Cornelius Vanderbilt Entrepreneur, philanthropist Born May 27, 1794 in Staten Island, New York

Early Life Left school at age 11 Loved the outdoors His grammar was atrocious Handwriting not legible

Family Life Married his first cousin Had 13 children Had 2 family members committed to a lunatic asylum because they displeased him

Career Began a passenger ferry business in New York Harbor with one boat Worked as a steamboat captain to learn the business Started a steamship company

Career continued Eventually controlled Hudson River traffic Started the first rail line between New York and Chicago By age 40 worth $500,000

The “Commodore” Nicknamed the “Commodore” due to the large number of steamships he owned Very wealthy and powerful man Lived frugally

Ate simple food Did not have a large appetite Rarely drank wine Went to bed at 10:00 p.m.

North Star Tour 1853 yacht tour of Europe Built steamship yacht to show off to Europeans $500,00 spent on trip with his family North Star was more splendid than the Queen of England’s yacht

Railroad Acquisitions Not interested in the railroad due to a serious injury while riding a train when he was 33 years old Decided that commerce and passenger travel would be done by rail because of poor roads 1860s began purchasing railroad stock

Railroad cont. Began consolidating small run-down rail lines He answered to no one No laws in place to prevent monopolies

Vanderbilt Legacy His son donated about $1.2 million to build a university He was not a generous man while alive Disliked the clergy

Legacy cont. Ironic that Vanderbilt has a school of divinity Referred to as a “robber baron” by the New York Times to criticize his competitive business practices He shut down all railroad traffic in and out of New York City because of a dispute

The public believed that he bribed elected officials. He used corporate collusion “price fixing” to eliminate competition. He was viewed as ruthless. He believed in laissez-faire.

Vanderbilt died of bladder and colon infections in 1877 His estate was worth $100 million During his lifetime he was never really accepted by high society