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Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. [1] [2] After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into leadership positions in the inland water trade and invested in the rapidly growing railroad industry, effectively transforming the geography of the ...
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]
Cornelius Vanderbilt, the founder of the Vanderbilt business dynasty.. The progenitor of the Vanderbilt family was Jan Aertszoon or Aertson (1620–1705), a Dutch farmer from the village of De Bilt in Utrecht, Netherlands, who emigrated to the Dutch colony of New Netherland as an indentured servant to the Van Kouwenhoven family in 1650.
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The First Tycoon went on to win the 2009 National Book Award for Nonfiction [1] and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. [4] It was also named a New York Times Notable Book and one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker, [5] the Financial Times, [6] the Christian Science Monitor, [7] the Boston Globe, [8] and the Philadelphia Inquirer. [9]
His grandson, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, succeeded him as the president and chairman of the New York Central Railroad in 1885. As heir to the family fortune, he built a 70-room, 138,300-square-foot ...
Commissioned by Cornelius Vanderbilt, it was one of the fastest and most luxurious steamers in operation. On 13 January 1840, en route from New York City to Boston, the casing around the ship's smokestack caught fire, igniting nearly 150 bales of cotton and causing the passengers and crew to attempt to abandon ship. Of the estimated 143 people ...
The gate at The Breakers. Cornelius Vanderbilt II purchased the grounds in 1885 for $450,000 (equivalent to $15.3 million in 2023). [4] The previous mansion on the property was owned by Pierre Lorillard IV; it burned on November 25, 1892, and Vanderbilt commissioned famed architect Richard Morris Hunt to rebuild it in splendor.