John Jacob Astor Career's Five Whys Analysis

John Jacob Astor Career's Five Whys Analysis

First Part:

The root cause for John Jacob Astor Career Success is his travel life around the world with a lot of experience in different kind of businesses, his determination and ability to recognize business opportunity.

First Question: Why was John Jacob Astor career in general and his life specifically so famous in United States history?

John Jacob Astor is considered the first United States multimillionaire in late 18 and first 19 century. According to the case "John Jacob Astor", he was considered the wealthiest person in United States during that time due to his ability to recognize business opportunity in different kind of business. However, not many people looked at his wealthy with strong optimism. "Some contemporaries did not look on Astor's great wealth, particularly his New York real estate purchases, with much enthusiasm."

Second Question: Why was John Jacob Astor's real estate business criticized strongly?

At the later of John Jacob Astor career, he left a fur trade business and a trading business with China when he realized that the industry had come to the downside part, and made many kinds of investment into different business industries such as railroads transportation, banks, insurance companies, hotels, theaters, and real estate. Among of that, real estate investment earned him the best return of investment after he left the fur trade business and trading business, and he was often called a landlord of New York City at that time due to the industrial growth in New York City, but his high investment return on this business is criticized due to its value increased largely by the growth from the contribution of the whole community of New York.

Third Question: Why did he leave the fur trade business and some kind of trading business which had made a reputation for him and earned him lots of money?

John Jacob Astor had started the fur trading business from 1783 and decided to leave this business in 1834, roughly 50 years.. In 1823, John Jacob Astor started to realize that the trading business already came to the downside of its cycle, so he left out of this business according to the case "In 1823 he began to back away from the China trade, and by 1825 he withdrawal was practically complete." To 1834, he also left the fur trading as well due to his illness and his business loss such as Northern Department.

Fourth Question: Why did John Jacob Astor come to this business and have a strong attraction with this industry?

According to the case "John Jacob Astor", in 1784, during the trip from London to U.S, he had met with several passengers