Cornelius Vanderbilt inscription on the grave. Cornelius Vanderbilt: photo, biography, quotes, sayings. The Vanderbilt Empire in Civil War. railroad king

End of XX - beginning of XXI century in Russia is called the period of wild capitalism and compared with what happened in the United States a century ago, where at that time a galaxy of people appeared who made astronomical fortunes through personal connections and imperfect laws. They became known as "robber barons". Together with crazy capitals, the "barons" earned a bad reputation. Over time, this "little thing" began to interfere with doing business, closing the doors in front of them. And the "barons" thought about how to "erase" their surname.

The Russian oligarchs of the Yeltsin era are classic American-style robber barons of the century before last. They are already beginning to think about laundering - no, not money - names. For example, the descendants of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the first richest man in the world, worked to rehabilitate the family name. Society forgave everything only to his great-great-grandchildren and, as a sign of reconciliation, smelled of Vanderbilt perfume.

Mayer Rothschild.

Gospel of Wealth

Mayer Rothschild was one of the first to understand the importance of image investment. Opening in 1755 an antique shop in Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt am Main (Germany), he wisely set aside the most valuable coins. Soon I learned about his collection myself crown prince William of Hesse. He wished to redeem the coins, but the far-sighted Mayer simply presented them to him, for which Wilhelm made the poor Jew his chief financial agent. When the prince fled from Napoleon, Rothschild received part of the Hessian treasury to keep. Within 15 years, Mayer and his five sons built a financial empire. However, the contemptuous attitude of society prevented the Rothschilds from feeling complete happiness. Therefore, in his will, the elder Rothschild recommended that his sons spare no expense in creating a positive image of the family.

The heirs heeded the advice of their father. They married aristocrats and bought noble estates. In 1822, the Austrian emperor made the brothers barons for their help in the war against Napoleon. In order to acquire a family coat of arms, to which only the most noble of the princes were entitled, the Rothschilds issued an interest-free loan to the Chancellor of Austria, Prince Metterlinck, in the amount of 900 thousand florins. In total, the sons of Rothschild spent 30 million florins on gifts and bribes. However, despite all the tricks, the European elite openly laughed at the nouveau riche. And only in the third generation, the Rothschilds managed to enter the circle of honor. The bank, which was managed by Alphonse Rothschild, Mayer's grandson, helped France, which lost in another war, pay indemnities to Prussia. In 1870 Rothschild became national hero French Republic.

Andrew Carnegie.

Carnegieda, or how to become Santa

If the Rothschilds needed several generations to raise their social status, then the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) cleared the name during his lifetime, sacrificing his entire fortune. Encouraging himself in the struggle for a bright name, he repeated: "He who dies rich, dies disgraced". Becoming an assistant telegraph operator at the age of 14, he was one of the few who learned to read telegraph dispatches aloud directly from the sheet. This allowed him to earn $ 217, with which he bought shares in the car building company. Carnegie invested the profits from stocks in the steel business and at the age of 28 created the Carnegie Steel Corporation. The Carnegie factories were notorious for their merciless exploitation of workers. During the depression of 1892, striking workers clashed with the police in Hosted, killing 12 people. Carnegie shifted the responsibility for this to the manager.

And at the age of 60, Carnegie said: “There is nothing more disgusting than the cult of money. So I have to choose life path who ennobles me". In 1901, he sold his corporation to John P. Morgan and turned to philanthropy. The direct heirs received $25 million, and his donations amounted to $350 million: $62 million in the UK and $288 million in the US. The title of philanthropist cost Carnegie 12 charitable foundations and 2.5 thousand dollars. public libraries. They are still used by 40% of Americans who now call Carnegie Santa Claus.

Carnegie can be considered a popularizer of the system of laundering the surname, which later all the "robber barons" adjusted for themselves. By 1940 own charitable foundations acquired 12 dynasties, including Vanderbilts, Guggenheims, Mellons, McCormicks, Du Ponts. The total amount of donations, for example, John Rockefeller amounted to $ 500 million, of which $ 80 million went to the University of Chicago.

How did the Vanderbilts "launder" the surname?

Cornelius Vanderbilt, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, was a ruthless, vulgar and vile man. But it was this name that his great-great-granddaughter put on jeans and glasses that were sold in the millions in the world.

Cornelius Vanderbilt: "The law! I don't care what the law is. Why do I need power then?

At the age of 16, having begged $100 from his mother, Cornelius bought a punt. Carried passengers from Staten Island to Manhattan and back at the cheapest rate. He saved up $1,000 in a year. In 1812, he made money in the war between the United States and England: he won the exclusive right to water transportation between New York and the defensive forts built around it. Five years later, he controlled water communications around New York. Not arguing with progress, Cornelius sold all the sailing ships and was hired for $ 60 a month as a captain of a steamer in Gibbons' company, and later became his full partner. When their competitors received a 30-year Hudson monopoly from the state of New York, Vanderbilt drove the steamboat through foreign territory and charged passengers four times less than competitors. It was at that time that he developed a business rule that he never changed: do not negotiate with competitors, but destroy them, mercilessly dumping. Cornelius did not disdain banal gangster "arrivals". When the shipping companies sued Cornelius, he took his side, recognizing the monopoly of the plaintiffs as illegal. After 11 years, Vanderbilt had half a million dollars in capital and a shipping empire. During the Gold Rush, he developed the shortest route to California. He drove gold miners through Nicaragua and, of course, charged them $200 less than competitors. A year later, he already had $ 1 million in net profit. At 70, he sold his largest private fleet in the world and invested in rail transportation. On land, he dealt with competitors in the same way as on the water. Vanderbilt Sr. was the richest man in the world ($140 million), defiantly boasted of money and his lack of education. IN Last year life established Vanderbilt University for $1 million and donated land to the Moravian Church Cemetery on Staten Island in New York, where the Vanderbilt family crypt was built. 12 children.

William Henry Vanderbilt (1821-1885).

William Henry Vanderbilt (1821-1885)

Cornelius Vanderbilt bequeathed 90% of his fortune to his son William, the only one he believed in. American economists consider Cornelius' choice to be ideal. William was as ruthless and cynical in business as his father. He gradually expanded the railway empire and by the end of his life doubled his father's capital. By 1883, key posts in family business occupied by his elder sons. In one of the interviews, William was asked how he would feel if the central railway under his control began to be run as a public trust. In response, he said through his teeth: "The public, be it damned." This phrase of the newspaper conveyed to every American. After that, William donated $ 1.2 million to religious and charitable organizations and another $1 million to Father's University. In 1879 he started building sports center Madison Square Garden in New York. 8 children.

Interesting fact. In 1871, Madison Square Garden was used as a warehouse, then used as a racetrack, and later as a concert hall. In 1879, William Henry Vanderbilt decided to rebuild the building into an ice arena. The name "Square Garden on Madison Avenue" he came up with himself.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843-1899).

Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843-1899)

Participated in the family business. Sponsored by Vanderbilt University. Founded the Vanderbilt Clinic at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. Donated to the Cathedral of St. John in New York.

George Washington Vanderbilt II (1862-1914).

George Washington Vanderbilt II (1862-1914)

Little interest in the family business. Patronized research in the field Agriculture. He donated the lands to the Teachers' College of Columbia University. Gained a reputation as an intellectual and philanthropist.

William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849-1920).

William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849-1920)

Participated in the family business. Donated to the Vanderbilt clinic. Sponsored research in the field of creating drugs against cancer and influenza in New York.

Cornelius Vanderbilt III (1873-1942).

Cornelius Vanderbilt III (1873-1942)

Inventor, yachtsman, racer, rider. Participated in the First World War, rose to the rank of brigadier general. Founded the Vanderbilt Cup for racing drivers. Set the world speed record in 1904.

Alfred Gwynn Vanderbilt (1877-1915).

Alfred Gwynn Vanderbilt (1877-1915)

Participated in all family businesses. In 1915, the ocean liner he was on was torpedoed by a German submarine. Alfred helped people get into the boats, gave his life jacket. He himself could not be saved.

Founded the United States Horse Federation (USEF). Card player, alcoholic.

Gertrude Vanderbilt (1875-1942).

Gertrude Vanderbilt (1875-1942)

Sculptor. She sponsored art studios in New York and Paris. Founded the Museum of American Art. Twice participated in yachting competitions for the America's Cup. Husband - Harry Payne Whitney, banker, son of an oil tycoon.

Harold Sterling Vanderbilt (1884-1970).

Harold Sterling Vanderbilt (1884-1970)

Participated in the family business. Yachtsman who won the America's Cup regatta three times. In 1913 he built the building of the Bolshoi central station in NYC. Invented card game contract bridge, which is now called the bridge.

Cornelius Vanderbilt IV (1898-1974).

Cornelius Vanderbilt IV (1898-1974)

Writer, newspaper publisher, film producer.

William Henry Jr. Vanderbilt (1901-1981).

William Henry Jr. Vanderbilt (1901-1981)

The first status politician in the Vanderbilt family, governor of Rhode Island.

Alfred Gwynn Jr. Vanderbilt (1912-1999).

Alfred Gwynn Jr. Vanderbilt (1912-1999)

From time to time participated in the family business.

Gloria Vanderbilt (1924).

Gloria Vanderbilt (1924)

Interesting fact. Perfume "Vanderbilt" with exquisite aroma garden carnation, roses and mimosa appeared in 1982. They were the most inexpensive of fashionable perfumes.

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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 business offer: he will plow and sow an 8-acre rocky plot on their farm, after which he will receive a loan of $ 100 from her to buy a boat. 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 to family budget over a thousand dollars. 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 laid 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 activities 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 fare 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 diggers from New York to east coast 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.

Woody Allen has a movie called Petty Rascals. There, a couple of elderly boobies, unexpectedly legally rich, decided to join the high society of America. More precisely, the female half of this couple decided. Her husband, as a simpleton, held on to this simpleness with all his might. Madame decorated her house with statues, studied art, but all this refined high society did not put her in a penny anyway. As a result, Madame went bankrupt, spat on high society, society spat on her, and everyone continued to be themselves. All. Great movie, by the way.

No, Cornelius Vanderbilt, our hero, was not a swindler for sure (at least a small one), but, according to his contemporaries, he really wanted to become his own among the New York beau monde. And if in affairs Vanderbilt was the ataman and the winner, then in privacy all his attempts to get into secular affairs turned into kitsch.

The family of Cornelius Vanderbilt was poor, like State Duma deputies during the period of tax reporting. His father was a farmer and boatman, they lived on their own farm on Staten Island in New York. At age 11, Vanderbilt gave up school and went to work as a boatman. At 16, he borrowed $100 from his mother and bought his first boat. Due to the fact that Vanderbilt was ready to carry passengers from Staten Island to Manhattan in any weather and time, he earned a good reputation, and customers “floated” to him. He returned his mother's debt six months later. A year later, he bought several boats and put his rowers on them.

By the age of 18, Vanderbilt had contracted to carry supplies for military garrisons. Consider that government orders have gone. By age 22, Vanderbilt had a boat fleet, a schooner, and $9,000 in cash. Multiply that amount by 50 and you have half a million in our money. This is how America got rich. The first million was obtained more often with his calluses on his hands from rowing oars. The second and other millions are the calluses of penny mercenaries and beggars.

A few years later, Vanderbilt became the king of steamships. He quickly sensed which way the wind was blowing, with the invention of steamboats, bought a pair and began to use his favorite technique to eliminate competitors - dumping. If your morning starts with a cup of coffee, then Cornelius Vanderbilt's morning began with the fact that he pressed opponents. If it so happened that you owned a steamboat or any other company that crossed the interests of our entrepreneur, he brought down the prices of his services: say, instead of a dollar, he charged 10 cents for a steamboat trip, all customers immediately went to Vanderbilt, and your company dried crackers. None of Cornelius' competitors could withstand his dumping (except for the above-described comrade Gould). Everyone was blown away. Shares in a competitor's company were falling, and Vanderbilt was buying them up at once.

At first, Vanderbilt worked on local steamship routes from New York and around, but soon moved on to transcontinental shipping. Yes, and there Cornelius had opponents, moreover, they were subsidized from the budgets of the United States and Great Britain, but Vanderbilt fought them off too. It was Vanderbilt who first thought of digging a canal in Central America: first through Nicaragua, then in Panama. Failed: the shareholders did not give money (and a lot was needed). Therefore, in this direction - transportation from the west of America to Europe - Vanderbilt continued to work in two ships: one approached Panama from Pacific Ocean, passengers or cargo by land reached the Atlantic coast, and there another steamer was already waiting and smoking. Everyone loaded onto it, and, tadam, you're in New York or Europe.

Vanderbilt had only one business flaw. With a stretch minus, of course. Vanderbilt loved to travel. He even built himself a personal yacht and several times went on a European voyage himself. And every time he returned from a tour, he found that his employees were in the process of “shoeing” him, Vanderbilt. In a sense, only Vanderbilt was distracted from business, as they tried to pull his entire company apart piece by piece. Cornelius ruthlessly stopped everything. There was even a story when his comrades-in-arms stole steamboats from him, which carried people through that very Nicaragua, and agreed with the main people of this country to continue the work of the magnate on their own. Vanderbilt did not shake his fist, but went to the President of the United States with the words that either the United States would intervene with troops and diplomacy, or Cornelius himself would buy guns and show the local natives where shrimp wintered in Nicaragua. The United States threatened small and not very proud Nicaragua, and everything was returned to Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt quickly became king of the steamboats, and he got rid of them just as quickly. After selling the steamship business, Vanderbilt invested heavily in railroads and real estate. The methods were the same. Crush, strangle and ransom. It worked flawlessly.

Perhaps that's why in the secular society of New York, as I said before, Cornelius Vanderbilt was not liked. The tycoon had too many enemies - people who were “stripped off” and beaten by him. All contemporaries yelled out loud about the railway king, that although he is rich, like Midas, his manners are “God forbid.” Vanderbilt cursed, smoked strong cigars, in general, behaved like a sailor. Fu Fu Fu. They say that Cornelius loved his person and even installed a statue of his name in the form of a god on the throne near his house. In some ways, this resembles Russian businessmen in style. Vanderbilt became rich too quickly to be modest.

In any case, Cornelius Vanderbilt, for all his excesses, was the powerhouse of the US economy. He "enslaved" thousands of Americans and paid millions in taxes. That is why his name is awe-inspiring, and since the 19th century his large family has been automatically recorded in such far-fetched nonsense as “ secret government peace."

Finally, again, to the question that Vanderbilt was a business gopnik in his life, but they remember almost only good things about him: Cornelius donated a lot of money to a local university in Nashville (Tennessee), now bearing the name of Vanderbilt and being one of the best in the world. Cornelius Vanderbilt knew where he was investing.

And the last thing about the sailor-tycoon. Cornelius Vanderbilt is considered to be the inventor of chips. Once in a restaurant they brought him a potato, but Vanderbilt refused it: "Too thickly cut and undercooked." The potatoes were cut thinner, and rolled. Layz, Pringles, and so on and so forth.

He was born a sailor and died a railroad emperor. He possessed huge force and seething energy, skillfully coped with competitors, ruthlessly blackmailed, bribed and threatened. His steamboats made him millions, and his railroads made him billions. Cornelius Vanderbilt, financial genius, railroad magnate and simply, "robber baron".

Cornelius Vanderbilt (originally, Van Der Bilt) was born on May 27, 1794 on a family farm in Port Richmond, now Staten Island, New York. The future millionaire was the fourth of nine children of a poor farmer who also earned money as a boatman in New York Port.Even in his youth, Cornelius earned the nickname "Commodore" when, on his father's heavy two-masted barge, he transported passengers and cargo along New York Bay. Unlike peers who mastered reading and arithmetic at school, this two-meter foul-mouthed study and on his own experience began to study the straits and currents in the New York area.It is known that later, the boy never regretted the lack of knowledge, stating that if he continued to study at school, he simply would not have time for anything other.

A month before his 16th birthday, Cornelius 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 business, 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 for his farm. It was an almost impossible task, but Cornelius was not afraid of difficulties.

The young man disposed of his first borrowed capital in a different way - he bought a two-masted punt and began, following the example of his father, to carry passengers from Staten Island to nearby Manhattan and back. The vessel leaked and once even almost sank, but young Vanderbilt worked without rest, earning a reputation as a reliable, and most importantly, the cheapest carrier on the line. 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.

In the future, nothing could prevent Vanderbilt from building his business. The accumulated thousand dollars did not lie in the cache for long. In 1812, the Anglo-American War began, and Cornelius, despite the British blockade of New York harbor, obtained from the federal government the exclusive right to water transportation between New York and the defensive forts built around it. Having bought a schooner and two smaller vessels, Vanderbilt established a brisk navigation on the Hudson River. An enterprising shipowner transported supplies for the six American garrisons located on its shores.

At the age of 19, the sailor married his neighbor and cousin Sophia Johnson, a woman no less strong-willed and purposeful than himself. When Vanderbilt was 22 years old, by the end of 1817, he increased his fortune to $ 9 thousand, not counting the stake in the coastal company he founded, which controlled all water communications around New York.

It's steamboat time. At first, Vanderbilt scoffed at their smoking chimneys, but when the steamboats began to successfully compete with his sailing ships, he decided to master this new business himself. not wanting to be left behind technical progress, Cornelius took an unexpected step - he sold his entire sailing fleet and became the captain of a ship in the shipping company of Thomas Gibbons with a salary of $ 60 per month. The decision to work "for an uncle" had a single and far-reaching goal: before he independently turned around in the shipping business, Vanderbilt decided to thoroughly understand it.

For 10 years of transporting passengers from New York along the Raritan River to New Brunswick (New Jersey), he figured out all the intricacies of the steamship business. Sophia also contributed to the family budget - she ran a hotel for passengers on the pier, and also looked after their first of eleven children.

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt, using his natural intelligence and ingenuity, saved up the money he had earned and looked for ways to increase it. So, he organized new flights along the New York Bay to Battery, deciding that he had too few routes along Raritan.

But here there were problems. The New York Legislature established a monopoly on steamboat traffic in the region to Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston, so that Vanderbilt's business became illegal. However, he, having reduced fares, rushed on his ship between New York and New Jersey, pursued by constables. In turn, the passengers rejoiced at both the exciting chases and the dumping prices of these flights - a savings of two dollars. Usually Vanderbilt got away from the marine cops, but one day, when the ship was in port, the policeman almost arrested him - the captain ordered the ship to sail, and the policeman, fearing to be out of his jurisdiction, jumped onto the pier. Thus, the game of "catch me if you can" lasted 30 years until the monopoly was abolished and declared unconstitutional. By 1829, through Vanderbilt's labor and innovation, Gibbons' steamship business had grown from one to seven ships.

During the war with competitors Fulton-Livingston, the Commodore became an equal partner of Gibbons. Here he honed his corporate style - never enter into alliances with competitors, but kick them out of the market, ruining them with the help of dumping. It was still a long way from antitrust legislation (the Sherman Act was adopted only in 1890), and such a practice was recognized as quite legal. In addition, Vanderbilt mastered these techniques better than others. In fairness, it should be noted that he usually offered the consumer a product, although less expensive, but no less high-quality than that of competitors.

At the same time, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who proudly bore the title of commodore all his life (as the commander of a unit of warships is called in the fleets of England and the United States), did not disdain methods, to put it mildly, dubious. In particular, "attacks" on competitors with the help of thugs, who were easy to hire in any port.

By 1830, Vanderbilt had decided to leave Gibbons, having saved up $30,000 with his wife and considerable knowledge of steamship transportation. So he organized his own business, starting with the new New York-Philadelphia steamship route. Using his tricks, the Commodore, of course, immediately reduced the fares, and so much so that his competitors soon paid him a huge amount of compensation, if only he would not interfere with them. Then this business tycoon moved his ships to the Hudson River, where he began to fiercely fight with local shipping companies controlled by an experienced Wall Street shark - the famous stock player Daniel Drew, who owned shares in several shipping companies. Their rivalry lasted for more than half a century, in different areas business with varying degrees of success. In this first fight on the Hudson, Vanderbilt defeated his opponent with the same dumping. First, Cornelius reduced the price of the flight from three bucks to one, and later to 10 cents, and finally made the fare completely free. He suffered huge losses: good food, service and fuel did not pay off, but he was glad that Daniel Drew was ruined even more. In the end, the competitors paid him $ 100,000 in compensation and another 5 thousand a year, if only he would not appear on “their” route for 10 years. Vanderbilt took the money with ease and traveled north to Boston, Hartford, Providence Bay, and south to Washington, Charleston, and Havana. At 45, through payments from competitors and income from his fleet of a hundred ships in other areas, Cornelius Vanderbilt amassed a fortune of several million.

Rejected by sophisticated New York society, Vanderbilt built a handsome mansion on Staten Island. After 10 years, he returned to Manhattan and built a four-story city mansion on Washington Place. His steamboats carried prospectors from New York to the east coast of Nicaragua, then up the San Juan River and across the lake. Thus, he received from the "gold rush" a million dollars a year. At the same time, Vanderbilt was engaged in the project of laying the Trans-American Canal in Nicaragua, connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific, but, unfortunately, after spending 12 years on its development, the project was not successful.

In 1851, Vanderbilt witnessed mobs of prospectors rush from New York to California for gold. Most of these travelers were transported by the Pacific Postal Shipping Company, which had a monopoly on the Panama route. Vanderbilt could not miss such an opportunity. He opened new way- via Nicaragua, which shortened the journey by 500 miles and two days. His steamers carried passengers from New York to the east coast of Nicaragua, then up the San Juan River and across Lake Nicaragua. Then the passengers were taken in carriages to the Pacific coast, from where they - again on steamboats - traveled to California. Not being a prospector, Vanderbilt received from the "gold rush" income of $ 1 million a year. By the mid-1850s, 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, 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:

“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.”

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 monthly for abandoning the Nicaraguan route.

But millions never opened the door to New York City for Vanderbilt. elite. Whenever he was invited to dine with representatives of the local elite, he shocked the mistresses of the saloons with sailor abuse, spit tobacco on the carpet and tried to pinch young maids on the backside. The wealth of Cornelius by the standards of that time was really defiant, but the manners of the magnate shocked his contemporaries even more. He openly boasted not only of his fortune, but also of his uncouthness and dense ignorance in everything that did not concern business. "All my life I've been crazy about money - the invention of new ways to make them did not leave me time for education," he frankly told the newspapers. Constantly emphasizing his plebeian origin, the commodore did not hesitate to express himself in public: his strong words from the sailor's vocabulary made even men in officer uniforms blush, and their companions were brought into a semi-conscious state. A model of luxury and bad taste was the three-story palace built by Vanderbilt on his native Staten Island, the pediment of which was decorated with a bronze statue of the owner, sitting on the throne in the pose of an ancient god. Cornelis Vanderbilt's antics were ridiculed by the then American elite, but at the same time, the New York society adopted with amazing speed any innovation that came from the magnate.

Even more condemnation was caused by the manners of the rich man in Europe. No wonder - he could easily rent the largest London opera house for friends and acquaintances for the evening, canceling the planned performance and paying a penalty. At that time, the doors of the prestigious clubs of the Old World and the European world itself remained generally closed to the uncouth Yankees, their hefty packs of "greens" did not yet have a magical effect on the European elite. Vanderbilt had little time for society. His life's work was to make money. And he increasingly found new ways.

Not accustomed to giving in to obstacles, Vanderbilt began to systematically and energetically break this wall too, betraying the remaining unmarried daughters(in total he had eight daughters and three sons) for well-born European aristocrats. The pinnacle of this matrimonial operation was the wedding of his daughter Consuela with the ninth Duke of Marlborough (Winston Churchill's cousin) - two million dollars of dowry allowed the duke to restore the Blenheim family castle, and the doors to London's high society were opened before his father-in-law.

Despite old age Vanderbilt, whose personal fortune reached $40 million, continued to explore new areas of business. Having sold out his fleet on the eve of his 70th birthday - at that time the largest private fleet in the world - the magnate again relied on steam technology, only land: the steamship king intended to turn into a locomotive.

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 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 own business to earn big money, and not save penny for penny, like 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 would plow and sow more than three hectare 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, betting 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 government of Nicaragua, which consisted in the fact that he receives 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 wardroom 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 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 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 ground transport, but in the 60s 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 field. transport business USA.

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 inherit all the capital younger son George, but 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 got carried away railways) has been completed.

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.