Even so, some innovators do make a success of business, and finance is no exception. The same is true in many industries: Bill Gates did not invent the computer, John Rockefeller did not invent the oil refinery.
Later he was lucky to avoid the 1870s railway bubble, leaving him the money and connections to mop up the pieces on the cheap. His initial advantage came from exploiting the big financial trend of the early 19th century - the flow of money from wealthy Europe to opportunities in the US. Like many other great financiers, Morgan was a businessman, not an innovator.
