Fisk, James (1834-1872), was an American financier who was involved in several business scandals in the late 1800’s. Fisk helped cause the collapse of the gold market on Sept. 24, 1869, known as Black Friday. He and industrialist Jay Gould had tried to monopolize the market by buying all the gold in New York City. The United States Treasury intervened, and the price of gold fell. Fisk and Gould, however, made $11 million in profit.
Fisk was born on April 1, 1834, in Bennington, Vermont. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), he became rich by selling cotton from areas of the South controlled by Union forces. After the war, Fisk, Gould, and Daniel Drew made huge profits by manipulating the stock of the Erie Railroad. Fisk bought an opera house in New York City and held many parties there, earning the nickname “Jubilee Jim.” On Jan. 7, 1872, at the age of 37, Fisk was fatally shot by Edward Stokes, a rival for his mistress, the actress Josie Mansfield.
