Gates, John Warne

Gates, John Warne, 1855–1911, American financier and promoter, known as Bet-a-Million Gates, b. near Chicago. He discovered a market for wire fencing on the Western plains, began the manufacture of fencing in St. Louis, and, by a succession of consolidations and promotion schemes, organized (1898) the American Steel and Wire Company. He was a well-known figure on the grain and stock exchanges and later, interesting himself in oil, became prominent in the development of Port Arthur, Tex.