Trending
Written by: Rob Copeland | WSJ
A Wall Streeter is coming to Alexander Hamilton’s rescue.
Just weeks after the Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced plans to shrink his predecessor’s image on the $10 bill to make way for a woman’s visage, Van Eck Global made a statement of its own. And as Van Eck is wont to do, they issued it on a necktie.
Longtime MoneyBeat readers may recall the asset manager’s rather geeky (or endearing, depending on your outlook) habit of sending clients central bank-themed ties .
They usually come out around the holidays. But firm founder Jan van Eck was so taken aback by the Hamilton slight that he hit the presses—or did whatever exactly one does to manufacture Vineyard Vines ties nowadays—on a special summer batch.
“When Jack Lew announced what he was looking to do, the emails started trickling around,” Mr. van Eck said. “We thought the tie would be a clever way to show our appreciation.”
Mr. Van Eck, 51 years old, credited one of his independent directors, Bob Grusky, for the idea. He said many of the roughly 200 ties will be sent to prominent financiers who have come to Hamilton’s defense, including former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke .
“What Hamilton did with the Revolutionary War debt and putting the stamp of the U.S. behind it was a really important step toward establishing our financial system,” Mr. van Eck said.
Hamilton died more than two centuries ago after a duel, and is buried at Trinity Church cemetery in New York, just a few miles from Van Eck’s headquarters. No word on if the firm will drape a tie there in his honor.