George Graham Rice (June 18, 1870 – October 24, 1943) (aka Jacob Herzig) was a convicted stock swindler. He was known as the "Jackal of Wall Street." George Graham Rice was born Jacob Simon Herzig in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

to Simon and Anna Herzig. His father was a furrier. In 1890, Herzig was convicted of stealing from his father's business to finance his gambling habits and spent two years in the Elmira Reformatory. In 1895, Herzig was convicted for forgery and spent four years in

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

, also for stealing from his father's business. He changed his name to George Graham Rice, which he took from another inmate. He then worked as a reporter for the New Orleans Times-Democrat. After that he returned to Manhattan and started Maxim & Gay Co., a racetrack tip sheet. However, it was put out of business by the Post Office Department. In 1904, Rice moved to

Goldfield, Nevada Goldfield is an unincorporated small desert city and the county seat of Esmeralda County, Nevada. It is the locus of the Goldfield CDP which had a resident population of 268 at the 2010 census, down from 440 in 2000. Goldfield is located ...

and started Nevada Mining News Bureau, an advertising bureau, to promote mining stocks in which he had ownership stakes. In 1906, Rice co-sponsored with

Tex Rickard George Lewis "Tex" Rickard (January 2, 1870 – January 6, 1929) was an American boxing promoter, founder of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and builder of the third incarnation of Madison Square Garden in New York City ...

a boxing match in Goldfield between

Joe Gans Joe Gans (born Joseph Gant; November 25, 1874 – August 10, 1910) was an American professional boxer. Gans was rated the greatest lightweight boxer of all-time by boxing historian and ''Ring Magazine'' founder, Nat Fleischer. Known as the "Old M ...

and

Battling Nelson Oscar Matthew "Battling" Nelson (June 5, 1882 – February 7, 1954), was a Danish-born American professional boxer who held the World Lightweight championship. He was also nicknamed "the Durable Dane". Personal history Nelson was born Oscar ...

, which was the longest boxing match in history, lasting 42 rounds. With Larry Sullivan, he opened the L.M. Sullivan Trust Company, which sold stocks. He promoted stocks in worthless mines in towns such as Rhyolite, Nevada, Bullfrog, Nevada, Wonder, Nevada, Broken Hills, Nevada and

Greenwater, California Greenwater (formerly, Ramsey, The Camp, and Kunze) was an unincorporated community near Death Valley located in the eastern side of the Inyo County, California. It is now a deserted ghost town. Geography Greenwater is located north of Funeral ...

. The L.M. Sullivan Trust Company failed in 1907, and Rice relocated to

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, where he published the Nevada Mining News. He started Nat C. Goodwin & Co. with actor and comedian Nathaniel Carl Goodwin to promote the town of Rawhide, Nevada and its mines. He had writer

Elinor Glyn Elinor Glyn ( Sutherland; 17 October 1864 – 23 September 1943) was a British novelist and scriptwriter who specialised in romantic fiction, which was considered scandalous for its time, although her works are relatively tame by modern stand ...

visit to help promote the town. Through B.H. Scheftels & Company, Rice manipulated the stock of Ely Central Copper Company. He pled guilty to mail fraud in 1911 and went to prison for a year, where he wrote his autobiography. The book was serialized in

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

magazine, and then published as "My Adventures with your Money" in 1913. He then published the newsletters Industrial and Mining Age, Mining Financial News, Wall Street Iconoclast and Financial Watchtower to promote his mining and oil stocks. In 1920 he was convicted for grand larceny. In 1928 Rice was sentenced to four years in the

United States Penitentiary, Atlanta The United States Penitentiary, Atlanta (USP Atlanta) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Atlanta, Georgia. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice ...

for defrauding investors in a fake copper mine, Idaho Copper Company. In 1931 he was tried for tax evasion, but acquitted.JURY ACQUITS RICE IN INCOME TAX CASE; Promoter Denied He Took In $17,000,000 in Two Years From Stock Sales. ACTED AS OWN ATTORNEY He Will Be Returned to Atlanta Penitentiary to Finish 4-Year Mail Fraud Term. ''New York Times'' October 30, 1931
/ref>

References

Further reading