Voltaire the Investor
How One of History’s Greatest Thinkers Amassed a Fortune
One of the people upon whom I have based the way I live my life is Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire, or Voltaire for short. Born on November 21st, 1694, he passed away on May 30th, 1778 after a long and extraordinarily successful life pushing for social reform and a more enlightened society, harshly criticizing superstition and slavery. Besides the fact that we can thank him for heavily influencing the American Revolution and later, the French Revolution, we can look to his example for investing wisely.
Voltaire Generated Significant Sums of Passive Income Each Year from International Investments
As a young man, Voltaire was wise enough to realize that he would need to become financially independent if he were to speak the truth and remain unencumbered with the chore of making a living. Thus, he purposely cultivated friendships and relationships with the Paris brothers and other wealthy bankers, who taught him how to invest, speculate in currencies and commodities, and manage his money. As a result of his wisdom, Voltaire was a millionaire by the time he was 40 years old and maintained investments in ships that sailed the globe as part of international trade, art, and direct lending to customers (he was, in essence, a bank).
Furthermore, Voltaire stashed significant sums of money in many, many nations around the world, all earning profits, dividends, and interest in the local currency. He did this so he could continue to live in comfort if he had to escape due to his political and social ideas, plus to protect himself against dependence upon any one economy. In fact, he caused an enormous scandal because he betrayed his friend, the King, who had forbidden foreign bond ownership. Voltaire was loyal to his own financial house, first and foremost.
“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.”
– Voltaire on creating wealth and living off passive income.
Voltaire’s Annual Passive Income
By the time Voltaire was 55 years old, his secretary, Longchamp, estimated that he was earning 80,000 francs annually from income, which is the equivalent to $600,000 today plus he was earning 45,000 francs a year from passive investments hidden throughout the world, which is roughly $337,500 in cash today. That’s $937,500 per year, or $78,125 per month in passive income.
These passive earnings poured into his pocketbook as he proposed ideas on the French judicial system and the notion that society should be governed solely on the basis of reason and respect for nature, providing him with funds for reinvestment and a very comfortable lifestyle. It allowed him to escape the fate of men like his contemporary, Mozart, who spend the end of his life being sued by friends for back payments of debts owed.
Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin
Voltaire was close friends with Benjamin Franklin, himself a financial genius who was extraordinarily wealthy due to his inventions and business holdings. (Franklin, as you know, is the hero to Charlie Munger, who has significantly influenced the way I live my life, especially through the use of so-called mental models.)
Reader Comments (6)
Comments are presented chronologically, with replies indented beneath the comments to which they respond.
Vinay Goel
January 17, 2012
Hi Joshua,
I'd like to ask for a recommendation on biographies about Benjamin Franklin and Voltaire. Any suggestions ??? We all know that you enjoy all genres of reading. So if you could suggest any good books upon psychology, economics and business management as well it would be great.
Thanks !!
Joshua Kennon
February 1, 2012
Replying to Vinay Goel
Unfortunately, I haven't found one that is up there with the equivalent of say, a Ron Chernow work. I just read everyone I could find, as well as the historical accounts of their lives in other works that didn't specifically focus on them. I really do wish Chernow would do a Franklin book ... he's my favorite biographer. His style is enjoyable to me.
Chris
November 23, 2013
Replying to Joshua Kennon
Hey Josh,
I would love to see you write a case study about the investments of Ben Franklin, and how he garnered such wealth. Thanks for the great posts!
Azen Kwed
May 21, 2015
Hi,
As a frenchmen, I can guarantee you that Voltaire was a horrible man. He was part of the rich elite (the 1%) He hated his country France, he hated the people (the 99%). He was a warmonger and a liar. He is not studied in history but literature. If you study his life from a historical point, then you will realise who voltaire really was and the myth built around is just that a myth. He was not a tolerant man. Unfortunately, the sources to enlighten you are in French. Historian in France know him as an evil man, unfortunately he isn't presented that way to the public, especially abroad.
He made his fortune in selling equipment for war and had investment in slavery.
He was a proven liar, his writing concerning tolerance and against religion are just manipulations and lies. He was at war against religion, not because religion was oppressing the people, but because religion was stopping him and his crook friends exploiting the poor and living an immoral life.
He believed that the poor should remain stupid and serve, feed the rich.
He never ever said "I don't agree with what you say, but i will fight to death for your right to say it". That is not from him ad in fact he would never do that. He lied to get people in jail, he lied by pretending he was denouncing activities such as the unfair treatment of people in the kingdom of France. He was an anti-semite and a racist and justified slavery. He would write to nobles in Europe to start wars.
He was an atheist but would keep the poor believing in god or religion because he was scared that they would rob him (he wrote all of that).
Unfortunately, if you only read his writing as studied in literature, you would indeed fall for his lies and manipulations. But if you study history you would realise what a horrible person Voltaire.
I can provide you with historical source if you can understand French. but I invite you to do more research about him.
Ben B
June 29, 2016
Today I read an excellent article on how Voltaire kick-started his financial empire by detecting a flaw in a lottery for bondholders, and remembered reading your post here some time ago, so I thought I'd post it in the comments. Long piece (it also goes into how his investing strategy changed toward the end of his life) but recommended. http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/luck/voltaires-luck
'As he later observed, “If you want to make a fortune in this country, it is enough to read the king’s orders-in-council.” In other words, if you want to get lucky, read the small print.'
OldManMase
April 28, 2017
This was fascinating. Thank you very much for sharing this.