August Belmont: Grand Sachem of New York

In 1877, Charles Dana's New York Sun reported: "He taught New Yorkers how to eat, how to drink, how to dress, how to drive four-in-hands, how to furnish their houses, how to live generally according to the rules of the possibly somewhat effete, but unquestionably refined, society of the Old World." The subject was August Belmont, a man who ended up in the United States by accident, not by design, fell in love with the country, amassed a great fortune and changed New York City forever. Belmont was also a major political force in the Democratic Party and in horseracing--he established the Belmont Stakes, one of the three races in the Triple Crown. Award-winning author Daniel Alef tells the story of the private secretary to the Rothschild brothers and his immersion in American statehood, finance, commerce, politics and the life of an American tycoon. [2,773-word Titans of Fortune biographical profile]