How the Vanderbilts Lost Their $200 Billion Fortune

On January 4th, 1877, Cornelius Vanderbilt died the richest man in America. His railroad-and-shipping fortune was so vast that measured against the size of the economy it would top two hundred billion dollars today, making him one of the richest Americans who ever lived. Yet ninety-six years later, when roughly a hundred and twenty of his descendants gathered for a family reunion, not one of them was a millionaire. So how does the greatest fortune America ever produced vanish completely, in three generations, without a war, a crash, or a crime? In this documentary: how the Commodore built his empire from a single ferryboat; how his son doubled it to two hundred million and then split it; how the third generation spent it on marble palaces, costume balls, and buying European titles; why every Fifth Avenue Vanderbilt mansion was torn down; and the wealth-protection lesson delivered by the two who kept theirs, the Biltmore branch that ran an estate as a business, and Anderson Cooper, the Vanderbilt heir who took no trust fund and is grateful the fortune was already gone. If you have ever wondered where old American money really goes, this is the purest example there is. Subscribe for more forgotten fortunes:    / @fortunesgraveyt   Sources: Forbes and Wall Street Journal archives; probate and court records; period newspapers via the Library of Congress; and the standard biographies of the era. No "experts say." No guessing. Images are public-domain and archival materials (Library of Congress; Wikimedia Commons, non-restricted), used under fair use for commentary, criticism, and education per Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act. 0:00 Richest man in America, 96 years later 1:15 What "$200 billion" really means 3:23 A ferryman who would ruin you 7:42 The Commodore dies, and passes it to one son 9:55 The son who doubled it, then split it 13:01 Born to spend: the Gilded Age 14:07 Palaces and white elephants 17:38 Buying titles: Consuelo's bargain 19:53 Divided again — and Reginald burns it 22:03 The mansions fall, the millionaire-less room 24:20 Biltmore: the branch that kept it 26:26 Gloria, and the heir who took nothing 30:12 Two dynasties, one autopsy #documentary #gildedage #vanderbilt #oldmoney