NDR - Pioneers Turned Millionaires (2010) Part 3 John Jacob Astor America's Richest Man

The legendary Levi's jeans, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Boeing planes, precious Steinway pianos and the legendary Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York - they are all achievements from the land of opportunity. But they have another thing in common their creators emigrated from Germany to the New World. What do jeans, ketchup, planes, pianos, and furs have in common? Each is the product of an American dream come true. “Pioneers Turned Millionaires” is a five-part series that delves deep into the stories of five German entrepreneurs who redefined American economy and left a major imprint on American culture. Five visionary entrepreneurs from the old world redefined the economy of the new world and left a major imprint on American culture. Levi Strauss, Henry E. Steinway, William E. Boeing, John Jacob Astor and Henry J. Heinz changed the way the world eats, dresses, plays and travels - one can hardly ignore their names or products anywhere in the world today. Innovation, courage, persistency and hard work were the attributes that made them succeed in a strange new country. We visit the companies of Levi Strauss & Co., Steinway & Sons, Heinz and Boeing. We see how each of their founders had a novel and brilliant idea, used it to established a company and gained fame, honour and wealth. With the help of high-end reconstructions and exquisite archive material, this series presents one of the most fascinating and exciting eras of American economic history. How did these five men, who all started out as immigrants, become archetypical self-made millionaires that even now epitomize success? These biographies are the definitive portraits of these five entrepreneneurial giants businessmen who have their homeland in common and their place in history secured. They had left for economic, social, political or religious reasons but all to find a better life in the United States of America. Relive the tragedies and the triumphs that made them millions while leaving a major imprint on American culture.

Part 3 John Jacob Astor America's Richest Man

His name means luxury and elegance, but his rise to prominence was rife with struggle and turmoil. Step into a world of adventure and danger as we explore the life of America's first multi-millionaire, John Jacob Astor. From his early years, hiding from his abusive father, to his perilous journey across the Atlantic, to a series of personal and professional tragedies, his life was anything but opulent. Yet, John Jacob Astor routinely turned his life of uncertainties into opportunities, amassing an unprecedented fortune along the way. Witness it all, via dramatic re-enactments and interviews with biographers, historians and descendants of the Astor family. It is the adventurous story of a poor boy from Germany who becomes a multi-millionaire in New York in the early 19th century. Born in Walldorf near Heidelberg in 1763, Johann Jakob Astor emigrated to America as a young man. New York is still a village, the United States has just become independent. Astor roams the vast country and exchanges cheap goods with the Indian tribes for valuable hides and furs. With unscrupulous methods, Astor soon rises to become America's most important fur trader. Astor also acquires land in steadily growing New York, becoming Manhattan's largest real estate owner. When he died in 1846, he left behind a fortune that would be equivalent to eight billion euros in today's money. His unimaginable wealth and sense of style make Astor's name shimmer to this day. But the search for clues reveals an ambiguous personality that provoked both admiration and contempt. The documentary gives an insight into the power circles of young America, the network of Freemasons and the moneyed nobility of New York. But it also testifies to Astor's complicity in the genocide of the Indians by unscrupulously using alcohol as a medium of exchange for furs.

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