A story is told of one George Hearst, a true entrepreneur in every sense of the word. He was born in 1820 in Missouri and died in 1891 in Washington DC.
George Hearst grew up at a time when public education was not readily available for all. He learnt about mining through direct observation, reading books and actual practice at the mines.
George Hearst was a miner of silver, gold and copper in America. He was born in a family of farmers but was never at home, always out there taking advantage of business opportunities. He is said to have bought millions of acres of land where he established a ranch upon which he reared hundreds of thousands of cattle.
In 1849, George Hearst heard about gold rush in California but when he reached there it was too late to make money.
In 1859, George Hearst learnt about Silver mining in Utah lands. He hurried there and bought shares in a local mine. Subsequently, his partners extracted 38 tons of high-grade silver ore from the mine transported to California where it was processed and made $91,000 profit at that time.
George Hearst had bought shares in mining companies in New Mexico, Utah, South Dakota and Nevada. He later invested in a mine in Peru. At some point his was the largest mining company in America.
George Hearst also owned a publishing empire during his time which he used to advance his political ambitions and support the Democratic Party.
As a result of his entrepreneurial activities George Hearst employed over 5,000 people to work for him. This enabled his family to live an extravagant lifestyle.
George Hearst’s illiteracy was exposed by his entry into politics. In fact, the Los Angeles Times nicknamed him as “brainless George Hearst” and “illiterate money bags” among other names.
“In order to succeed in business a man does not need a degree from a school of business administration. These schools train the subalterns for routine jobs. They certainly do not train entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur cannot be trained. A man becomes an entrepreneur by seizing an opportunity and filling the gap. No special education is required for such a display of keen judgment, foresight, and energy,” said Ludwig von Mises.
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