Estimates made by other newspapers and other financiers, however, who have equally good authorities on which to base their opinions, vary all the way from $50,000,000 to $150,000,000.
In calculating the amount of Mr. Gould's estate, the first difficulty met with lies in the fact that the records of his various companies by no means tell the story of his holdings in their securities. More even than many of his rivals, he has followed the policy of getting along without going through the formality of letting the extent of his ownership appear on the books of the companies. Besides, although he reduced the number of his investments in the last few years—at least the street says he did so—he had interests extending over a wide field.
In only one branch of investments did Mr. Gould do very little, and that was in real estate. His possessions of real property were far smaller than those of many men not one-tenth as wealthy. He had his place at Irvington which represents $750,000 to $1,000,000, and his Fifth avenue house, worth $300,000 to $400,000. Several years ago he bought real estate in St. Louis, which the Missouri Pacific expected to use for headquarters. He paid $150,000 for this piece of property, which is supposed to be worth three times that amount now.
In spite of his policy of concentrating his holdings in his later years, the list of companies in which Mr. Gould had large interests is an imposing one. The principal corporations with which he was connected at the last include the Missouri Pacific rail-
