'Street Bum' Leaves Behind A $1.4mm USD Fortune!

Curt Degerman, fondly known as 'Tin Can Curt', spent 30 years of his life, collecting bottles and cans from trash bins on the streets of Skelleftea, Sweden. Locals knew him as a street bum, who scrounged around for leftover food in his tattered clothes. What they did not know, is that he was also a financial genius, who left behind a fortune of over $1.4mm USD.

It turns out that when Curt was not scouting the trash cans, he hung out at the local library, where he learned how to be an astute investor, by reading the financial section of the newspaper.

Using that knowledge, he bought stocks, bonds and even gold bars, from the money he made from selling bottles and cans. When Curt died of a heart attack two years ago, his estate comprised of a home, a portfolio of stocks and bonds worth $900,000USD, 124 gold bars worth more than $60,000USD and, a bank account with a balance of about $6,000USD.

While Curt did not enjoy his wealth, his cousins, who he left his fortune to, are sure going to have good time - Did I hear someone say luuuuucccky?

sources:blogs.wsj.com, the local.se