Born in the Jewish ghetto of Lengnau, Switzerland in 1828, 19–year–old Orthodox Jew Meyer Guggenheim arrives in Philadelphia with his small family. Originally a poor peddler of household goods, Meyer and his eventual seven sons segue first into importing lace from Switzerland, then into manufacturing stove polish, then into dealing in lye and, in the meanwhile, still wholesaling the original household goods.
In 1881, Meyer Guggenheim accepts a small interest in two Colorado silver mines in lieu of cash payment for a debt. Step by step he makes inroads in the mining industry in the US and Mexico.
In 1901 Guggenheim and sons gain control of giant American Smelting & Refining (originally founded by William Rockefeller, among others, and currently run by ASARCO).
Half a century later, after WWII, the Guggenheims sell off their mining interests and have subsequently been busy funding sundry architecturally avant garde museums around the world.