What Happened To The Vanderbilt Fortune?

 

The Vanderbilts were once one of America's richest family dynasties, dating back to the Gilded Age. However, over the generations, the family fortune has gradually dwindled. Today, little remains of Vanderbilt's estate, and surviving family members have had to find their own property.

vanderbilt fortune

The Vanderbilt fortune was founded by Cornelius "The Commodore" Vanderbilt, who was born in 1794. He was in charge of the vast shipping and railroad empire he built in America, making him the richest man in the country. Vanderbilt was not shy of his wealth, building expansive mansions in Newport, Rhode Island, and North Carolina on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. By the time of his death in 1877, Cornelius had a net worth of $105 million, equivalent to $2.9 billion by today's standards.

While his son, William Henry Vanderbilt, successfully doubled the family fortune, earning the same title as America's richest man as his father, future generations would not be so entrepreneurial. Successive heirs would gradually squander the family fortune, and by the mid-20th century, their prominence had effectively declined. Known as the "Fall of the Vanderbilt Houses", most of the mansions he built were torn down, sold, or converted into museums. However, this does not mean that money was not saved.

Over the years, Gloria has lost her wealth.

Gloria Vanderbilt, Cornelius' great-granddaughter, was born in 1924 and inherited a trust fund of $2.5 million. It may have been only a fraction of the family's previous wealth, but it was certainly nothing for you to snort at. When she was just a child, her mother and her aunts became involved in a very public battle for custody of her and control over her trust fund, with the tabloids dubbing her the "poor little rich girl." When she was 21, she finally took control of her $4.2 million inheritance.

Despite her inherited wealth, Gloria was always working. Initially, she worked as a model and ventured into other creative fields like writing and acting. By the 1970s, she had built a fashion empire whose value had grown to $100 million, but it was also beset with problems. Over time, she and her fashion empire faced several legal challenges, causing her to face some serious financial struggles. In 1993, a lawsuit alleged that her attorney and psychiatrist stole millions of dollars from her and sold her business interests without permission, leaving her with huge bills. To pay off his debts he had to sell both his Southampton mansion and his Manhattan townhome.

Cooper knew he wasn't going to inherit much

His son, American broadcaster and journalist Anderson Cooper, is one of the modern faces of the Vanderbilt family. When his mother died in 2019 at the age of 95, many people believed that he was going to inherit a large fortune. As it turns out, his legacy was nowhere near him. In his will, he stipulated that his eldest son, Leopold Stokowski, would inherit his Manhattan co-op, valued at $1.2 million. Cooper was to inherit all of his estate, which was worth only $1.5 million.

Obviously, Cooper was well aware that no great fortune was waiting for him. “My mother has made it clear to me that there is no trust fund. There's nothing like that,'' he said. As such, he has worked hard to acquire a huge wealth for himself. "I see money as a kind of distortion that has infected the coming generations, because I think they've all grown up with the idea that there's always going to be money, and they have to actually work for it." There is no need,” he explained earlier.