Warning: SPOILERS For The Gilded Age Season 3, Episode 4 - “Marriage Is A Gamble"Jack Trotter just became a very rich man inThe Gilded Ageseason 3, and here’s how much the footman’s invention is worth in 2025. TheGilded Ageseason 3, episode 4, centers on Gladys Russell’s (Taissa Farmiga) life-changing wedding to Hector, Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb). But Jack’s life was also changed byThe Gilded Ageseason 3, beyond even his wildest dreams.
InThe Gilded Ageseason 2,Jack Trotter invented a better alarm clock than what was available on the market in the 1880s. Jack’s innovation was to make alarms more reliable by making his clock not need oil. With the help of his fellow servants and the Van Rhijn and Brook/Forte families, Jack was able to patent his invention and find a business partner, Larry Russell (Harry Richardson).
Although Jack and Larry had been frustrated with their attempts to sell Jack’s clock, their breakthrough happened inThe Gilded Ageseason 3, episode 4.Mr. Russell and Mr. Trotter sold their clock for $600,000,an amount that left Jack understandably stunned. Six hundred thousand dollars is still a lot of money in 2025, but inThe Gilded Age’s timeframe, adjusted for inflation, it’s an absolute fortune.
How Much Jack Trotter & Larry Russell’s Clock Is Worth In 2025 Money Explained
Jack Is Now A Very Rich Man
The Gilded Ageseason 3 takes place in 1884. Adjusted for inflation in 2025,Jack Trotter and Larry Russell’s sale of the clock for $600,000 amounts to $19,681,530 in present-day money. Now, Larry and Jack agreed to split their bounty 50/50, and he told Mrs. Bauer (Kristine Nielsen) that his half of the clock earnings is $300,000. This makes Jack and Larry’s respective take-home fortunes $9,840,765 in 2025 funds.
Despite his reservations about Larry Russell’s technical acumen, Jack has to be grateful that he took on his neighbor as his business partner. During meetings and negotiations, Larry knew exactly what to ask for that Jack did not. Trotter might have settled for his buyers' initial offer of $300,000, and he’d still have walked away a wealthy man. Butit was Larry who hard-balled and got their offer doubled.Otherwise, Larry and Jack’s take home might have been only $4,920,382 each.
It was Larry who made his buyers open their purse strings to get their clock.
Interestingly, Larry Russell bowed out of following his tycoon father,George Russell (Morgan Spector), into his railroad and finance industries, choosing instead to follow his dreams of becoming an architect. If there wasa question of whether Larry had inherited George’s business savvy,however, the younger Mr. Russell dispelled them with his shrewd and ruthless negotiation tactics. Jack had an invention worth selling, but it was Larry who made his buyers open their purse strings to get their clock.
Jack Trotter Is The Best Example Of The Gilded Age’s Real Theme
Jack Achieved The American Dream
The Gilded Ageis about the haves and have-nots of upper-class 19th-century New York society, but the servants of the Russell and Van Rhijn/Forte households also have compelling stories. Jack Trotter, however, has emerged as a fan-favorite andthe best example ofThe Gilded Age’s real theme: the pursuit of the American Dream.
In his early 20s, Jack is an orphan who came to work at the Van Rhijn household with no other options in life. But Mr. Trotter was a hard worker who was willing to do anything, earning him the high regard of the butler, Bannister (Simon Jones), and his employers, Agnes Van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) and Ada Forte (Cynthia Nixon). Understandably,Jack wasn’t content to spend his life in service, and he wanted more.
Jack is living proof of the American Dream in The Gilded Age.
Thanks to Jack’s own ingenuity, a lot of help from his friends, and a heap of good fortune, Trotter can now write his own ticket in life. While nowhere near the rumored fortune of a robber baron like George Russell,Jack’s $300,000 lifts him instantly out of poverty and service, and into the upper class of New York society.Jack is living proof of the American DreaminThe Gilded Age.
How Becoming Rich Will Change Jack In The Gilded Age
Jack Will Have To Leave The Van Rhijn/Brook Household
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Jack’s sudden wealth is thatthe footman didn’t immediately quit service. Instead, Mr. Trotter resumed work at the Van Rhijn/Forte household and kept his good fortune a secret, only telling Mrs. Bauer that he was now very wealthy. If being rich will eventually change Jack, it hasn’t yet. Instead, Trotter is hesitant to leave his job and the"only home"he’s felt comfortable in after being orphaned.
Still, Jack Trotter can’t remain a footman for much longer, nor does he want to. When Jack chooses to leave service, he can easily purchase his own home in New York and hire servants. Jack will be in a completely different tax bracket and social structure, andhe also can’t merely spend his fortune until it’s gone. Mr. Trotter will have to find a way to earn more. Perhaps these are the things that are giving the young footman pause.
Given that Marian Brook and Larry Russell are romantically involved, it stands to reason Marian would learn from Larry that he and Jack sold their clock, especially since she paired them as business partners, to begin with.
Jack Trotter is stalling, but he can’t keep his newfound wealth a secret from Aunt Agnes, Ada, Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), and Oscar Van Rhijn (Blake Ritson) indefinitely. Jack’s life is on the precipice of change, and that could include his love life as well.Jack can now pursue women who aren’t fellow servantslike Bridget (Taylor Richardson) or Adelheid (Erin Wilhelmi).
In 2025, Jack Trotter’s $9,840,765 would make him very wealthy, but inThe Gilded Age’s era, Jack’s fortune is even more impressive. Jack isThe Gilded Age’s exemplar of chasing the American Dream, and that it can come true.
