Maybe he can get himself killed off whilst in Deadwood
While Deadwood is fictional it could raise the possibility of him dying while building is corporate empire. Maybe that might led to William taking an earlier interest in buisness and go into mines rather than newspaper
Redem
If he’s the guy I'm thinking of I think most of his wealth came from what seemed like a super-natural ability to find very rich ore deposits and get them developed. Especially in pretty isolated areas of the American west. So if he doesn't find them, say because of an early death, and some of his finds are delayed you might see an economic impact across the world. Both the US and the wider world will have less money and at the time when most currencies are backed by spicies [sp?] this could mean reduced and slower development. [I think I remember reading that the long, almost continuous boom of the Victorian period was at least partly dependent on the continuous expansion of gold due to new finds.
Steve
Redem
If he’s the guy I'm thinking of I think most of his wealth came from what seemed like a super-natural ability to find very rich ore deposits and get them developed. Especially in pretty isolated areas of the American west. So if he doesn't find them, say because of an early death, and some of his finds are delayed you might see an economic impact across the world. Both the US and the wider world will have less money and at the time when most currencies are backed by spicies [sp?] this could mean reduced and slower development. [I think I remember reading that the long, almost continuous boom of the Victorian period was at least partly dependent on the continuous expansion of gold due to new finds.
Steve