TimeTrust

How Benjamin Franklin turned $4,400 to over $5M?

The first person to create a legacy fund was Benjamin Franklin, When he died in 1790, he willed the cities of Boston and Philadelphia $4,400 each, but with the stipulation that the money could not be spent for 200 years. By 1990 Boston’s trust was worth over $5 million.

The money was in trusts that were to lend money to budding tradesmen to help them set up their shops early in life.