The Vanderbilts: How America's Richest Family Lost It All

When Cornelius Vanderbilt died in 1877, his fortune was larger than the holdings of the U.S. Treasury. Less than a century later, 120 of his descendants met for a family reunion and not one of them was a millionaire. This cinematic documentary follows the Vanderbilt dynasty across four generations, from a teenage ferryman on Staten Island to the railroad king of New York, and then to the heirs who built The Breakers, Biltmore and Marble House. We follow how the Commodore built and concentrated the largest fortune of his age, how his son William Henry doubled it, and how later generations divided it, spent it and watched it fade. Gilded Age mansions, ballroom rivalries, yachts, custody battles and a dying railroad business all play a part in one of the great wealth stories in American history. This video is historical storytelling and analysis, not financial advice. Watch to the end for the lesson the Vanderbilt fortune still teaches about inherited wealth. #Vanderbilt #GildedAge #BusinessHistory #InheritedWealth #PaperEmpires ⏱ Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:44 The Ferryman 2:13 The Railroad King 4:05 The Heir Who Doubled It 5:34 Palaces of the Gilded Age 8:13 The Long Unraveling 10:08 What the Money Teaches