Jacob Leeder was a shy...
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Jacob Leeder was a shy man. He appeared to live very modestly. He drove a 1984 Olds station wagon and wore the same khakis in summer and the same corduroys in winter. His recreational outings featured trips to the flea market. When he died of prostate cancer at age 83, his will contained seventeen pages of stock holdings. The total value of these shares was 62.3 million dollars. Jacob Leeder had a good neighbor, 71-year-old Georgia Holdorf. Naturally, she was shocked to learn how much money he had earned. Sometimes she would try to encourage him "to take a vacation or enjoy a fine meal." He'd always say, "Not now, the market is bad." Georgia Holdorf spent ten years with Jacob Leeder. She cooked almost nightly for him. Yet, in his will she was only left $150,000 and a $100,000 trust fund. She said he lived out his golden years in front of her television, obsessing over market reports. He would sit glued to the screen eight hours a day. Where will all of these holdings go that Jacob Leeder so successfully laid up? Much of it, a local paper reported, will go to the government for taxes. -- Webster
