Cornelius Vanderbilt inscription on the grave. From Boatman to World's Richest Man - Biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt

We are glad to welcome you, dear readers of the blog! Few people know who Cornelius Vanderbilt is, but in fact he deserves more attention, as he is considered the richest and most brilliant entrepreneur of the 19th century.

Childhood

Born May 27, 1794 in New York in a middle-class family, not particularly different from the rest. The father, also Cornelius, was a very hard-working man, and thrifty. He worked as a ferryman while Phoebe's mother took care of household chores. Over time, they were able to accumulate enough money to buy a farm on Staten Island, where, in principle, our hero was born.

When the boy was 11 years old, his father called him to him, as it was hard to cope with the work alone, so he had to forget about training. The “street” took up his upbringing, where the future millionaire learned a very important lesson - you need to be able to stand up for yourself and rise with every fall. So, learning the science of life and honing the craft, by the age of 16, Vanderbilt thought about his own business in order to earn big money, and not save penny for penny, like his parents.

It was decided to continue the family of boatmen (grandfather Jan Van Der Bilt was the first to take up transportation, passing on knowledge and experience to his son), only it was necessary to find money for their own transport. His mother helped by lending a hundred dollars, setting the condition that he himself would plow and sow more than three hectares of land. Perhaps she hoped that he would not cope, since this is a very big job for a teenager, and the land was rocky, and it was necessary to make a lot of effort to plow it. But Korni was hard-working, like his father, and also stubborn, so the field was ready in due time, and the mother had no choice but to fulfill the terms of the contract.

Business

Start

With the money received, the future millionaire took an old punt boat "Speed". After carefully studying the map of New York, he decided to compete with a hundred other boatmen, ferrying clients from Staten Island to Manhattan, and vice versa. At that time, there were no exact timetables for departure and arrival, there were no fixed prices, and so on. Therefore, a young entrepreneur, having made bets on his iron will and fists, estimates the crossing on his "Speed" at 18 cents.

People who were ready to be melted down standing or sitting on each other's hands instantly “tumbled down” to it, because they saved about 82 cents each time. And Korni was not afraid to cross into a storm, like the rest of the ferrymen, skillfully driving a punt.

By the way, he really was a master of his craft, because in his biography there is only one fact of the accident. Starting his business, he lost control, because of which he collided with an oncoming boat. More than a single ship, not a single schooner that was in his possession, did not get into trouble, and they were distinguished by quality and comfort.

By the end of the first independent working year, Cornelius not only repaid the debt to his mother, but also received an income of $ 1,000. This allowed him to hire staff and purchase more boats. To survive in fierce competition, the main requirement for applicants was the ability to fight, so after a while the schooners of his hooligans captured the waters of New York. A little later, the hero of our publication decides to expand his business, and begins to trade in products that he transports from Manhattan.

The decisive factor in his activities was the war in 1812, or rather the contract with the government. The agreement was that the dexterous businessman would make deliveries of food to the soldiers who were in the blockade. This brought a considerable income, which he invested in the purchase of two ships, and engaged in the sale of whale oil, alcohol, oysters and other goods, supplying them to ships that came from afar. It was during this period that he earned the nickname "Commander".

Extension

Having earned a little more than 9 thousand, he leaves the boat business, which began to generate income that did not satisfy him at all. He got a job on a steamer with Thomas Gibbons with a modest salary - $ 1,000 a year. This decision was reasonable and balanced. Our hero decided to study the shipping business in order to engage in a more serious occupation in the future than punt transportation.

Having mastered the intricacies of navigation, he builds his own steamship "Bellona", becoming a partner of Thomas. The fight against competitors is carried out using old methods - by minimizing the cost of travel, he again "conquered" all customers. Which, of course, caused a lot of indignation among other "water taxi drivers". They turned to the police, but our genius managed to escape with every attempt to arrest.

In 1813 he married Sophia Johnson, his cousin. Together they moved to New Bruswick and opened a hotel with a tavern near the river. Now every traveler or sailor could rest, get enough sleep and have a hearty, delicious meal before moving on. Sophia herself managed everything, and she did it very well, at least there were always a lot of clients there. There is a version that initially she refused to move, but her husband managed to "convince" her. After spending 2 months in a lunatic asylum, Sofia was willing to do anything to get out of there.

The Commander himself is at this time fighting the Hudson River Association. The reduction in the cost of transportation seemed to him insufficient, and he completely made travel free. The costs were paid off due to the high price of products that passengers purchased during the trip. It was the height of arrogance. Considering that Corney was stubborn, cunning and fearless, the Association had no choice but to agree “in a good way” so that he would leave the route and not sabotage the work of other carriers.

The contract cost $100,000, plus $50,000 paid over 10 years. The commander changed the route, gradually "growing" with ships. And already in 1840, he owned about 100 steamships, which allowed him to become the largest entrepreneur in New York.

Golden fever

In 1848, the Gold Rush swept California. People flocked there in droves hoping to make money, and Vanderbilt knew this was his chance. Studying the routes of residents different countries who aspired to work as prospectors, he offered the shortest and cheapest option. Cornelius made a deal with the Nicaraguan government, which consisted in the fact that he gets the right to organize a charter flight.

Having paid $10,000 for this, he opens the Accessory Transit company. Having invested more money in the safety of the new route (clearing the channel of the San Juan River, building a road from rubble to get to the port, and building docks), the enterprising genius personally took up transportation on his steamer. He made over a million dollars in one year. And all because by choosing his ship, gold miners saved at least 2 days and $200, so the demand was high.

Betrayal of partners

In 1853, he decided to take a break for the first time, and organized the construction of a steam yacht of the highest order, spending almost half a million dollars. At that time it was the most luxurious yacht. The furniture in which was made of gilding and velvet, the halls were decorated with marble trim, and the saloon was decorated in the style of Louis XV. died before reaching middle age) he went to Europe. The rest turned out to be glorious, only with plebeian manners. For example, he could disrupt a performance at the London Opera by renting a hall for the evening.

When he got home after the holidays, he was extremely unpleasantly surprised. The managers, Morgan and Garrison, to whom he entrusted the management of Accessory Transit, staged a coup and took it over. Roots showed his tough character in this case too. He wrote them a letter stating that he did not intend to sue for such an act, because it would take a long time, he would simply crush them in the near future.

And indeed, having organized a different route, through Nicaragua, having won all the clients with the help of old methods, in just a year he returned his brainchild to himself, bankrupting the traitors. And competitors, having taken a promise to close transportation through Nicaragua, monthly paid compensation in the amount of $40,000, eventually increasing to $56,000. Which was very helpful, because the flow of gold miners was declining, and interest shifted to transatlantic transportation.

Leaving the shipping business

Three of his ships plowed the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, delivering people from New York to France. The most powerful steamer was the Vanderbilt, carrying mostly middle-class passengers at minimal cost. Being confident in his “brainchildren”, Korni refuses to insure them, which allowed him to save a lot of money. But he did not manage to work in this business for a particularly long time, since in 1861 the civil war began, on the eve of which he managed to sell it for 3 million dollars.

The passenger liner "Vanderbilt" turns into a warship, and protects the waters of his country. There are three versions, according to which he gave his beloved brainchild to the war. First, Abraham Lincoln personally asked for help. The second is that he rented it out, receiving good dividends. And the third, that he simply donated (despite the fact that the cost of its construction was approximately $600,000).

Even in his youth, in the 30s, he tried to master and establish the railway business. There was an accident, the boiler exploded, and a young entrepreneur with serious burns and injuries ended up in a hospital bed after spending 2 months there. This incident for a long time deprived him of the desire to engage in land transport, but in the 60s he decided to return to this idea.

Having bought shares in various railroad companies, he consolidated almost all communications near New York. The road of the entire Hudson River, as well as the Harlem road, fell into his possession. All in all, after five years, he "made" $25 million and became the most powerful personality in the US transportation business.

Personality and character

Remember, the hero of our publication had to leave school to help his father? So, until the end of his days, he remained illiterate, not even knowing how to sign. But he was never ashamed of this, explaining that he achieved everything thanks to the focus of attention precisely on work, and not on study.

Interestingly, despite his millions, he lived quite modestly, apart from holidays in Europe. For example, lying on his deathbed, he refused to drink champagne prescribed by a doctor, and you know why? Because it's expensive. He did not want to do charity work, once he helped only the university, which was later named after him, as well as the Church of Wanderers.

In 1869, his wife died, but literally a year later, being a 75-year-old man, he remarried a distant relative, who was 35 years old at that time.
His biography ends on January 4, 1877. Cornelius left this world at the age of 83, leaving behind a serious scandal, as he disposed of the accumulated capital in a very strange way.

Will

The will indicated that 90 million dollars out of about 100 were received by the eldest son William in order to develop his business further. The rest of the children received $100,000 each, and the widow $500,000. Although initially he planned to leave all the capital to his youngest son George, he died at the age of 25. The middle son was addicted to alcohol and gambling, plus he suffered from epileptic seizures, so he seemed to his father completely unreliable and not worthy of money.

The rest, girls, would not be able to compete and manage such a powerful father's business. Of course, the "deprived" relatives were angry and sued William, relying on the fact that Cornelius was out of his mind when he made the will. The case was lost, and the will of the Crocodile (as he was called when he became interested in railways) was fulfilled.

Conclusion

And that’s all for today, dear readers! As you may have noticed, without education it is quite possible to become a millionaire, the main thing is to believe in yourself and your strengths, as well as work hard. I also recommend that you familiarize yourself with other biographies that inspire accomplishments, in this link one of them,.

The material was prepared by Alina Zhuravina.

He was born in the 18th century. Amassed the largest fortune in the 19th century. He was engaged in the river and sea fleet, was the largest railway magnate, and is still present in modern life New York, a daily reminder of itself to passengers who come to Grand Central on 42nd Street, founded by Vandeobilt in the last century.

Cornelius Vanderbilt was born into a farming family on Staten Island. His father was a boatman. At the age of 11, Cornelius, leaving school, began to help his father.At 16, he started working on his own. To start, young Vanderbilt asked his mother for $100, and she gave it to him on the condition that he plow and sow eight acres of the family land. The son coped with the task and bought a boat with the money received. On it, he carried cargo and passengers between Staten Island and Manhattan. Moreover, Cornelius set the price for his services much lower than that of other boaters at the crossing. Dumping prices would be his forte throughout his life and would almost always bring Vanderbilt success.

Only a year passed, and Cornelius not only repaid his mother's debt, but also earned his first thousand dollars. Time played into his hands, and he deftly seized the moment. The Anglo-American War of 1812 brought young entrepreneur new opportunities. He was only 18, but he was able to earn prestige in New York business circles and receive a government contract to supply goods to military forts located near the city. With the money earned, Cornelius built a medium-sized schooner and two small ships. Since then, he was called the Commander - a nickname that he proudly bore all his life.

After 5 years, Vanderbilt married Sophia Johnson, and his net worth was $9,000. It's time for a change...and the Commander went out of business. Despite the fact that Cornelius left school early, he never missed a chance to gain new knowledge, especially if it could be done for free. After selling his fleet, the Commander is hired as the captain of a small ship with a salary of $1,000 a year to Thomas Gibbons. This work gives him the opportunity to understand the structure of steamships and serves as an impetus for a new idea - the creation of a new modern steamship. Vanderbilt manages to convince Gibbons to build a steam ship. In this project, they are already becoming partners.

Vanderbilt never regretted leaving school at 11 years old, he liked to repeat: "If I continued to study, I would not have time for anything else."

The ship is ready and is sailing up the Hudson. And, as usual, Cornelius sets dumping fares on his steamer, asking four times less than his competitors. And the competitors were serious - legal monopolists in the shipping market - Robert Livingston and the inventor of the paddle steamer Robert Fulton. Vanderbilt's dumping prices upset them so much that the monopolists sued him. However, luck was again on the side of the Commander - in 1824, the US Supreme Court recognized the monopoly of Livingston and Fulton on transport operations in the waters of the Hudson as unconstitutional.

After settling in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the Vanderbilts purchased a riverside tavern and turned it into a resting place for passing steamboat passengers. The institution was named Bellona Hall, and it became a favorite stopover for travelers. And Vanderbilt's wife Sophia Johnson, who turned out to be a very enterprising and talented business woman, was in charge of Bellona Hall.

By 1829, the Vanderbilt family already had $ 30 thousand. The commander again decides to do own business and return to New York. This time he founds a shipping company and establishes a connection between New York and the city of Peekskill. He sets a price of only 12.5 cents for a passage on his ships, due to which he completely displaces the local steamship king Daniel Drew from the market. Three decades later, Drew takes revenge on Cornelius by taking the Eria Railroad from Vanderbilt.

But so far, the Commander succeeds and he enters into competition with the Hudson River Association, which transported passengers from New York to the city of Albany. Vanderbilt's steamships were not just comfortable, they were striking in their luxury and size - Cornelius built real "floating palaces". And yet, the policy of dumping remained unchanged. Leading the fight for the championship on the Hudson, Vanderbilt initially asks for a ticket for $ 1 (at the price of the river association - $ 3). A little later, he makes travel free of charge at all, but compensates for this by raising prices for services, for example, by raising the price of food on board his ships by 2 times. The move is unexpected, but true - the passengers preferred Vanderbilt. The association was in a panic. The story ended with the association paying a new competitor to move his business elsewhere.

In 1840, Vanderbilt owned over 100 boats on the Hudson River and was worth more than half a million dollars.
But the money did not give him a pass to the aristocratic society of New York. Despite the impressive capital and constant success in business, Vanderbilt remained an uncouth dork for high society. Rejected by New York society, Vanderbilt returns to his native Staten Island and builds a luxurious mansion for his family here. In 10 years, he will come to Manhattan again and erect a four-story city house on Washington Place, the most fashionable place in those years.

1851 brings new opportunities for Vanderbilt. At this time, crowds of miners rush from New York to California for gold. Most of the gold diggers were transported by the Pacific Postal Shipping Company, which had a monopoly in the Panamanian direction. Vanderbilt could not miss such an opportunity. He opened a new route - through Nicaragua, which shortened the journey by 500 miles and saved two days of travel. Not being a prospector, Vanderbilt received from the "gold rush" income of $ 1 million a year. By the mid-1950s, he had become America's largest shipowner.

In 1853, with 11 million in the bank, Vanderbilt decided to take a break. He built the 80-meter yacht "Northern Star" worth half a million dollars. It was the first private yacht of its kind, with velvet upholstered furniture, ten saloons and a marble dining room. With the whole family and in the company of friends, he cruised around Europe. As the yacht passed a small Staten Island farm, Cornelius ordered a military salute to be given in honor of his 86-year-old mother. Returning from a trip, Vanderbilt found that the agents he had assigned to manage the traffic through Nicaragua were playing a double game and trying to take over the enterprise. Furious, Vanderbilt wrote a short letter:

“Gentlemen, you tried to swindle me. I won't prosecute you because it's taking too long. I'll just crush you. - Sincerely, K. Vanderbilt.”

As he said, he did just that - he created an alternative route through Panama and again greatly reduced prices. Rivals capitulated a year later. Moreover, a year later, all other competing companies, unable to withstand the price war, agreed to pay 40,000 monthly for abandoning the Nicaraguan route.

The Vanderbilt house on 5th Avenue.

But, despite the undeniable success in business and one of the largest capitals in America, secular society remains closed to Vanderbilt. And, rather, not because of the snobbery of the hostesses of the salons, but because of the nature of Cornelius himself. He did not want to change his "sailor" habits, to think about good manners and learn to behave in the light. He does not tire of flaunting his plebeian origin, secular uncouthness and ignorance. “All my life I have been crazy about money, inventing new ways to make it. I didn’t have time for education and upbringing,” he frankly told the newspapers.

Vanderbilt boasted of his earned capital, but he was never known as a spender, rather the opposite. However, he was an eccentric nature and could easily rent the London Opera House for friends and acquaintances for the evening, canceling the planned performance and paying a penalty.

When Cornelius was 70 years old, his wife Sophia died. A year later, he married his cousin, Frances Armstrong Crawford, who was 43 years younger.

Around the same time, Vanderbilt makes another major turn in his business. On the eve of his 70th birthday, having sold his fleet - at that time the largest private fleet in the world - the Commander decides to go into the railway business. But this time, having changed his strategy, he is buying up and improving what was created before him.

American railroads in the 19th century were many short disconnected tracks owned by hundreds of companies. The Commander begins buying up shares and merging short rail lines near New York into the New York Central Railroad. Then, having acquired a controlling stake, he joins the Harlem Railroad to it. Takes over the railroad along the Hudson River. On the advice of his eldest son William, Vanderbilt expands the rail network to Chicago, buys the Lake Shore Road and the Michigan south road. Finally, taking control of the Canadian Southern and Michigan Central roads, Vanderbilt becomes the owner of the largest transportation network in the United States. And the completion of the construction of Grand Central on 42nd Street in New York in 1871 becomes the final chord in this grandiose railway project.

Grand Central, New York, 1880.

It is said that all his life the Commander possessed great physical strength and seething internal energy, a firm and unyielding character. He skillfully dealt with competitors, sometimes ruthlessly blackmailing, bribes and threatened. Perhaps he was not always perfect, but, by and large, he played an honest and direct game and, as a result, he always won.
Cornelius Vanderbilt died on January 4, 1877 at his Washington Place home, leaving behind $100 million. He bequeathed 95% of the entire fortune to his eldest son William Henry Vanderbilt and his four sons - his grandchildren, because he believed that it was they who were able to successfully continue the work of his life. The remaining 9 of his children and his wife received sufficient amounts for a comfortable existence, which, however, could not be compared with what William got.

William Vanderbilt, who earned a reputation as a business genius during his father's lifetime, successfully managed his inheritance, doubling the capital accumulated by Cornelius. But constant stress and disputes over the inheritance with the brothers undermined the health of Vanderbilt's son - William outlived his father by only eight years.

In the future, the grandson of the Commander, Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., became the head of the railway empire. A p After his death at the age of 55, the family business was taken over by William Kissam Vanderbilt, also the Commander's grandson. He became a good successor to the business, although he was not as brilliant in business as his father and grandfather.

In addition to running the company, he made history by organizing The Vanderbilt Cup, the first American automobile race, held annually from 1904 to 1910.

E daughter, Consuela Vanderbilt, married Spencer Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, brother of William Churchill.

In doing so, she finally established the Vanderbilt family in high society. Although, it must be admitted that by this time, the large Vanderbeat family had already taken its rightful place in the elite not only of America, but also of Europe.

In 1954, control of the Vanderbilt company passed to Robert Ralph Young and his Alleghany Corporation. Thus ended the era of the legendary Vanderbilt dynasty.

The Vanderbilts have always been known to be generous patrons of the arts. Cornelius Vanderbilt donated $1 million to the university that bears his name (considered the most generous donation in American history). His son William founded the New York Metropolitan Opera. Grandson Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. was a shareholder of Vogue magazine and was actively involved in many charitable public organizations. All members of the Vanderbilt dynasty built magnificent homes for their families. Unfortunately, the Vanderbilts' town houses have not been preserved, but outside of New York, many of the estates have become museums and are open to the public.

Text by Tatyana Borodina

Historical photos from internet resource

Any reprint of the text or use of author's photographs is possible only with the permission of the author of the project.

Biography

Youth

Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794 on a family farm in Staten Island. He was the 4th child of Cornelius and Phoebe Vanderbilt (née Hand). My father's ancestors came from De Bilt in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The father of the future millionaire was a poor farmer, and also earned as a boatman in the New York port. Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. left school at the age of 11 and began to study the straits and currents in the New York area from his own experience. A month before his 16th birthday, he announced to his mother that he was going to leave home and become a sailor. The mother understood that her son just needed his own ship, and therefore made her son a business proposal: he would plow and sow an 8-acre rocky plot on their farm, after which he would receive a loan of $ 100 from her to buy a ship. So at the age of 16 he became the owner of a small barge called "Speed". He transported passengers, charging them 18 cents each. By the end of the year, he repaid his mother's debt and contributed over a thousand dollars to the family budget. Soon, in his possession was already a whole flotilla of small vessels.

Gaining Experience

During the Anglo-American War of 1812, despite the British blockade of New York harbor, he transported supplies by sea for six American garrisons located on its shores. At 19, he married his neighbor and cousin Sophia Johnson, a woman no less strong-willed and purposeful than himself. By the time he was 22, Vanderbilt had already owned several boats and had saved $9,000.

In 1818, Cornelius Vanderbilt sold his sailboats and became a steamboat captain for Thomas Gibbons, a Georgia planter. For 10 years, carrying passengers from New York along the Raritan River to New Brunswick, New Jersey, he learned all the intricacies of the steamship business. Sophia also contributed to the family budget - she ran a hotel for passengers on the pier. Not content with the river routes along Raritan, Vanderbilt soon organized passenger flights along New York Bay to Battery. But here there were problems. The New York Legislature gave the region's steamboat monopoly to Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston, so Vanderbilt's business became illegal. However, he, having reduced fares, rushed on his ship between New York and New Jersey, pursued by constables. The game of cat and mouse continued until the US Supreme Court declared the New York steamship monopoly unconstitutional. By 1829, through the efforts of Vanderbilt, Gibbons' steamship business had grown from one ship to a flotilla of 7 ships.

Investments

Together with his wife, he saved up $30,000, which he used to start his own business: he built a new New York-Philadelphia steamship route and lowered fares so much that competitors soon paid him a huge amount, if only he would not interfere with them (Such kind of a method of knocking out "competition" from competitors was very characteristic of Vanderbilt in the early period of his career).

He then moved his operations to the Hudson River, where he began an even fiercer price war against the powerful Hudson River Shipping Company. Vanderbilt reduced the price of a flight from New York to Albany, first from three dollars to one, then to 10 cents, and finally made the journey completely free. In the end, the competitors paid him $100,000 and agreed to pay $5,000 a year to keep him off the Hudson for the next 10 years. Vanderbilt took the money and moved his ships to the north - to Boston, Hartford, Providence Bay, and also to the south - to Washington, Charleston and Havana. At the age of 45, due to "compensation", for the lack of flights to New York and Philadelphia, and thanks to the income that Vanderbilt received from his fleet of one hundred ships in other areas, he made a fortune of several million.

Rejected by sophisticated New York society, he built a beautiful mansion on Staten Island. After 10 years, he returned to Manhattan and built a four-story city mansion on Washington Place. His steamboats carried gold miners from New York to the east coast of Nicaragua, then up the San Juan River and across Lake Nicaragua. Thus, he received from the "gold rush" a million dollars a year. At the same time, the project of laying the Trans-American Canal in Nicaragua, connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, which K. Vanderbilt had been working on for 12 years, was not crowned with success.

End of life

By the mid-1850s he had become the largest shipowner in the United States. In 1853, with 11 million in the bank, Vanderbilt decided to take a break. He built the 80-meter yacht "Northern Star", worth half a million dollars. It was the first private yacht of its kind, with velvet upholstered furniture, ten saloons and a marble dining room. With the whole family and in the company of friends, he cruised around Europe. As the yacht passed a small Staten Island farm, Vanderbilt ordered a military salute to be given to his 86-year-old mother. Returning from a trip, Vanderbilt found that his agents, whom he had instructed to manage transportation through Nicaragua, were playing a double game and trying to take over the enterprise. Furious, Vanderbilt wrote a short letter:

He created an alternative route through Panama and cut prices very heavily. Rivals capitulated a year later. Moreover, a year later, all other competing companies, unable to withstand the price war, agreed to pay $40,000 for abandoning the Nicaraguan route.

CORNELIUS VANDERBILT

This surname has long been familiar to Soviet readers from the classic creation of Ilf and Petrov "The Twelve Chairs": the daughter of the American billionaire Vanderbilt was Ellochka-Ogre's overseas rival in outfits. This Vanderbilt, because of whose daughter Alice Ellochka suffered so much, was the grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the famous Commodore.

Cornelius Vanderbilt was also a billionaire, but what kind of billionaire gets a monument erected in a train station, albeit one as beautiful as Grand Central? Meanwhile, this place for the Vanderbilt monument is quite justified.

The surname Vanderbilt was once spelled separately: Van Der Bilt, which speaks of the Dutch roots of the family (in Dutch "from Der Bilt").

Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794 on Staten Island (now New York City) into a farming family. Cornelius' father, in addition to his main job as a farmer, also worked as a boatman, and his son, leaving school at 11, helped him.

At the age of 16, Cornelius decided to start his own business. There is a version according to which his mother lent him a hundred dollars to buy a boat for the obligation to dig and plant their rocky area. He bought a small two-masted boat and began to transport those who wanted to get from Staten Island to Manhattan. According to another, more authentic version, this boat belonged to the father, who took half of the income from his son. One way or another, the business of the newly-minted businessman prospered: "Cornell-Boatman" earned the respect of passengers for reliability and reliability, agreeing to transport them in the most unfavorable, even stormy weather for a very low price. All this allowed him to beat his competitors, and in a year he saved up a thousand dollars - a huge amount for those times.

In 1812, war broke out between the United States and England, the British blockaded New York harbor, and the army authorities entered into a contract with the reliable carrier Cornelius Vanderbilt to supply the American coastal garrisons with food and other goods. The enterprising businessman received additional income by contriving to supply the residents of Lower Manhattan with food from farms located along the Hudson in the conditions of the blockade.

In 1813 Cornelius married. His wife was Sophia Johnson, his cousin, who became his faithful assistant and adviser. During their long life together they had 13 children.

The newlyweds settled in a boarding house in Manhattan. Vanderbilt continued his business and even expanded it by acquiring the schooner Charlotte. In addition to transportation, he was engaged in trade and by the age of 22 he owned several ships and a capital of 9 thousand dollars.

In 1817, a significant change took place in the life of Cornelius due to his acquaintance with Thomas Gibbons.

In 1848, gold was discovered in California, and the "gold rush" that swept the country did not bypass Vanderbilt. Thousands of gold prospectors rushed from the east coast of the country to California, and the Commodore undertook to transport them. The sea route around Cape Horn was the easiest, but also the longest, so most preferred to get through Panama, crossing the isthmus by land transport, for example, on mules. Vanderbilt organized a shorter and more convenient route: on his steamboats he carried gold prospectors from New York to the east coast of Nicaragua, then they sailed along the San Juan River and across Lake Nicaragua, from the western shore of which to Pacific Ocean it was only 12 miles. Once again, he used his favorite beat-out tactic: traveling along his route was much cheaper than traveling through Panama, and he also cut off government subsidies to rivals by undertaking to transport mail for free. He was about to build a canal to make the trip completely water, but he could not raise enough funds, and this turned out to be irrelevant: competitors pledged to pay him annually a large sum for his abandonment of the transportation business to California.

However, Vanderbilt was not going to completely abandon the transport business: he decided to take up transatlantic transportation. And here he applied his tactics of dealing with competitors: he reduced ticket prices, did not insure the journey across the ocean, relying on the reliability of his ships. However, business did not go well, Vanderbilt barely covering the costs. Then he used a different way to win the favor of potential passengers: they will receive excellent service and - most importantly - a shortened sailing time. For 600 thousand dollars, he built a huge ship "Vanderbilt" - the largest and fastest ship that plowed the Atlantic at that time.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, and the northern states, united in the Union, opposed the Confederacy of the breakaway southern states, Vanderbilt proposed to the Union government that his Vanderbilt be included in the country's navy. At first, the Secretary of the Navy refused to accept such an expensive gift, but when the Confederate battleship Virginia blocked the Northern ports in the Hampton Roads between Virginia and Maryland, President Lincoln turned to Vanderbilt for help. He installed a steel pointed ram on the bow of his ship, staffed the crew with skilled combat sailors led by an experienced captain, and the Confederates, not daring to engage in battle with a huge “horned” ship, lifted the blockade. After that, Vanderbilt began to hunt for pirate ships of the southerners, who plundered the merchant ships of the northerners. The US Congress appreciated the help of the Commodore, awarding him, on the proposal of President Lincoln, a gold medal - the highest award of civilians at that time.

In 1868 Vanderbilt's wife Sophia died. A year later, the 75-year-old Commodore married his distant relative with the strange name Frank Armstrong Crawford (it was said that her parents, expecting a boy, called her that before birth). She was 30 years old, she was a tall, beautiful, majestic woman, a devoted confederate. She revered her husband, and Vanderbilt deeply respected her beliefs. In general, Vanderbilt had many people close to him among the Southern Confederates. One of themsaid: "To express his attitude to what was happening, he spent a million sending a ship against the southerners, and now that the war is over, he spends money to show that the northerners are holding out the olive branch of peace to the southerners." Proof of this is the million dollars spent by Vanderbilt to found a university in Nashville, Tennessee. The university bears his name and is one of the most prestigious universities educational institutions USA.

Once - it happened on November 8, 1833 - there was a railroad accident in New Jersey: due to a broken wheel axle, the car derailed and overturned. Among the passengers of the car was Vanderbilt, who broke his leg as a result of the crash and vowed that he would never use such an unreliable transport again. Thirty years later, Cornelius Vanderbilt became the "railroad king".

By the age of seventy, in which he had been transporting people by water almost from the very beginning, he felt that he had reached the ceiling in the shipping business. And the Commodore, already very old, but full of energy and energy, sold all his ships and rushed into a new business for himself.

Vanderbilt began by buying a railroad with the proceeds. New York and Harlem Railroad ”, which took place along 4th (now Park) Avenue. He then became the owner of the railroads" Hudson River Railroad and New York Central Railroad ”, combining a few years later both of these roads into one of the very first largest corporations in America. Gradually, almost all the railroads from New York to Chicago came under his control: this is how Vanderbilt's new "empire" arose - the railroad.

In 1871, on the initiative of Vanderbilt, the Grand Central Depot was built on 42nd Street in Manhattan, which served as the final New York railway junction of the "empire". In 1913, after Vanderbilt's death, the Grand Central Terminal, or simply Grand Central, was built on the site of the Grand Central Depot, widely believed to be the most beautiful railway station in the world.

Cornelius Vanderbilt died on January 4, 1877 at his modest home in Washington Square, New York. Newspaper" New York Times ”In an obituary published the next day, she wrote:“ All toh what he on bathed, he bought in order to preserve, strengthen and make more productive... This required skill, patience and such mental qualities that we call forethought."

He was buried in Moravian Cemetery on his home island of Staten Island. Later, his son William built a family mausoleum in the same cemetery, where the Commodore's ashes rest to this day.

The sculptor Ernst Plassmann carved a statue of Vanderbilt during his lifetime, and in 1869 it was installed on the pediment of the railway goods depot building.Hudson River Railroad" in the niche of a bronze bas-relief depicting the stages of the Commodore's life. The bulky coat with winged lapels and cuffs, in which the sculptor dressed Vanderbilt, caused bewilderment and ridicule: they said that the magnate “looks like a Siberian coachman.”

In 1929, the statue was erected in its current location at the south façade of the Grand Central Terminal at the level of the Park Avenue Viaduct. The modern point of view on the attire of the Commodore has changed: it is believed that clothing emphasizes the practicality of a manager who conducts his business not only at the table. The gesture of his left hand suggests that he is in the middle of some action, perhaps making some other grand purchase available only to him - the legendary Vanderbilt.

initial Van Der Bilt Vanderbilt; Van Der Bilt; genus. May 27, 1794 Port Richmond, now Staten Island, New York - d. January 4, 1877 New York) - one of the richest and most successful entrepreneurs in the United States of the 19th century, the founder of the plutocratic family of Vanderbilts.

Railroad tycoon. Actively engaged in maritime transport, finance, trade. He built several important railways. In most cases, he resolved business conflicts by civilized methods, but did not disdain to use bribery and blackmail. Donated $1 million to the Vanderbilt University he founded. Founder famous dynasty, Cornelius Vanderbilt in the eyes of the public looked like the embodiment of the American dream - a native of a poor family achieved success solely on his own. In addition, he went down in history as the king of dumping.

Vanderbilt was illiterate (and, according to some newspaper publications of the time, he could hardly sign documents), but his intelligence, resourcefulness and propensity for analysis helped him climb to the very top of the social ladder. Cornelius was easy-going and was not afraid to part with the old business in order to start a new one, he was excellently versed in the field of knowledge that is now called marketing and promotion. But the richest man in the United States never entered the secular society of New York, led humble life and did not want to divide the huge inheritance among his children.

Early life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

The richest American of the 19th century, Cornelius Vanderbilt, was born into a middle-class family. The father of the future millionaire was a boatman and kept a farm. The surname Vanderbilt comes from the name of the Dutch village of De Bilt, the birthplace of the ancestors of Cornelius - the great-great-great-great-grandfather of the millionaire Jan Aertson bore the surname Van der Bilt. Over time, the constituent parts of the surname merged.

Already at the age of 11, Cornelius left school to help his father. Vanderbilt did not regret the lack of knowledge at all: “ If I studied, I wouldn't have time for anything else.", - the magnate repeated.

At the age of 16, Cornelius opened his first independent business. Having borrowed $100 from his mother (provided that the young man would plow and sow the eight-acre field on his own), Vanderbilt bought a punt and began to transport goods and passengers. The main route was the way from Staten Island to Manhattan and back, the clients are Americans who, on duty, traveled to New York every day. Cornelius asked for 18 cents for each trip. Soon he almost lost his key asset - a water taxi with passengers collided with a small schooner. This was the first and last incident on Vanderbilt's water transport - never again did his watercraft suffer a disaster.

The boat business turned out to be so profitable that a year later, Cornelius not only returned the debt to his mother, but also earned $ 1,000. Vanderbilt's services were in demand because they cost less than those of competitors, and Cornelius himself gained a reputation as an honest and hardworking boatman. He did not refuse to carry passengers even in stormy weather. Vanderbilt's side business was trading: in Staten Island, the young entrepreneur bought goods that were in demand in New York, transported them across the river and resold them.

New opportunities for expanding the business of the future shipping magnate were created by the Anglo-American War of 1812. Having earned authority in the then business circles of New York, Vanderbilt managed to get a government contract to supply goods to the forts located near the city. With the money earned, Cornelius built a medium-sized schooner and two small ships - since then, competitors have nicknamed him the Commander. Vanderbilt traded in oysters, watermelons, whale oil, supplied the ships in the harbor with beer, cider and provisions. By 1817, Vanderbilt had saved up $9,000 and decided... to go out of business.

The decision cannot be called accidental: the Staten Island - New York route was filled with other boaters, Vanderbilt's income began to decline. Cornelius became interested in the shipping business. After selling his fleet, the Commander was hired as a captain with a salary of $ 1,000 a year on a small steamer, Thomas Gibbons. The steamship business was new to a businessman, but Vanderbilt wanted to learn the finer points of doing business at the expense of others. Having dealt with the structure of the steamship, the Commander convinced Gibbons to build a steam ship, independently developing its design. The ship was named Bellona, ​​and Cornelius became Gibbons' partner.

Because of Vanderbilt's new job, his family (Cornelius was married twice - the first time at 19, the second at 73) moved to New Brunswick (New Jersey). There, Vanderbilt purchased a tavern on the banks of the river and turned it into a resting place for passengers of passing steamboats. The institution was called Bellona Hall. The tavern has become a favorite stopping place for travelers. Vanderbilt's first wife, Sophia Johnson, ran the tavern.

Cornelius continued to dump on Bellona, ​​asking for a fare of $ 1 - four times less than competitors. Vanderbilt's insistence on promoting his services outraged competitors. Cornelius's main rivals were Robert Livingston and the inventor of the paddle steamer, Robert Fulton, legal monopolists in the steamship market. A monopoly position in the waters of the Hudson was guaranteed to them by the New York Legislative Council. A small war broke out between competitors. Several times they tried to arrest Vanderbilt on charges of violating the law, but he managed to slip out of the hands of enemies. There were rumors that the Commander equipped his ship with a secret cabin to hide from his pursuers. Finally, Fulton and Livingston decided to sue the competitor. However, they miscalculated - in 1824 the US Supreme Court recognized their monopoly on transport operations in the waters of the Hudson as unconstitutional.

By 1829, Vanderbilt had saved $30,000 and decided to go freelance again, starting his own business. The protests of his wife, who did not want to leave settled New Jersey, and Thomas Gibbons, who offered Cornelius a salary twice as much and a 50% stake in the company, did not lead to anything. The commander moved the whole family to New York. Cornelius' wife initially refused to move. The adamant Vanderbilt solved the problem radically by placing his wife in an insane asylum for two months.

gold mine

Returning to New York, the entrepreneur founded a steamship company and established a connection between New York and the city of Peekskill, New York. The Commander asked for only 12.5 cents for the passage and gradually forced Daniel Drew out of the market of the local steamship king Daniel Drew (three decades later, Drew would take revenge on Cornelius by taking away the Erian railway from Vanderbilt). The businessman entered into competition with the Hudson River Association, which transported passengers from New York to the city of Albany. At first, the Commander asked $1 for a ticket (the river association took $3), later he made the passage free of charge. The entrepreneur compensated for the losses at the expense of services, doubling the price of food on board his ships.

The association saw fit to pay a new competitor to move the business elsewhere. After accepting $100,000 and agreeing to further payments of $5,000 annually for 10 years, the Commander began delivering passengers to Long Island, Providence, and Boston, as well as several cities in Connecticut. In parallel, Vanderbilt resumed trade between coastal cities.

Vanderbilt's steamboats weren't exactly comfortable, they were often luxurious. Cornelius built real "floating palaces", striking in their size, comfort and elegance. By the 1840s, Vanderbilt owned over 100 boats that sailed the Hudson River. The Vanderbilt Company was one of the largest New York employers of the day.

By the age of forty, Vanderbilt had amassed half a million dollars, but he tirelessly looked for new opportunities for enrichment. An unexpected chance to make money presented itself in 1849, with the start of the gold rush. Gold miners flocked to California. The usual route of future prospectors ran through Panama: travelers arrived in the Latin American country by boat, rode on mules through the Isthmus of Panama (the Panama Canal was built 60 years later) and reached San Francisco by steamboat. Vanderbilt suggested new route. Now the gold diggers who arrived in latin america(Nicaragua), could sail along the San Juan River, then along Lake Nicaragua. The western shore of the lake is only 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Thus, the journey was reduced by 600 miles, and the journey to the final destination took two days less than the usual route. The total fare did not exceed $400 instead of the traditional $600.

In 1851, Vanderbilt founded the Accessory Transit Company, paying the government of Nigaragua $10,000 for the right to operate a charter flight. Cornelius personally supervised the small steamer, checking the new route ( locals assured that the river was not navigable). Cornelius' company cleared the bed of the San Juan River, built docks on the east and west coasts of Nicaragua and on Lake Nicaragua, built a twenty-mile gravel road to the port on the west coast. The new business solution brought the Commander more than $1 million in a year. Growing the business, Cornelius built a fleet of eight ocean-going steamers.

Revenge and law

In 1853, at the age of 59, Vanderbilt decided to go on vacation for the first time in his life. He built a luxurious steam-powered yacht, calling it The North Star ("Northern Star").

By the way, the yacht turned out to be the second luxury item that Vanderbilt allowed himself - the first was a mansion in Staten Island. Before sailing with his family to the shores of Europe, the Commander left the position of president of Accessory Transit, entrusting the management of the company to its top managers Charles Morgan and Cornelius Harrison. While the owner was surfing the waves, the managers issued new shares in the company and took control of Accessory Transit. After returning to Cornelius, instead of expanding the business, it took about a year to win back the company from new owners.

A little later, trouble came from the other side. After the change of power in Nicaragua, the new government of the country took away the right to transport from Accessory Transit (under the pretext that the company violated the terms of the agreement), concluding a more lucrative contract with Vanderbilt's competitors. The commander did not sue, because "the law is too slow to punish the guilty," and promised to destroy the business of competitors (American businessmen led by William Walker). No sooner said than done. Vanderbilt launches a new steamship line along the old route through Panama. The competitors had to pay the Commander $672,000 a year for the self-liquidation of the new transport line.

In the 1850s, Cornelius became involved in transatlantic transportation, organizing a connection between New York and France. He competed with the Cunard and Collins lines; the first was subsidized by the British government, the second by the American. The Commander failed to get government support, however, he began to develop a new direction. Three ships were involved in transatlantic transportation, including the steamer Vanderbilt, at that time the largest ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The length of the vessel reached 335 feet (more than 100 m), width - 46 feet, displacement - 4.5 thousand tons. The steamer cost the owner a fabulous $600,000.

In the fight against Cunard and Collins, Vanderbilt used his usual tactics: reduced fares and luggage. If the target audience of competitors were wealthy passengers - travelers and businessmen, then Vanderbilt relied on emigrants and the middle class. Most of the income to the Commander was brought by passengers of the 2nd and 3rd classes, who traveled several people in a cabin.

Saving on costs, the Commander still did not insure his ships, because he was confident in the serviceability of the ships and the qualifications of the crew. But the new business direction did not become profitable. At the beginning of the Civil War (1861), the Commander sold the Atlantic line for $3 million. However, the businessman kept the Vanderbilt steamer, turning the passenger liner into a warship. During the war, Cornelius handed over the ship to the government (despite the fact that the millionaire assured that he had rented the ship, the newspapers regarded his actions as a gift).

iron king

In his old age, Vanderbilt changed his business strategy radically, abandoning the shipping industry and moving into the railroad business. Cornelius tried his hand at land transport business as early as the 1930s. But the railway accident that happened in 1833 (a steam boiler exploded, due to injuries Cornelius spent two months in the hospital) for a long time discouraged Vanderbilt from interest in the industry. True, not forever. Having sold the ships, Cornelius began to analyze the new market.

The American railroads of that time, formally assembled into a single network, were in fact a labyrinth: many short disconnected roads owned by hundreds of businessmen. Unbridled competition led to frequent bankruptcies. The Commander began to buy up shares and combine short rail lines near New York into a single whole. The Commander acquired a controlling stake in the Harlem Railroad and took over the Hudson River Road, winning a second victory over Daniel Drew, by then retrained as a railroad stock trader. In 1865, Vanderbilt began to merge the purchased companies that owned small branches into the New York Central Railroad (New York Central Railroad). Four years later, the Commander united her with the Harlem. Unlike most railroad tycoons of the time, Cornelius not only bought shares, but also invested in expanding the road network.

Finally, "sworn friends" Vanderbilt and Drew agreed on the Erian railway(Erie Railroad). In 1867, the Commander attempted to gain control of the company by buying all the shares in the road. Daniel Drew threw 100,000 fake stocks into the market. Vanderbilt, not seeing the trick, bought them too. Fake by court decision were still equated to the real securities, but the Commander lost, according to various estimates, $ 1-2 million and, as a result, the Erian road itself.

The failure of the tycoon was not embarrassed: at the insistence of William's eldest son, Cornelius expanded the rail network to Chicago, buying the Lake Shore Railroad and the Michigan Southern Railroad. Finally, by taking control of the Canadian South Railroad and the Michigan Central Railroad, Vanderbilt became the owner of the largest transportation network in the United States.

Shards of happiness

Despite the status of the richest man in the world, Cornelius Vanderbilt lived quite modestly. When the doctors recommended that the terminally ill Cornelius drink champagne, the millionaire refused, citing its high cost. A native of a poor family and charitable donations avoided, in contrast, for example, from the hereditary banker Pierpont Morgan. " All my life I've been crazy about making money", - confessed Cornelius. Only Central University (renamed Vanderbilt University) and the Wanderer Church in New York received sponsorship from the millionaire.

Vanderbilt did not want to divide the fortune equally among all the heirs (the rich man had 12 adult children). According to the will, the Commander left the main part of the wealth to his eldest son William. The rest of the children received only $100,000 each, an amount that, although quite sufficient for a luxurious lifestyle, is insignificant compared to William Vanderbilt's $90 million. To the widow, Vanderbilt left $500,000 in cash, a mansion in New York, and 2,000 shares of New York Central Road. Not surprisingly, the dispossessed heirs began to sue the rich brother, insisting that Cornelius Vanderbilt wrote the will while insane. However, none of the trials were successful - the judges invariably confirmed last will Commander.

William Vanderbilt, who earned a reputation as a business genius while his father was still alive, successfully managed his inheritance, doubling the capital accumulated by Cornelius. But constant stress undermined the health of Vanderbilt-son: William survived his father by only eight years. After the death of his elder brother, the grandson of the Commander, Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., became the head of the railway empire.

Unfortunately, the descendants of the Commander did not have the tough business acumen of their father and grandfather. This ruined the Vanderbilt empire. The Vanderbilts preferred sports to business, especially yachting, art, breeding thoroughbred horses, in the worst case, charity. Cornelius Jr. became famous for his luxurious estate in Newport. His daughter Alice Gwen Vanderbilt (the one with whom Ellochka the ogre competed in The Twelve Chairs) became a sculptor, curator, and founder of the Museum of American Art in New York. Alice's niece, Gloria Vanderbilt, is a famous fashion designer, particularly jeans. Son of the younger Cornelius Vanderbilt - famous writer, newspaper publisher and film producer.

The family constantly reduced its share in the New York Railroad - grandchildren and great-grandchildren gradually lived out what Cornelius had acquired. In 1954, control of the company passed to Robert Ralph Young and his Alleghany Corporation, once also owned by the founder of the railroad empire. The descendants of Vanderbilt easily parted with assets for which the old Commander clung almost with his teeth.