Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt started the family business by borrowing $100 from his mother and piloting a passenger boat on Staten Island in 1810. He expanded into steamboats and then went on to build railroad empire New York Central. Its tracks stretched Vanderbilt’s empire across the United States and gave him a monopoly for all rail service in and out of New York city. He reportedly accumulated a $100 million fortune by the time of his death in 1877 – more than was held in the U.S. Treasury at the time.
“Any fool can make a fortune; it takes a man of brains to hold onto it,” Commodore is said to have told his son William Henry “Billy” Vanderbilt, according to Fortune’s Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt, a family history written by cousin Arthur T. Vanderbilt II.
Young Billy did his best: he inherited the family’s 87% stake in New York Central and expanded the business, reportedly doubling the family fortune to over $200 million.
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