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Madeleine Talmage Dick (née Force; previously Astor, later Fiermonte; June 19, 1893 – March 27, 1940) was an American socialite and a survivor of the RMS Titanic. [1] She was the second wife and widow of businessman John Jacob Astor IV .
When Madeleine died in late March 1940, she left him a diamond solitaire ring worth $50,000 (about $1,090,000 in 2023 dollars) and a pearl necklace worth $1,525 (about $33,170 in 2023 dollars). Elder half-brother Vincent's contempt for Madeleine led him to believe that Jakey was not even a biological Astor.
While most sources attribute this status to Andrew Carnegie, others argue that it could be Bill Gates, Cornelius Vanderbilt I, John Jacob Astor IV, or Henry Ford. Determining the lower ranks is an even more contentious debate. Vanderbilt left a fortune worth $100 million upon his death in 1877, equivalent to $2.4 billion today. [5]
Astor in 1909 Astor as Henry IV of France. John Jacob Astor IV was born on July 13, 1864, at his parents' country estate of Ferncliff in Rhinebeck, New York.He was the youngest of five children and only son of William Backhouse Astor Jr., a businessman, collector, and racehorse breeder/owner, and Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn, a Dutch-American socialite.
The Astor family achieved prominence in business, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With German roots, some of their ancestry goes back to the Italian and Swiss Alps, [1] the Astors settled in Germany, first appearing in North America in the 18th century with John Jacob Astor, one of the wealthiest people in history.
Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn Astor (September 22, 1830 – October 30, 1908) was an American socialite who led the Four Hundred, high society of New York City in the Gilded Age. [1] Referred to later in life as "the Mrs. Astor" or simply "Mrs. Astor", she was the wife of yachtsman William Backhouse Astor Jr.
The Four Hundred was a list of New York society during the Gilded Age, a group that was led by Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, the "Mrs. Astor", for many years. After her death, her role in society was filled by three women: Mamie Fish , Theresa Fair Oelrichs , and Alva Belmont , [ 2 ] known as the "triumvirate" of American society.
His net worth at the time was estimated at $75 million. Ferncliff , the Astor family's country estate in Rhinebeck, New York He also inherited Ferncliff , the Astor family's 2,800-acre (11 km 2 ) estate in Rhinebeck, New York , where his father had been born.