Fire Sale
Marcus Crassus was the richest man in Rome, which at the time meant he was the richest man in the world.
He made some of his money “conventionally” — silver mines, slave trafficking, and real estate speculation.
But his most lucrative gig was as Rome’s first ever fire chief.
Crassus raised a brigade of firefighters who rushed to burning buildings. (Fires were a common occurrence in ancient Rome — most houses were made of wood and torches were EVERYWHERE). But before he would let his men put the fire out, Crassus offered to buy the property from the owner at a drastically reduced price. If the owner agreed, Crassus would put out the fire. If not, he watched it go up in flames.
While it burned, he would offer to buy the adjacent properties, pointing out to the owners that the house next door was, you know, on fire.
Crassus bought up most of the property in Rome this way. Then he had his crack unit of architects and builders (mostly slaves, see above) rebuild the burnt out homes and in many cases leased the properties back to the original owners.
Marcus Crassus, master of the fire sale.
For more stories like this check The History’s Trainwrecks Podcast at the links below:
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https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1566357950?mt=2
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https://www.google.com/podcasts...
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https://open.spotify.com/show/0EDHR8NUqtfUYbL5l3Mr28
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https://www.audible.com/pd/Podcast/B08JJMCMYV...
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https://www.iheart.com/.../269-historys-trainwrecks.../
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