Around New England

Vermont Centenarian Mogul Was ‘Wheeler-Dealer’ At Age 10

February 10, 2018

Tony Pomerleau, a real estate developer and entrepreneur who died recently at age 100, got his start as a 10-year-old asking neighbors in Newport, Vermont to mow their lawn for $1 — and then recruiting other kids to actually mow the lawns for 50 cents apiece. When he sold cars during the 1930s, the dealership told him to get rid of a car that wasn’t selling for the list price of $135; he sold it to a farmer for $100 and a horse, then traded the horse to another farmer for $50 and a saxophone, then gave the dealership $150 (more than the original asking price) and asked for the saxophone for a commission — which he then sold to a music teacher for $35, “much more than he would have made for a straight cash commission,” according to The Burlington Free Press.