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Diamond Jim Brady

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (August 12, 1856-August 13, 1917)
    Born in New York City, New York
    Railroad equipment salesman
    Net worth of $12 million (equivalent to over $330 million in 2014 dollars)
    Gilded Age figure known for his jewelry collection and his massive appetite

Why he might be annoying:

    He earned part of his fortune through stock manipulation and insider information.
    He bought $8,500 diamond-studded glasses for his dog.
    He was rumored to have bejeweled underwear.
    Humorist Irwin Cobb wrote, 'He had a huge frame to start with, and fat was draped upon it in heaps and folds.'
    He would sometimes eat a meal for ten people at a single sitting.
    He suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure and angina. (Gee, how could that have happened?)
    At his autopsy, his stomach was found to be six times larger than an average man's.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was a self-made man, having worked his way up from bellhop.
    'Fortune' called him one of the greatest salesmen in American history.
    He noted about his $2 million jewelry collection, 'If you're going to make money, you have to look like money.'
    His gluttony was exaggerated by writers who would act as if his all-time heaviest binges were part of his normal routine.
    He was reportedly the first person in New York City to own an automobile.
    He left much of his fortune to Johns Hopkins University, where he is the namesake for the Brady Urological Institute.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 23 Votes: 52.17% Annoying