Fin-Tech(節(jié)選)

捕鯨業(yè)透視金融科技創(chuàng)業(yè)(節(jié)選)

Before there were tech startups, there was whaling

今有高科技創(chuàng)業(yè)公司，昔有高風(fēng)險(xiǎn)捕鯨業(yè)

Few industries involve as much drama and risk as whaling did. The last voyage of the Essex, which inspired Herman Melville’s classic, “Moby Dick”, and is the subject of a new film, “In the Heart of The Sea”, gives a sense of the horrors involved. The ship left Nantucket in 1819 and sailed for over a year before being destroyed by a whale it was hunting. The 20 crew members survived the sinking, but found themselves adrift in the Pacific in three longboats, with little food and no water. Three opted to stay on a desert island, from which they were rescued three months later, on the verge of starvation. The others sailed on, hoping to reach South America but dying one by one. At first the survivors buried the dead at sea; then they resorted to eating the corpses of their crewmates. When they ran out of bodies, they drew lots to decide whom to shoot and eat. Only five of the 17 were eventually rescued. By then, they were so delirious that they did not understand what was happening.考生如果怕自己錯(cuò)過考試成績(jī)查詢的話，可以 免費(fèi)預(yù)約短信提醒，屆時(shí)會(huì)以短信的方式提醒大家報(bào)名和考試時(shí)間。

The only reason that anyone could be induced to take part in such a dangerous business was the fabulous profit that could be made. Gideon Allen & Sons, a whaling syndicate based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, made returns of 60% a year during much of the 19th century by financing whaling voyages – perhaps the best performance of any firm in American history. It was the most successful of a very successful bunch. Overall returns in the whaling business in New Bedford between 1817 and 1892 averaged 14% a year – an impressive record by any standard.

很少行業(yè)像捕鯨那樣充滿戲劇性和風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。埃塞克斯號(hào)(Essex)的最后一次航行讓人一瞥其中的恐怖。這次航行曾經(jīng)為赫爾曼·麥爾維爾(Herman Melville)創(chuàng)作的經(jīng)典小說《白鯨》(Moby Dick)提供靈感，如今又成了新片《海洋深處》(In the Heart of The Sea)的主題。這艘捕鯨船1819年離開美國(guó)楠塔基特島(Nantucket)后航行了一年多，最終被它捕獵的一條鯨魚摧毀。20名船員在沉船后幸存下來，不過他們只能坐上三條救生艇漂流在太平洋上，食物稀少，滴水全無(wú)。其中三名船員選擇留在一座荒島上，并在三個(gè)月后瀕臨餓死之際獲救。其他人繼續(xù)航行，希望能到達(dá)南美洲，卻一個(gè)接一個(gè)地死去。剛開始，幸存者把死者葬于大海，后來，他們不得不開始吃同伴的尸體。尸體吃完之后，他們抽簽決定把誰(shuí)射殺吃掉。最終，17個(gè)人中只有5人獲救，而那時(shí)他們都已神志混亂，不知發(fā)生了什么。

會(huì)有人被吸引參與如此危險(xiǎn)的一個(gè)行當(dāng)，唯一的原因是可以獲取驚人的利潤(rùn)。19世紀(jì)的大部分時(shí)間里，位于美國(guó)馬薩諸塞州新貝德福德(New Bedford)的捕鯨辛迪加“吉迪恩·艾倫父子公司”(Gideon Allen & Sons)資助的捕鯨航行每年獲利60%，這可能是美國(guó)歷史上最高的公司回報(bào)了。它是一批已然非常成功的公司中最成功的一家。1817年至1892年，新貝德福德捕鯨業(yè)的年均總體回報(bào)率為14%——無(wú)論用什么標(biāo)準(zhǔn)衡量，這都是一個(gè)可觀的數(shù)字。

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