Entertainment: An inspirational life story of a famous German-American Immigrant

John Jacob Astor (1763-1848)

John Jacob Astor was a very successful entrepreneur in the fur trade (American Fur Co.); his professions were real estate and banking, in other words: he was a merchant, a businessman and an investor. He was born in Walldorf - Heidelberg in 1763 as the son of a butcher. Life was hard, so when he was 16 years old he immigrated to London to work for his brother, George Astor, where he manufactured musical instruments. He learned not only to handle the instruments but also the language. After three years he felt it was time to move on again, this time crossing the Atlantic.

Astor arrived in the United States in March 1784 literally the last meters on foot, which shows his strong determination in life. In his luggage he had some valuable flutes, which were his first handicraft products that he was able to offer and he was smart enough to look for the right buyers: customers with money and the upper class society of New York. He managed to establish himself but that was not enough: he wanted more! This restlessness and his keen perception for the next possibility of expanding and doing a profitable business were the keys for his success - a true capitalist.

Next, he started trading with fur, first supplying the American market, then the rest of the world. He did not miss any opportunity of increasing his profits; the ships which transported the fur to Europe and Asia were not to come back empty to America, so he also began to trade with silk, tea and spices.

At that time New York was already an important economic center and Astor realized that if more people were to come to New York, the more houses would be needed and consequently real estate prices would increase. Thus, he became the first real estate speculator in history. He was also the first multi-millionaire in the United States.

An exceptional sense of doing business and a very good portion of ambition made this German-American immigrant one of the most important immigrants with a very interesting life story.