I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.

In 1856 Gould entered a partnership with Zadock Pratt to create a tanning business in Pennsylvania in what would become Gouldsboro. During this time Gould used contacts with President Ulysses S. Gould devoted himself to private study emphasizing surveying and mathematics.

Condé Nast Portfolio ranked Gould as the 8th worst American CEO of all time. He has long been vilified as an archetypal robber baron whose successes made him the ninth richest American in history.