Ronald Read

Ronald Read, a Vermont gas station attendant and janitor, bought his first 39 shares of stock for $2,380 in 1959. Over roughly five decades he patiently accumulated more than 95 blue-chip dividend-paying stocks, and by his death in 2014 his portfolio was worth nearly $8 million. His story is being recirculated as a striking example of frugal living, long-term investing and compound interest turning an ordinary wage into extraordinary wealth.