it was only after ronald read's death last june that his talent for picking successful stocks became public knowledge when he left $6 million to his local library and hospital in brattleboro, vermont  a former gas station employee and janitor in vermont who died last june aged 92 had secretly amassed a fortune of around $8 million thanks to a hidden talent for picking successful stocks ronald read's fortune only became public knowledge after his death when he bequeathed $6 million to his local library and hospital during his lifetime read was known to friends and neighbors as a man who sometimes held his coat together with safety pins and had a long time habit of foraging for firewood read, who worked for almost 25 years at haviland's service station in brattleboro, was known for his flannel jacket and baseball cap his most expensive possession was a 2007 toyota yaris valued at $5,000, which gave no hint of the size of his  fortune 'if he could save a penny, he would,' bridget bokum, a senior associate at his local wells fargo advisors office told wsj bokum together with claire johns, the executor of read's will, is currently going through a five inch thick stack of stock certificates to determine his exact worth 'we all knew he was into the stock market, but not to this extent,' said johns the secret to read's financial success was that a well as being a shrewd stock picker, he also displayed remarkable frugality and patience with his shares at the time of his death read owned at least 95 stocks, many of which he had held for decades the secret to read's success was that a well as being a good stock picker, he displayed remarkable frugality and patience with stocks including procter & gamble  he had invested across a variety of sectors, including railroads, utility companies, banks, health care, telecom and consumer products but had avoided technology stocks when read received dividend checks in the mail he plowed the money back into more shares, said bokum among his longtime holdings were procter & gamble, jp morgan chase, general electric and dow chemical at the time of his death, read also had large stakes in jm smucker, cvs health and johnson & johnson his portfolio also included some notable failures including lehman brothers holdings, which famously collapsed during the financial crisis in 2008 one of the keys for read's success was that he was prepared to stick with his picks for long periods of time in 1959 he bought 39 shares of pacific gas & electric for about $2,380 and  they are now worth about $10,735 at the time of his death, he owned 578 shares in pg&e, worth just over $26,500 when read died last year he also had large stakes in companies including johnson & johnson  secret millionaire in their midst: ronald read, (left, in his trademark baseball cap), pictured eating christmas dinner at the american legion in vermont a few years before his death  stepson phillip brown, of somersworth, new hampshire, told the brattleboro reformer that the only indication brown had of read's investments was his regular reading of the wall street journal 'i was tremendously surprised,' brown said of read's hidden wealth 'he was a hard worker, but i don't think anybody had an idea that he was a multi millionaire' read relied on subscriptions to the wall street journal and barron's for his investment knowledge, although he also made good use of his local library to which he has  bequeathed $12 million he also donated $48 million to the brattleboro memorial hospital and made a number of smaller bequests 'it's pretty incredible this is not something that happens on a regular basis,' said the hospital's development director, gina pattison gas station employee: ronald  read worked at haviland's service station for 25 years and even met his wife there in 1960 for whom he was married for 10 years until she died in 1970  this google street view shows ronald read's modest home and that may even be him pictured in the right corner near his toyota parked outside  read was born in dummerston in 1921 he was the first in his family to graduate from high school, walking and hitchhiking about four miles each way from his home to the high school in brattleboro after military service during world war ii, he returned to brattleboro where he worked at a service station for 25 years then worked for 17 years as a janitor at the local jc penney in 1960 he married a woman he met at the service station but she died in 1970
ronald read last june age 92 around $8 million procter & gamble jp morgan chase general electric dow chemical 1959 pacific gas & electric today 10,735 lehman brothers holdings 2008
ronald read who died last june age 92 had secretly amassed a fortune of around $8 million  unbeknownst to his friends and neighbors read had a hidden talent for picking successful stocks  the secret to read's success was that as well as being a good picker, he also displayed remarkable frugality and patience  among his longtime holdings were  procter & gamble, jp morgan chase, general electric and dow chemical  in 1959 he bought 39 shares in pacific gas & electric which are today worth $10,735   five times what he paid for them  his portfolio also included some failures including lehman brothers holdings, which famously collapsed in 2008 during the financial crisis 