Richard Demille Wyckoff (November 2, 1873 – March 7, 1934) was an American stock promoter, investor, and securities speculator, as well as a financial media author, editor, and publisher. Notably, Wyckoff founded the Magazine of Wall Street, at one point the world's most widely circulated financial publication, and is credited as a pioneer of technical analysis.
Life and career
Early life Richard Demille Wyckoff was born on November 2, 1873, in Brooklyn, New York. He was the son of Walter Wychoff. Walter was a financial media publisher and financier.
Alternative sources document that Wyckoff's parents were Judith Annie Stoothoff (b. April 18, 1845) and Charles Benedict Wyckoff (b. March 30, 1844). Charles Benedict was a real estate developer and a veteran of the American Civil War.
In 1888, Richard Wyckoff became a messenger boy for a firm of brokers, later becoming a broker and stock promoter himself before entering the publishing world in the early 1900s. Wyckoff would continue to act as a stock promoter, trader, and investor, speculating mainly in stock and bonds, until the end of his life.
Wyckoff Estate Walter Wyckoff contracted architect Chester A. Patterson and landscape designer Clarence Fowler to build a 7600 square foot mansion on a 10-acre estate, dubbed “Twin Lindens” or the "Wyckoff Estate", next to Alfred P. Sloan’s home in a wealthy part of New York (West Shore Road, Kings Point, Great Neck).
Richard Wyckoff later inherited this property from Walter. While several independent sources indicate that Walter bought and built the Wyckoff Estate, Richard claimed that it was he who purchased the land and built a $250,000 mansion (in contemporaneous USD). The discrepancy might stem from the fact that Richard tried to hide or protect his assets from the numerous personal and professional lawsuits he was subject to throughout the 1910s and 1920s, by placing those assets under other peoples' names.
Other sources state that Cecilia Shere, Wyckoff's one-time wife and business partner, purchased the land and built the home in question with her profits from the Magazine of Wall Street.
The Magazine of Wall Street Wyckoff founded The Ticker, of the Ticker Publishing Co., in 1907; it was rebranded in 1911 as The Magazine of Wall Street. The magazine went on to become the world's most widely-circulated financial publication in the early 1900s, surpassing The Wall Street Journal.
In 1929, near the magazine's zenith, its value was reported to be between $39,000,000 and $117,000,000 (in 2026 USD) and it employed 200 people.
Divorce, financial struggles, and later years In highly publicized and prolonged divorce-related proceedings, Wyckoff was forced to sell the magazine to Cecilia Wyckoff (née Shere), Wyckoff's one-time mistress and later wife.
Shere, called "redoubtable" by Benjamin Graham, initially became Wyckoff's secretary and stenographer at the magazine and took on a decision-making role within the magazine thereafter. Wyckoff gave Shere 25% of the magazine on engagement and a further 25% upon marriage. Wyckoff gave another 49% of the magazine in later years as he sought to protect his assets from litigation.
Wyckoff alleged that Shere had gained 99% control of the magazine through manipulation, emotional and otherwise. Shere countered that she earned control through sound business practices. Wyckoff rebutted that her claims of "genius" business decisions were propaganda and a ruse intended to take credit for all of his work and success. The courts adjudged, and contemporaneous reports stated, that Shere was the reason for why the magazine was profitable in the first place and that, early on, she had taken equity more so than salary as compensation for her work. The court in the case stated that Wyckoff never turned a profit prior to Shere taking over major business decisions. It was further stated that when Shere had a prolonged absence due to illness, Wyckoff indebted the company once again, which Shere later reversed. Wyckoff had apparently devoted most of his time to stock promotion and other investment activities rather than running the magazine.
The courts ultimately gave Shere full control of the magazine, the entire Wyckoff Estate (Twin Lindens), and custody of both of their children.
In return for losing control of nearly everything he had, Wyckoff settled for a nominal position and a good salary within the magazine but was quickly fired by the sole owner at that point, Shere. The divorce proceeding further awarded Wyckoff $500,000 in 7% bonds. However, the interest on the bonds didn't cover child support, forcing Wyckoff to further compensate Shere every year. Not long after, Shere ordered the cessation of interest payments on the bonds. Wyckoff sued Shere and the Ticker Publishing Co. to recover the interest he stated he was owed. The matter was not settled until after Wyckoff's death.
The process ultimately left Wyckoff in poor health and financial strain serious enough to temporarily live in "a broken-down public inn".
Wyckoff entered semi-retirement after losing control of the magazine, focusing on a small publishing enterprise consisting of selling stock-related books, courses, a newsletter, and a magazine.
Personal life and death
Wyckoff was a Republican.
Wyckoff had a daughter, Jane, with his first wife. At one point, Wyckoff was married to Elsie L. Suydam. Soon after founding The Ticker, Wyckoff began having an affair with a young singer from Detroit, Cecilia Gertrude Shere (b. May 30, 1888). Wyckoff's then-wife, Aleminia Wyckoff, became suspicious and hired a private detective, discovered the affair, and filed for divorce. Shere and Wyckoff were married shortly thereafter, on August 26, 1913. They had two girls, Gloria Wyckoff Dennison (b. January 23, 1916) and Dorothy (b. March 21, 1918).
After Wyckoff's divorce from Shere, he married Alma Weiss, who became executor of his estate after his death. Wyckoff died from a heart condition on March 7, 1934, in Sacramento, California. His body was taken to a funeral chapel in Brooklyn, New York.
Wyckoff was a cousin of Cecil B. DeMille.
Controversies, lawsuits, and fraud
Market forecasting and trading acumen Government records show that Wyckoff personally traded and invested in the markets.
Wyckoff claimed that he was able to make accurate, albeit not infallible, market forecasts via his trading abilities and felt confident enough to charge for his forecasting services via his publications; such as the profitable Trend Letter, a trading newsletter.
Wyckoff's contemporaries did not concur with the notion that Wyckoff had superior forecasting or trading abilities. While acknowledging Wyckoff's pioneering work in technical analysis and that Wyckoff was a speculator, William Feather stated that Wyckoff's most substantial profits came mainly from publishing. Another contemporary, Louis Guenther (founder of Financial World) failed to support the assertion that Wyckoff had any superior market forecasting acumen nor any superior stock picking skills, going so far as to accuse Wyckoff of failure in the more financially conservative bond business, of outright "financial charlatanism", and perpetrating "Ponzi"-like "get-rich-quick" schemes. Guenther stated Wyckoff "cannot make money for himself" and that, with respect to Wyckoff's occasional correct predictions: "...there is not a fool in Wall Street who cannot...claim to have done the same thing."
Guenther did not dispute that Wyckoff was likely overall profitable in his market activities when engaged in market manipulation in his roles as a stockbroker, stock sponsor, stock promoter, or as a senior employee (insider) within a company whose shares he promoted to his readers, associates, and employees. As such, Wyckoff likely made potentially substantial profits from the fees, commissions, or appreciation of shares he received when acting in such capacities.
Even when Wyckoff engaged in the aforementioned capacities, his market returns appear to have been erratic and often highly unprofitable. For example, tax records indicate that Wyckoff was likely an overall profitable market operator from 1915 to 1919, collecting fees, commissions, and capital stock as compensation for acting as a sponsor, promoter, or pool participant. In the period 1921–1923, Wyckoff promoted his market forecasting and stock picking acumen to his readers via a subscription newsletter and a market analytics service. But during this period, tax records reveal that Wyckoff suffered heavy losses in the markets in all three years. Particularly, in 1921 Wyckoff had a net loss of over $3,000,000 (in 2026 USD).
Market manipulation and lawsuits In order to secure himself with trading-related profits, Wyckoff relied on numerous "tricks" and market manipulation techniques, such as pool operations and the solicitation of one form of payoff or another in order to "push" a stock by promoting it to his paying subscribers. These techniques were viewed as highly unethical during his time but they were not fully criminalized until several months after Wyckoff's death, with the passage of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
First series of exposés and libel lawsuit Wyckoff was criticized for his market manipulation techniques by his contemporaries, including Guenther. In a series of exposés beginning in the 1910s, Guenther highlighted how Wyckoff deceived and manipulated his readers over multiple years and across several different stocks (such as Emerson Phonograph Co.), netting Wyckoff and his associates profits while leaving his magazine and Trend Letter subscribers with losses. Guenther furnished evidence to buttress his claims, including analysis by John Moody. Wyckoff issued a series of his own replies accusing Guenther, among other things, of envy. Guenther claimed that Wyckoff's replies never addressed Guenther's central accusations.