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Cornelius Vanderbilt

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (May 27, 1794-January 4, 1877)
    Last name condensed from 'Van Der Bilt'
    Shipping and railroad tycoon
    Patriarch of the Vanderbuilt family
    Peak fortune estimated at $100 million
    One of America's richest men

Why he might be annoying:

    He married two of his cousins.
    After his first cousin's wife died, he married one that was 43 years his junior.
    He dropped out of school by age 11 to get into business.
    He was ruthless in acquiring wealth and maintaining power.
    He made very few friends and a lot of enemies.
    He was vulgar, mean-spirited and generally made life hell for his family.
    He chewed tobacco.
    His descendants built huge mansions in New York that came to characterize the greed of the Gilded Age.
    Of his $100 million, he left his son William with $95 million and his eight daughters (along with his wife) $500,000.
    The will was contested by three of his daughters and son Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt for over a year unsuccessfully.
    His son later committed suicide.
    The dynasty he created did not last long. Sixty years after his death, one of his direct descendants died penniless because of arrogant personal spending.
    Unlike other industrial giants of the period, he was not charitable with his wealth in the slightest and once said, 'The public be damned.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    Unlike the rest of his family, he preferred to live in modest homes.
    He let the Union use one of his cargo vessels during the Civil War.
    His youngest and favorite son died as a result of injuries after the Civil War (1866).
    He offered railroad jobs to the thousands that were left unemployed as a result of the Panic of 1873.
    He was not litigious and preferred to destroy his enemies through other means.
    He willed $1 million to found Vanderbilt University.

Credit: Captain Howdy


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 101 Votes: 44.55% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 25 Votes: 12.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 18 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 32 Votes: 65.62% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 57 Votes: 42.11% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 47 Votes: 68.09% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 61 Votes: 63.93% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 134 Votes: 73.88% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 125 Votes: 69.60% Annoying