biography
| name: |
Moore, William H(enry)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1848–1923)
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| biography:
| Capitalist, born in Utica, New York, USA. Admitted to the bar in Wisconsin, he moved to Chicago to practise corporate law (1872) but left to work at corporate mergers and stock manipulation with his brother, James Hobart Moore (1852–1916). In 1890 they merged several biscuit manufacturers into the New York Biscuit Co, and engineered a price war with the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Co that resulted in the brothers' monopolistic National Biscuit Co (1898). They formed the American Steel Hoop Co (1899), the American Sheet Steel Corp (1900), and several other metal-based companies, and when these were absorbed into the United States Steel Corp (1901) the brothers became immensely rich. The Moores then had themselves elected to the board of directors of the Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific Railway (1901) and undertook a series of dubious transactions; by 1914 the once healthy Rock Island was in receivership. An investigation by the Interstate Commerce Commission (1916) charged the Moores, among others, with looting the railroad, and William was ejected from the board. In retirement he raised horses, becoming a four-in-hand driver of international renown. |
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