W. H. Vanderbilt is the son of Cornelius Vanderbilt. W. H. was born into wealth but when he was growing up his father had no confidence or hope for him in the economic world. Cornelius made his wealth through shipping in the steam freighter era. But when W. H. was older Cornelius put him in charge of the family farm in New York that was going through some rough times. W. H. was there for a little under a year and by the time that he left the farm had been turned around and was actually making a profit. After this Cornelius began to have some confidence in his sons economic ability. About this time the railroad system was the up and rising industrialist phenomenon. Cornelius bought the New York State railroad and put W.H. in charge of the operation. Not long after W. H. had been put in charge Cornelius past away. After the passing of his father W.H. made the New York line very profitable and began to buy most of the railroad lines in the Northeast region of the United States. W. H. Vanderbilt made huge profits through his ability to turn corporations into profitable economic empires. With the wealth he made W. H. made very large contributions to up and coming universities. He made a very large donation to Central Nashville University which has now been renamed as Vanderbilt University. He is also responsible for a large portion of the Vanderbilt estate which is now a days worth about $52 billion. By the time W. H. Vanderbilt passed away in his sixties he had accumulated so much wealth through his economic prowess and his inheritance that he was able to earn the title of 4th wealthiest man in history and surpass his fathers previous wealth. His father is number 10 on the list of wealthiest men.
In my opinion W.H. Vanderbilt is one of the greatest economic success stories of his time period. He overcame the negativity and distrust from his own father as a child to become even more wealthy than his father had been. Another point of admiration about W.H. was in his urge to do better and achieve even more. Even though he did inherit a large amount of wealth from his father, he turned around and made even more. And he did not accomplish this by merely continuing in running the family business. He made his wealth in a whole new field than the one his father did. Cornelius was in the shipping business whereas W. H. made the majority of his wealth in the railroad business. And another point is that he was born with natural talent for business and economics. His father put him in charge of the family farm in his teenage years and W. H. was still able to pull the farm of an economic slump and actually turn it into a profitable small business. W. H. was also a very charitable person. As mentioned early W. H. made a very large donation and contribution to the Central Nashville University, which is now Vanderbilt University and is one of the leading medical and academic colleges in the nation. He also contributed to A surgical hospital in the Northeast which is now one of the most prestigious medical schools in the country. The Vanderbilt estate is now a museum that is open to the public and a true example of the amount wealth that was accumulated by the economic geniuses of the late 19th century.
W. H. Vanderbilt
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