Let’s start with Marx. In the spring of 1864, he came into some money when an admirer bequeathed £820 to him. This was a considerable sum back then, far more than Marx earned from his writing. No time was wasted on spending the money – the family home was renovated, pets bought for the kids and vacations taken.
But not all funds were directed toward consumption. As Marx writes in a letter to his uncle Lion Philips in the summer of 1864:
“I have, which will surprise you not a little, been speculating … in English stocks, which are springing up like mushrooms this year … and are forced up to quite an unreasonable level and then, for the most part, collapse. In this way, I have made over £400. ...
One biographer claims Marx decided to try his hand at financial speculation after hearing of the killing that German socialist Ferdinand Lassalle was making on the stock market. Another biographer suggests that some encouragement was provided by Engels (who was part owner of a cotton mill and knowledgeable about business matters).
Further on in his letter to his uncle, Marx says that he is going to do some more trading:
“… now that the complexity of the political situation affords greater scope, I shall begin all over again. It’s a type of operation that makes demands on one’s time, [but] it’s worthwhile running some risk in order to relieve the enemy of his money.”
What do you make of this, just curious?