Sam Zemurray (America's Banana King)

The greatness of Zamuri lies in the fact that he never lost faith in his ability to salvage a situation.

Bad things happen to him as bad things happen to everyone.

But unlike so many, he was never tempted by failure.

He never felt powerless or trapped.

He was, as I said, an optimist.

He stood in constant defiance.

When the Secretary of State teamed up with J.P. Morgan and the Honduran government in a way contrary to Zamuri's interests, he simply changed the Honduran government.

When United Fruit drew a line at the Utila River and said, you shall not cross, he crossed anyway.

When he was forbidden to build a bridge, he built a bridge but called it something else.

For every move, there is a counter move.

For every disaster, there is a recovery.

He never lost faith in his own agency.

With his fortune fast diminishing, it was time to act.

This is the story of Sam Zimuri.

Welcome to Ambition, a show about the most ambitious people in history and what we can learn from them.

I'm your host, Justin Gordon, an entrepreneur based in Los Angeles.

My main source for this episode is The Fish That Ate the Whale, The Life and Times of America's Banana King by Rich Cohen, which was published in 2012.

This is probably one of my favorite books of all time.

The story is insane, as you're about to listen to shortly here.

Let's get to it.