The Vanderbilt's: The Ruthless Family Who Built America

According to an ancient Chinese proverb, “Wealth does not pass three generations” -- the first generation builds the wealth; the second generation is inspired to preserve it by witnessing the hard work of their parents; and the third generation, having never witnessed the work that went into the creation of this wealth, squanders it.

History Channel made a good documentary called "The Men Who Built America" (2012). It tells the story of Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Astor, Ford and Morgan.

It's always weird to think that Anderson Cooper is a Vanderbilt

The estate in north Carolina is breathtaking. It takes almost a half hour to drive up the driveway. Its also filled with priceless art. And a chess set from Napoleon. The US art museums stored their art there during the World Wars, there's that much space.

As this video pointed out, there were a number of immense Vanderbilt mansions once in existence, and this emphasizes how many American cities formerly had at least one or two impressive local estates, and usually entire upper-class neighborhoods of big ornate homes. It's amazing to me how short-lived so much of this was; the big houses turned into schools or churches or even rooming houses within a few decades, and many of the finest neighborhoods turned into the most rundown districts by the middle of the 20th century. So just like the Vanderbilt fortune as a whole, the other signs of great wealth in many locations became trashed or are long gone.

The name Van der Bilt, later condensed to Vanderbilt, means 'of the Bilt', De Bilt being a small town in the Netherlands, where the family originally came from in the 17th century, and also where I grew up and lived most of my life.

"Great wealth lasts only three generations." - If you're lucky.

Lived in Nashville for 25 years. Huge fan of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Great Collage and Hospital/ Medical School. Saved one of my grandchildren and did it very reasonably by American hospital standards. A little bit of that money went to some good.

Vanderbilt generally tried to build companies and run them well. Some other businessmen of that era were more of the shyster variety. He did well for someone with almost no schooling and who was only semi literate.

One of my friends is a direct descendent through the Alfred line. It’s very hard to maintain any massive fortune when it’s divested through many heirs over multiple generations. This is the fate of fortunes over many wealthy families not just Vanderbilts.

Stories from Anderson of how his mother was raised/treated makes Ruthless fit perfectly

This video feels like the first attempt at a new biographies channel. Go for it, Simon.

People who clamor for deregulation and repeal of labor laws need to take a closer look at the Vanderbilt era. The tycoons of the era weren't just entrepreneurs, they owned the country at that point, until they had enough of a negative impact that laws were enacted to limit their control.

My mother used to wear Gloria Vanderbilt’s perfume as a teenager. That bottle looked so majestic on her dressing table ☺️ 🦢

The family (Vanderbilt-Cecil) still own the Biltmore Estate, easily the best home in all of the Americas, North or South. The huge mansion and grounds are worth a conservative $3 billion. It is also the most visited winery in all of the US - including the famous Napa Valley ones. They are not poor in case anyone is thinking starting a Vanderbilt crowd-funding page. If you've ever been to Biltmore (and King Charles warmly approved of the architecture) it is breath-taking. They filmed the movie Richie Rich there is that tells you anything. The US Forest Service owns 86,000 of the original 110,000 acres and it's called Pisgah National Forest. The family owns the valuable house and estate grounds to this day.

While the family that built it has seen their fortune decline, their monuments remain a vital part of the nation they grew up with. Museums, institutions of higher learning, and even that first rail route from NYC to Chicago, remain.

I had always heard of Vanderbilt but never knew what happened to him and his enormous wealth. I honestly thought he had died with no heirs so his name dropped out of history. Seeing how everything fell apart over just a couple generations is insane.

Megaprojects: let's talk about a major historical figure from US history. History channel: let's talk about aliens and what they may or may not have built on earth.

I like this kind of Megaprojects.

When you're as rich as Cornelius no one makes fun of you for being a 60 year old Wolverine cosplayer.