£2,000,000 “Mystery Man” Left £47,000

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 79, 4 April 1938, Page 2

£2,000,000 “Mystery Man” Left £47,000

MADE FORTUNE AT 28—THEN LOST IT AGAIN “Mystery Man of Millions” they called John Slater, humbly-born Lancashire lad, who amassed a fortune of over £2,000,000 before he was 28. At 30 his financial wizardry had secured for him the control of firms worth more than £15,000,000. It was revealed recently that when he died in 1935—he was only 45—his colossal fortune had dwindled to £47,000. He left no will, and probate has been granted to his widow, Mrs Elizabeth Ann Slater, of Regent’s Park, and his sister, Miss Irene Slater. A close friend of John Slater told a reported that most of the fortune was sunk in vast deals which failed to come off. “That was Slater’s history,” he said. “The £2,000,000 he made when he was 28 he lost in one sweep—a daring gamble on a thousand-to-one chance. “Time after time he plunged every penny on some gigantic schema. Sometimes he won; towards the end he often lost. “One of his biggest operations was the acquisition of Amalgamated Industries, Ltd. Another was John Bright and Bros., a cotton firm employing 3,000 people. ’ ’ In an interview once told a reporter John Slater that he had always got the things he wanted. “When I was a lad, I wanted to be a professional footballer. My ambition was fulfilled when I became a member of Bolton Wanderers in 1908. I played for them until 1912. “Then I decided to become a business man. Ever since I had started work I had saved. By the time I was 20 I was a colliery manager and had £2,000 in the bank. With a small coal business of my own I made a modest ‘pile’ and started, out in a big way.”