Состояние Вандербильтов не исчезло. Рассказываем, кому оно досталось

The Vanderbilt fortune didn't vanish. In 1877 Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt died worth about $105 million, one dollar in every 87 in the entire American economy. Ninety-six years later, 120 of his descendants gathered at Vanderbilt University for a family reunion, and the family's own historian wrote that not one of them was a millionaire. So where did the money go? Everyone says the heirs spent it all. The records say most of it got off the train by other doors: five of them, and we follow the Vanderbilt line from its first station to its last, taking down the name of everyone who stepped off with a piece of the richest family in American history. From the Commodore's steamships and the New York Central railroad to the Gilded Age mansions of Fifth Avenue: William Henry Vanderbilt selling 250,000 shares through J.P. Morgan in 1879 and doubling the fortune to about $200 million by 1885; the will that gave $10 million to each of his eight children; Biltmore, 250 rooms and 125,000 acres; The Breakers in Newport; the estate tax that took $13.4 million from William K. Vanderbilt in 1920; Alfred Vanderbilt on the Lusitania; Reginald's gambling debts; the Fifth Avenue palaces sold in 1926 and torn down for Bergdorf Goodman; the Penn Central bankruptcy of 1970; Gloria Vanderbilt and the estate of $1.5 million left to Anderson Cooper; and the Vanderbilt family reunion of 1973. We also run the calculation nobody runs: what if the heirs had done nothing at all? Then we pick the decision that did the most damage, Billy's will or the palaces, and we pick the palaces. Which one would you blame? Tell us in the comments, we read every word. 00:00 The fortune that "vanished" 01:06 The Commodore: the man who laid the track 03:47 Billy Vanderbilt doubles the fortune 06:14 Door one: the will 08:22 Door two: the palaces (Biltmore and The Breakers) 11:37 What if the heirs had done nothing? 14:24 Door three: the tax man 16:21 Door four: the spenders (Alfred and Reginald) 19:06 The Vanderbilt who kept it 20:35 Door five: the end of the line (Penn Central and the 1973 reunion) 24:28 What became of them: Gloria Vanderbilt 26:52 The debate: the will or the palaces? 27:55 Terminus: the final passenger list #vanderbilt #vanderbiltfamily #gildedage #moneyhistory #richesthistory