How Did Gatsby Make His Money?

The Great Gatsby tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a young millionaire living the high life on a Long Island lake during the Roaring 20s. Much of the book deals with Gatsby’s lavish lifestyle, but it also delves into timeless tugs of war between love and money.

F. Scott Fitzgerald who wrote the book was obsessed with wealth and class in America, and his book still makes a splash today because it raises pertinent questions, such as what drives some people to become extremely wealthy, the ethics of earning money by illicit means, and how much wealth matters when your true love doesn’t return your feelings?

Did Gatsby Make His Money Legally?

Gatsby got rich as a bootlegger by selling alcohol to drug stores after Congress passed the Volstead Act, declaring most alcohol illegal to possess or consume.

The Volstead Act went into effect in 1920, so Gatsby most likely had his distribution system set up within a year or two. Making alcoholic beverages illegal created an enormous black market for Americans who still wanted to drink. Gatsby stepped in to fill that role, just like more famous bootleggers, including Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, and Lucky Luciano.

During the 13 years of alcohol prohibition in the United States, many people made money selling drinks illegally. The situation isn’t that different from people and organizations selling illicit drugs today. While today’s drug dealers might make money selling products like cannabis and cocaine, dealers during Prohibition earned money selling alcohol.

It’s not too far off the mark to call Gatsby a charming drug dealer. Even if you’re unwilling to go that far, he undoubtedly ran a small criminal enterprise that funded his lavish lifestyle.

Did Gatsby Come From a Rich Family?

Gatsby certainly did not come from a rich family.

Although his youth is not revealed in much detail, Fitzgerald does reference their financial circumstances and makes it clear that Gatsby grew up on a farm, struggling to make ends meet. 

He then made the decision to escape his impoverished youth and set out to find financial success far from his rural roots in North Dakota.

Was Gatsby Poor Before He Became Rich?

Gatsby grew up in a destitute family but despised being poor, so he left his family to seek more opportunities, which included an excursion in the military to fight in World War I, prior to which he met Daisy Buchanan in Louisville, KY.

Meeting Daisy convinced Gatsby that he must amass a fortune. He wanted to woo her but felt he would need to amass a hoard of wealth to do so and asked her to promise to wait for him, even before building his wealth. The love story drama begins when Gatsby learns that Daisy married Tom Buchanan while he was overseas.

Gatsby doubled down on his belief that getting rich would win over Daisy, and when Congress outlawed alcohol, Gatsby saw an opportunity to establish himself as a bootlegger.

By providing products that were underground, Gatsby could charge premium prices and it meant he could avoid paying taxes, too, so his empire expanded to unimaginable levels.

Did Gatsby Inherit $25,000?

Fitzgerald writes that Dan Cody, a wealthy copper magnate, willed $25,000 to Gatsby.

When Gatsby rowed out to Cody’s lavish yacht to warn him about an impending storm, the two became good friends. Cody showed his appreciation by hiring him as a personal assistant.

In truth, most of Gatsby’s work involved making sure Cody stayed safe during his frequent alcohol binges. Despite their employer-employee relationship, the two came to count each other as friends.

Unfortunately for Gatsby, he didn’t receive the $25,000 when Cody died because his mistress blocked the transaction, leaving Gatsby with nothing.

While her actions prevented Gatsby from collecting his money, they inspired him to pursue his own fortune and, from that moment on, he dedicated himself to becoming a wealthy man.

At What Age Did Gatsby Become Rich?

Those who study The Great Gatsby and other works by F. Scott Fitzgerald disagree somewhat on how old the Gatsby was when he got rich. Most scholars believe that Gatsby was about 30 years old when he became a millionaire.

Whether he was a couple of years older or younger hardly matters. For Fitzgerald, Gatsby just needed to embody the reckless abandon of the roaring 20s.

That could only happen by making Gatsby a fabulously wealthy person interested in throwing large parties every weekend during the summer months.

Who Inherited Gatsby’s Money?

The book doesn’t say who inherited Gatsby’s money. It stands to reason that the estate went to his father, Henry Gatz. Gatsby had already shared some of his money with his family.

A couple of years before Gatsby’s death, he visited his father and purchased the house he lived in. This made it possible for Gatz to live a more comfortable, if modest, life. If Gatsby had a will, he probably left all of his money to Gatz, his only surviving relative.

There’s another possibility that Fitzgerald scholars have considered: Gatsby didn’t have money to leave anyone. His over-the-top parties and life of luxury could have forced him to spend more money than he made and, if he did have any assets, they may have gone to his creditors to settle his debts.

Both of these scenarios are based on speculation since the author never says where the money went after Gatsby’s death, if it existed at all.

How Old was Gatsby When He Died?

Gatsby was 32 years old when he died from a gunshot wound or possible drowning. He was in his swimming pool the night that George Wilson shot him because Wilson’s wife, Myrtle had died after being struck by a yellow Rolls-Royce owned by Gatsby.

Although Gatsby wasn’t behind the wheel during the hit-and-run incident, he was already planning to take the blame to protect Daisy.

Wilson only knew that the car that killed his wife belonged to Gatsby, which was enough evidence for the grief-stricken widower to kill Gatsby before taking his own life.

Why Is Nick Carraway Rich?

The Great Gatsby is told from the perspective of Nick Carraway, who lives on the same lake as Gatsby. Carraway comes from a wealthy Midwestern family that made its money selling wholesale hardware.

After fighting in World War I and attending Yale, Nick finds Midwestern life a bit boring. He seeks adventure by moving to New York, where he becomes a bond salesman. The early 1920s were an excellent time to make money selling bonds. The stock market was booming, and wealthy people wanted investment opportunities that would grow their net worth. Nick had the knowledge and skills to make that happen.

Fitzgerald doesn’t disclose how much money Nick Carraway has, but he’s clearly a well-off person who can afford to live in West Egg next to Gatsby’s admittedly much larger home.

His fascination with Gatsby’s largess suggests that Nick probably needs to manage his money more carefully than the super-wealthy people in his social circle. Simply being able to live in Long Island for the summer shows that he has more than enough money, though.

Fitzgerald published his book in 1925, so readers never get to learn how Nick Carraway reacts to the stock market crash and the Great Depression. He might have accumulated enough money to survive the crash.

Perhaps it didn’t affect him significantly. It’s also possible that the stock market crash ruined Carraway by decimating the value of his bonds and making investors increasingly risk-averse.

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