The Importance of Women in Money

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Charles Ponzi made this kind of fraud famous, but Sarah Howe was doing it in the same city. She guaranteed them 8% interest per month, paying them the first three months ahead of time. The problem with the Ponzi scheme is Ponzi schemes are destined to fail because unless you have a consistent influx of new money, you don't have money to pay out.

In the late 1870s, a woman named Sarah Howe started a bank just for single women called the Ladies’ Deposit Company. She asked new customers to tell their friends about the bank rather than advertising in newspapers, and she promised she could almost double their money.

Today, the story of the woman running a Ponzi scheme before Charles Ponzi was even born.

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Artwork by Julienne Alexander.

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