The first millionaire from the California gold rush was a store owner named Samuel Brannan.
He opened a store at John Sutter’s Fort in what is now Sacramento, California.
This was the only store between San Francisco and the gold fields 35 miles northeast of Sacramento.
He capitalized on this by purchasing every pickaxe, shovel and pan he could find, spreading hysteria about gold in the Sierra Nevada, and then selling the equipment for a ridiculous markup.
He could purchase pans for 20 cents apiece and resell them for $15.
He used the profits from his store to purchase large tracts of land.
In the 1850s and 1860s Brannan was the richest man in California.