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6 Facts about Jesse Livermore – the Bear of Wall Street
If you don’t know about Jesse Livermore, then it’s time you learned. Livermore was one of the most famous Wall Street traders in the early part of the 20th century, making and losing fortunes on the drastic rises and falls in the stock market. He first came to prominence during the panic of 1907, where he shorted the market as it tumbled after he noticed that there was a shortage of market capital to buy stock. He made a fortune on this, earning the title of the Bear of Wall Street – and was also sometimes known as the Boy Plunger. He then proceeded to lose much of his fortune, and then rebuilt it during the bull markets in the 1920s.
However, perhaps his finest hour came in the 1929 Wall Street crash. Leading up to the crash, he noticed that conditions in the market was starting to resemble those in 1907. He started to short a number of stocks, and then continued to add further to his positions. By the time the smoke cleared, Livermore had amassed a fortune of $100 million – a fantastic amount for the time. Meanwhile, nearly everyone else in the markets lost huge amounts of money, leaving Livermore one of the very few major winners.
In case you wanted to know more about Livermore, here are six facts about the trading legend.
He lived life big
While Livermore was a shark in the markets, he was much easier with his money in his personal life. Even when he was just starting out, he spent his money very freely. In fact, in many ways, he lived a life that was reminiscent of a major Hollywood star.
He knew when to take downtime
Livermore wasn’t addicted to the markets. In fact, he was known for taking extended vacations. He would often head off to Florida in the winter for a month, or go sailing on his personal yacht around European resorts. In fact, Livermore attributed some of his best ideas to his frequent breaks from the daily grind.
He was a womanizer
Throughout his life, Livermore was an unreformed womanizer. He was also married three times, after divorcing his first wife after she refused to pawn her jewelry to give him a new trading steak after he went bankrupt.
He was an avid fisherman
Livermore’s favourite hobby was fishing. He also was a hunter, and enjoyed playing golf.
He was an author
He also wrote a best-selling book entitled Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. The book, which is a financial autobiography, describes his life from his earliest trading days through to the 1920s. It was written under the pseudonym of Edwin Lefèvre.
He committed suicide in 1940
Despite his huge success and having all of the trappings of wealth, Livermore harbored a dark secret. Throughout his life – and especially his later years – he experienced bouts of clinical depression, and ended up committing suicide in 1940. A note to his wife found in his pocket read. “My dear Nina: Can’t help it. Things have been bad with me. I am tired of fighting. Can’t carry on any longer.”
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