The Resume

(August 18, 1834-January 16, 1906)
Born in Conway, Massachusetts
Founded the department store chain Marshall Field and Company
Endowed the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago
Net worth at death: $125 million (equivalent to $3.2 billion in 2020)

Why he might be annoying:

He hired spies and informers to report on his employees’ behavior.
He would fire employees who gambled or drank alcohol on their own time.
At company dinners, he would surprise executives by announcing their ‘retirement.’
He was initially reluctant to fund the Field Museum, declaring ‘I don't know anything about a museum and I don't care to know anything about a museum.’

Why he might not be annoying:

In five years, he went from being a clerk in a dry goods store to being the general manager and one of the partners.
He bounced back after his store was destroyed in the Chicago Fire (1871).
He introduced consistent pricing, revolving credit, and unconditional refunds.
His salespeople were instructed not to push products on uninterested customers as was common practice in other stores.
He and John D. Rockefeller donated the land for the University of Chicago.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 76]
• I Died in 1906 (Ranked: 71)
• I Named My Kid After Myself
• I Outlived My Child
• I’m Buried at Graceland Cemetery [Chicago]
• In Town for The World's Fair at the Columbian Exposition [1893-Chicago]
• My Name, My Company
• Profiles 46751-47000 (Ranked: 46834)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying