a member of the high society of New York society .

Life

James Hazen Hyde was the son of millionaire Henry Baldwin Hyde (1834–1899), founder of the life insurance company The Equitable Life . After his father's death, the 23-year-old Hyde inherited a majority stake in the insurance company, valued at an estimated $ 8 billion. The attractive dandy was known for his elegant and expensive banquets, garden parties, dinners and costume parties to which only hand-picked guests from the richest and most distinguished families of New York society were invited and filled the social columns of the newspapers.

In 1905, a smear campaign staged by board members EH Harriman , Henry Clay Frick and JP Morgan and board chairman James Waddell Alexander falsely accused Hyde of funding a $ 200,000 fancy dress ball through the insurance company. Hyde soon found himself caught in a maelstrom of allegations of corporate malfeasance . The shocking revelations almost caused a panic on Wall Street , and later led to an investigation of the entire insurance industry by New York State . In the end, Hyde had to sell his company shares and emigrated to France .

In 1940 Hyde returned to New York after 35 years of exile due to the German occupation of France. Here he spent his old age in prosperity in a luxurious mansion in Manhattan . James Hazen Hyde, who was married three times, was buried in Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island .

literature

• Patricia Beard: After The Ball: Gilded Age Secrets, Boardroom Betrayals, And The Party That Ignited The Great Wall Street Scandal Of 1905 , Harper Perennial (2004) ISBN 0060199393

Web links

• James Hazen Hyde in the database of Find a Grave (English)