How did Dan Cody acquire his wealth in The Great Gatsby?

in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dan Cody is Gatsby's first mentor and role model; in fact, Gatsby changes his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby upon meeting Cody on Lake Superior. Cody was clearly a very wealthy man: he owned the Tuolomee, a yacht capable of going around the world. He was "many times a millionaire" (105). He made his money in ore, silver in Nevada and "every rush of...

in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dan Cody is Gatsby's first mentor and role model; in fact, Gatsby changes his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby upon meeting Cody on Lake Superior. Cody was clearly a very wealthy man: he owned the Tuolomee, a yacht capable of going around the world. He was "many times a millionaire" (105). He made his money in ore, silver in Nevada and "every rush of metal since Seventy-Five" (105). At age fifty, Cody is in good physical shape but ripe for plucking by a gold-digging female. Gatsby is invited aboard the yacht to work for Cody, and as Gatsby protects Cody from his own worst impulses, Cody begins to trust him and leaves him twenty-five thousand dollars in his will. Gatsby never gets this money when Cody dies, but he does gain an education of sorts, in how to be or not be a wealthy man.