Ronald Read didn't look like a wealthy man. For years, the Vermont resident worked ordinary jobs. He spent about 25 years at a gas station and later worked as a janitor at J.C. Penney for 17 years. Nothing about those jobs suggested that he was quietly building a fortune.
When Read died in 2014 at the age of 92, the value of his estate was close to $8 million. The number caught people off guard because Read had never lived like someone with that kind of money.
