Spencer Trask (1844-1909) embodied the sort of dichotomy only 19th
century America could produceâa calculating businessman and ardent
support of the arts, a man with faith in technology and a head full of
Romantic ideals. The motto found on a scrap in his wallet upon his
death aptly summarizes the fundamental tension inherent in this
industrialist and philanthropist: "For a man's life consisteth not in
the abundance of things which he possesseth." A native of Brooklyn and
graduate of Princeton, he joined with his uncle to found his first
investment firm at the tender age of twenty-two. The firm would become
Spencer Trask and Company, which from its inception till this day has
invested heavily in the new ideas and technologies that have shaped the
modern era. Trask amassed such a vast fortune he was able to purchase
the New York Times in 1896, and successfully reorganized it under the
famous motto "All the News that is Fit to Print." But the motto found
in his wallet proved the more prophetic, for Trask was a man deeply
committed to humanitarian and philanthropic efforts. When, in 1899,
his wife Katrina had a vision for how best to spend their fortune,
Spencer didn't hesitate. He knew a good investment.