"Tin-Can" Curt Degerman, a well-know aluminum can scavenger in the Swedish town of Skellefteå, was apparently a multi-millionaire when he died last year. He was apparently very thrift and also a shrewd investor. From Sweden's The Local:
"He went to the library every day because he didn't buy newspapers. There he read [Swedish business daily] Dagens Industri," a cousin (of Degerman told the Expressen newspaper).
"He knew stocks inside and out."
And Tin-Can Curt used that investing know-how to turn the modest deposits he collected from returning empty cans into mutual funds worth more than 8 million kronor.
In addition, he had purchased 124 gold bars currently valued at 2.6 million kronor and had nearly 47,000 kronor in the bank.
Tin-Can Curt also owned his own home, which was found to have 3,000 kronor in loose change, bringing the total value of his estate to 12,005,877 kronor.
"Eccentric Swede turned empty cans into gold" (via Fortean Times!)
