There was also one hundred-and-forty-six-acre estate built by another Vanderbilt brother, a summer home in Rhode Island, and then the philanthropy. William Vanderbilt spent money on yachts, thoroughbred horses, an expansive art collection, and ten mansions on Manhattan's fifth avenue.

Vanderbilt's budgetary strategy was: frugal spending, so income was always higher than expenses, and savings were invested in making more income or saved as cold hard cash.

When Commodore died in 1877, he reportedly had $100 million dollars in the bank, which would be worth $233 billion dollars today. At its peak, his company New York Central was the second-largest railroad in the US, with 11,000 miles of track across 11 states and two provinces in Canada. By 1967, he had control of all the railroads between New York and Buffalo. He was economical almost to extremes.' This quote definitely came back to haunt him generations later.īy 1964, Commodore swapped his captain's hat for a conductor's hat and acquired controlling stakes in two New York-based railroads. A former clerk said, 'He never had a debt and never bought anything on credit. Between the 1820s and 1850s, he built his own steamboat fleet, built his own ships, and even built his own canal to ferry passengers and mail from New York to California during the gold rush. He then saved the cash and would lend it out to earn interest or invest in hard capital like more boats or real estate. Commodore would use competitive pricing to undercut rivals so low they had to give in or buy him out. He was so successful that by 1817, he earned a government contract to ferry military supplies through New York Harbor in 1812.

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