Was
Cornelius Vanderbilt, the owner of over 4,000 miles of railroad track during the 1800s, was known as one of America’s first railroad kinds. Originally in the steamboat industry, Vanderbilt took to the railroads during the time of the Civil War. At the time of his death, he controlled most of the railroad lines from New York to the Great
Lakes. He acquired railroad lines using some very ruthless (cruel) tactics. When his competition went out of business, he would raise his rates to gain profits he lost. In the 1870s, Vanderbilt attempted to purchase the New York Central Railroad company (which connected
Albany, NY to Buffalo, NY) and when the owners refused his offer he acted harshly. Vanderbilt then refused to allow any passenger traveling on the New York Central Railroad to transfer onto any of his trains. Since he controlled virtually all the rail lines in this area, the New York Central Railroad company lost vast amounts of business. Soon the owners had no choice but to sell to Vanderbilt, giving him a monopoly over shipping and passenger travel in the entire
Northeast United States. At the time of his death in 1877,
Vanderbilt left behind over $100,000,000 in personal wealth. He donated $1,000,000 to Central University in Nashville, Tennessee, which later became known as Vanderbilt University. In his will,
Vanderbilt gave $95 million to his eldest son, $500,000 to his wife and $50,000 to his eight daughters and disowned 7 of his 16 children!