Henry Ford's legacy, the present-day Ford Motor Company, was organized in 1903. In that this was Ford's 3rd automotive venture, finding more than a few initial investors was a bit of a task, but eventually 12 backers were found.

One of the 12 was one Horace Rackham, who bought 50 shares for $5000. In actuality, he was one of the skeptics, and only put $3,500 in cash, writing a note for the balance. When Ford bought out his initial investors in 1919, how much was Rackham's 50 shares worth over the years in dividends & the sale back to Ford?

A. $17,435

B. $174,350

C. $1,743,500

D. $17,435,000

Total guess: B

No idea..I'll guess C. But I do know the name, as the Rackham Building at the U of Michigan was named after him..spent a lot time there during my years at the U of M.

The answer is D, $17 million.

The 12th investor was James Couzens, who had struggled a bit in life, financially, but who recognized this as 'his chance'; he believed in the venture. He really wanted to purchase a full 25 shares ($2500), but after scraping together all he had, he found he was worth but $400. He appealed to his sister, a school teacher who was worth but $200, but was not so convinced. The siblings turned to their father for advice, and he told her to gamble with half, or loan James $100.

After FoMoCo made good, James repaid his sister with a one share of stock instead of $100. When Ford bought everyone out in 1919, the school teacher had received $95,000 in dividends and sold the single share back to Ford for $260,000, a total of $355,000 income for her $100 investment.

To put Henry Ford's wealth into perspective, he was worth $188 billion when he died in 1947 (in 2008 dollars).

Going to give it a go posting trivia questions on Mondays & Fridays (don't hold me to it), with a bit of a story behind it rather than just dry factoids.

There's a bottomless mine of history in the auto world that, IMO, goes largely unappreciated.

Will answer Friday's on Monday, and vice versa.

Hope you all enjoy them and take a stab at the answer.

The answer is D, $17 million.

The 12th investor was James Couzens, who had struggled a bit in life, financially, but who recognized this as 'his chance'; he believed in the venture. He really wanted to purchase a full 25 shares ($2500), but after scraping together all he had, he found he was worth but $400. He appealed to his sister, a school teacher who was worth but $200, but was not so convinced. The siblings turned to their father for advice, and he told her to gamble with half, or loan James $100.

After FoMoCo made good, James repaid his sister with a one share of stock instead of $100. When Ford bought everyone out in 1919, the school teacher had received $95,000 in dividends and sold the single share back to Ford for $260,000, a total of $355,000 income for her $100 investment.

To put Henry Ford's wealth into perspective, he was worth $188 billion when he died in 1947 (in 2008 dollars).

What can you say to this but "Damn!"

Too bad we don't have that level of vitality in the country now.