During America's Gilded Age,
the mass accumulation of money by families like the Vanderbilts changed the economic,
social and physical landscape of the United States. But once rich doesn't mean always rich. And the Vanderbilts eventually fell
from atop the financial and social ladders they once dominated and went
from American royalty to flat out broke. How'd they screw it up? Well, today we're going to take a look
at how the famous Vanderbilts blew their fortune. But before we get started, be sure
to subscribe to the Weird History Channel. After that, leave a comment
and let us know what other famous families you would like to hear about. Okay, time for a good old riches to rags story. Native to the Netherlands. The Vanderbilts got their start in the United States
sometime during the late 17th century. The farming family lived in relative
obscurity until Cornelius Commodore Vanderbilt came onto the scene
in the early 19th century. Cornelius was born in 1794
and at the age of 16 he borrowed $100 from his parents, equivalent of around $2800 today. And with it he purchased a flat bottomed
sailing barge. Vanderbilt was working with his father,
ferrying goods back and forth from Staten Island to Manhattan,
but decided to branch out on his own. He agreed to share the profits
with his parents and began transporting cargo in the New York Harbor
while undercutting the competition. The shrewd businessman made about $1,000
in his first year, approximately 20,000 bucks today and soon had a small fleet
at his disposal. Anyone else feeling lazy already? Commodore Vanderbilt grew his shipping
business quickly, especially after he discovered the lucrative practice
of war profiteering. Within two years,
he contracted with the U.S. government
to supply outposts during the War of 1812. By the end of that war,
he had earned $10,000 in revenue from transporting people
and goods from Boston to Delaware Bay. It was a pretty good gig. In 1817, Vanderbilt
began working with steamboat owner Thomas Gibbons to ferry individuals
between New York and New Jersey. Now their union line technically violated
the state monopoly over shipping held by Robert
Fulton, Robert Livingston and Aaron Ogden. But in the landmark 1824 Supreme Court
case, Gibbons V Ogden Interstate Commerce was ruled subject
to federal regulations, allowing the union line
to continue business without issue. By 1827,
Union Line was making more than $40,000 a year,
which is approximately $1.2 million today. Gibbons died in 1826. So Vanderbilt tried to buy Gibbons
Sun out of their half of the business. When the son refused to sell, Vanderbilt
started his own damn steamship Enterprise, the dispatch line, and slowly
drove the union line out of business. Finally, in 1830, the Union line
was forced to sell to Vanderbilt. Knowing a good thing when he saw it. Vanderbilt continued this pattern
along the East Coast buying out competitors
or simply forcing them to shut down. By the late 1850s, he expanded
his shipping routes across the Atlantic. He also started investing in railroads, especially as economic opportunities
presented themselves on the West Coast. Just like he had done with shipping,
Vanderbilt gained control of numerous railroad companies, creating
a monopoly of his own, which makes sense. He looks like he at least hangs out
with a monopoly guy. His efforts not only resulted
in massive personal wealth, but also helped standardize
many efficient railroad procedures Commodore Vanderbilt married his first cousin, Sophia
Johnson, in 1813, presumably because they didn't
have Internet dating services yet. So who else is there? The busy couple had 13 children
together, 11 of which survived to adulthood
at the time of Commodore's death in 1877. His two living sons, William Henry and Cornelius,
did little to inspire their father. He even had Cornelius
committed to an asylum on two occasions. The Commodore opted to leave
William Henry, the bulk of his money around $105 million, but not before
telling him any fool can make a fortune. It takes a man of brains to hold on to it. It was less a piece of wisdom
and more of a cruel prophecy. William Henry carried on his father's business
legacy, expanding railroad operations and New York to cities like Chicago,
Cleveland and Indianapolis. In fact, between his father's death
and his own in 1885, the Vanderbilt fortune
increased from $100 million. Already more than that of the U.S. Treasury to over 200 million. When William Henry died, the Vanderbilt
money was divided among his eight children. The family stake of the company
was left to the two oldest boys, Cornelius Vanderbilt,
the second who received $80 million, and William Kissam, Vanderbilt,
who received 60. And then they started spending it. Cornelius, the second, bought a Rhode Island mansion in 1885,
calling it The Breakers. Then we don't think
any resident was a B boy. He employed architect
Richard Morris Hunt, who brought in a team of international craftsmen
to create a 70 room Italian renaissance style palazzo inspired by the 16th century
palaces of Genoa and Turin. That sounds expensive. Hunt was also responsible
for George Washington Vanderbilt, the second’s North
Carolina home, the Biltmore and William Kissam's New York City
mansion known as Petit Chateau. The Vanderbilts also owned
numerous properties on Fifth Avenue, including the triple palaces,
three townhouses built in 1882. They also owned Cornelius,
the second’s townhouse, the largest home ever to have existed
on the island of Manhattan. The Vanderbilts also held lavish parties. The creatively named Vanderbilt Ball,
for example, was hosted by William Kissam's wife
Alva in 1883. On account of being nouveau riche,
the Vanderbilts were not considered among the top 400 people in New York's
High Society. In response, Alva held a costume party
and invited 1000 people in an attempt to cement the Vanderbilt family name
into the upper echelons full of pageantry and excess. The event was described
by the New York Times as a fairyland. Guests wore embellished costumes and spectacular jewels,
all hoping to outdo one another. According to the Museum of the City
of New York, most contemporary sources put the cost of the ball at a quarter
of $1,000,000 or nearly $6 million. In today's money. Commodore Vanderbilt, the OG, wasn't
big into charity. He did donate $1,000,000 to what would later be known
as Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and the family underwrote cultural enterprises
such as art galleries and museums. But it wasn't until the Gilded Age
that Commodore's Grand Children established the family
as a great philanthropic entity. Frederick Vanderbilt's wife, Louise
Homes, for example, was very generous in the Hyde Park area of New York, doing everything from treating
schoolchildren to an ice cream festival to buying a second hand motion
picture machine. So the residents of Hyde Park
could view movies in the town hall. And when Frederick Vanderbilt shuffled off
to the big country club in the sky, he left a significant amount of money
to his employees. William Kissam Vanderbilt For his part,
gave money to Columbia University and the YMCA, in addition to providing
$1,000,000 for tenement housing. George Washington Vanderbilt the second paid to design
and support libraries as well as arts activities
and educational institutions. And Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was a trained artist
who used her family wealth to support female artists. Cornelius
Vanderbilt, the second’s eldest son. Cornelius. the third, or Neily, spent large amounts of money before
falling out of favor with the family and once commented that every Vanderbilt
son has increased his fortune except me. Cornelius, the second youngest son,
Reginald, was a playboy who gambled and drank often on the night
he turned 21. He celebrated coming into his 15
and a half million dollar inheritance by losing 70,000
at the gambling table in 1922. Reginald married 17 year
old Gloria morgan. She gave birth to their daughter,
also named Gloria, in 1924. Reginald died
the following year broke and in debt, leaving his wife and child with only
the interest from his daughter's future. Trust fund. By the 1930s,
the shipping industry was losing ground to other modes of transportation,
like cars, barges and busses. With their economic dominance in decline,
the Vanderbilts sold shares of their railroad holdings, opening the door
for competition to gain majority share. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad,
for example, acquired a large amount of New York
central’s stock and took over leadership only to drive the company into bankruptcy
during the 1950s and sixties. Additionally, Cornelius the second
and William Kissam's Fifth Avenue homes were torn down in 1926 as real estate
developers bought land in clamor to build skyscrapers, and the Vanderbilts
were not in a financial position to maintain, said land holdings
within 30 years of Commodore's death. No member of the Vanderbilt
family was among the wealthiest people in the United States, and by 1973,
none of the 120 attendees at the Vanderbilt
family reunion were millionaires. No word on whether they were still invited
to play at the Millionaire All-Star Game. Gloria Vanderbilt was an actual person
and not just a mascot for selling jeans. Never really knew her
father, Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt. And her namesake mother was borderline
neglectful. Gloria's aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt. Whitney enrolled Gloria in school
and cared for her while her mother was gone for months
at a time. Eventually, Gloria's mother returned and filed
for official guardianship of her daughter. Fearing her sister in law was trying
to push her out of the child's life, Gertrude refused to hand the child
over, claiming her mother was unfit. The issue went to trial in the 1930s
and Gloria's aunt won, though not without continued litigation
and angst from her mom. As a teenager. Gloria became a socialite
who went to Hollywood for a time before moving back to New York
to study art and acting. She started designing jeans during the 1970s and later
branched out to other kinds of fashion. Building on her family's fortune,
she became financially successful
and culturally iconic in her own right. Speaking of family
fortune, CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper is the son of Gloria Vanderbilt
and author Wyatt Emory Cooper. And he has known for some time that he
won't be getting any of the family money. Most of us would be a little miffed
at that, but old Anderson is okay with it. He even told Howard Stern. My mom's made clear to me
that there's no trust fund. He then called inherited money
as initiative sucker and a curse. Cooper, who makes millions of dollars
a year working for CNN, said he always had a job growing up. And despite his mother's wealth, identifies with his father,
who grew up poor in Mississippi. We think the Commodore would respect that. So what do you think? Which Vanderbilt story surprised you
the most? Let us know in the comments below. And while you're at it, check out some of these
other videos from our weird history.
