Hetty Green

Hetty Green
Hetty Green in 1897
Born	Henrietta Howland Robinson (1834-11-21)November 21, 1834 New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	July 3, 1916(1916-07-03) (aged 81) New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Stroke
Resting place	Immanuel Cemetery
Nationality	American
Education	Eliza Wing School
Occupation	Financier
Known for	Financial prowess, miserly conduct
Spouse(s)	Edward Henry Green (m. 1867; d. 1902)
Children	Edward Howland Robinson Green (1868–1936) Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Green Wilks (1871–1951)
Relatives	Sylvia Ann Howland (Aunt)

Henrietta Howland "Hetty" Green (née Robinson; November 21, 1834 – July 3, 1916), nicknamed the "Witch of Wall Street", was an American businesswoman and financier known as "the richest woman in America" during the Gilded Age. Known for both her wealth and her miserliness, she was the lone woman to amass a fortune when other major financiers were men.

She was born Henrietta Howland Robinson in 1834 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the daughter of Edward Mott Robinson and Abby Robinson (née Howland), the richest whaling family in the city. Her family members were Quakers who owned a large whaling fleet and also profited from the China trade. She had a younger brother who died as an infant. At the age of two, Hetty was living with her grandfather, Gideon Howland. Because of his influence and that of her father, and possibly because her mother was constantly ill, she took to her father's side and was reading financial papers to him by the age of six. When she was 13, Hetty became the family bookkeeper. At the age of 16, she enrolled at the Eliza Wing School where she remained until the age of 19.

Abby Robinson died in 1860 leaving her daughter $8,000 (equivalent to $213,000 in 2016). Shortly after her mother's death, an aunt bequeathed Hetty $20,000 (equivalent to $533,000 in 2016). Edward Robinson died in 1865 leaving Hetty approximately $5 million (equivalent to $78,228,000 in 2016) which included a $4 million trust fund that drew annual earnings. She used the money to invest in Civil War war bonds.

Hetty's aunt Sylvia Ann Howland also died in 1865. After Hetty learned that Sylvia Howland had willed most of her $2 million estate (equivalent to $31,291,000 in 2016) to charity, Hetty challenged the will's validity in court by producing an earlier will which allegedly left the entire estate to Hetty, and included a clause invalidating any subsequent wills. The case, Robinson v. Mandell, which is notable as an early example of the forensic use of mathematics, was ultimately decided against Robinson after the court ruled that the clause invalidating future wills, and Sylvia's signature to it, were forgeries. After five years of legal battles, Hetty was awarded $600,000 (equivalent to $11,364,000 in 2016).