#371 James J. Hill: The Empire Builder

I found out about James J. Hill from Charlie Munger. Munger said that Hill was a great operator like John D Rockefeller and Andrew Carney, and I thought that was very high praise. And what's jumps out when you read a biography on James J. Hill was just how difficult Hill was to compete with. And in this biography, they are constantly comparing the way Hill runs his business to his main competitors. And here's one example. It says many observers.

would later compare Hill with Henry Villard. The comparison was inevitable. While Hill was building carefully and checking his costs minutely, Villard built in ignorance of his costs. Amid mounting deficits, Villard was then forced to resign the presidency. Hill knew that the best defense against invading railroads was a better built system. That could operate at lower rates. Well, just how sound was the system that James J. Hill built? Well the Great Northern Railway

Lasted from eighteen eighty nine to nineteen seventy. Hill died in nineteen sixteen. That's over fifty years after he died, and you'll think that you'll find this interesting. The Great Northern Railway in nineteen seventy is merged into the Burlington Northern Railway. Which then the Burlington Northern Railways merged in nineteen ninety six.

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