DAY 996: BILLIONAIRES - Cornelius Vanderbilt

The biggest development of our modern era is without a doubt that of our networks. And I'm not just talking about our telecommunication network that allows us to tweet, post, share, communicate. There was something that came before and is arguably much more influential into the modern American economy. That would be the network of transportation. It's extensive and has allowed us to transport goods and people all over the country in a matter Just look at Google Maps without the labels. You can literally see the extensive network of roads and cities we've created, all connected to each other via roadways and railroads. Railroads like this one here were so instrumental in the creation of the United States economy that it quite literally ushered in the Gilded Age of the Industrial Revolution and made many people very, very rich. Enter Cornelius Vanderbilt. During the 1830s, textile mills were popping up all over New England, developing the United States manufacturing base. The mills like the ones found here in Manchester, which were some of the largest at the time, were processing a lot of different things, but the largest by volume was cotton. Now, cotton, as we know, was coming from the slave empire of the South via steamboat to New York and then on one of the first rail lines connecting New York to Boston. Now, Vanderbilt started as a steamship owner in New York running cotton up from the South. He was very successful as one of the most powerful steamboat operators in the country by the age of 70. As railways began to undercut his business, he quickly saw the future of industry lied within Love is love. Love is love. Vanderbilt sought to own the most valuable railway at the time, which was the New York Providence and Boston Railroad, a.k.a. Stonington. At the time, it was far too large to buy up outright, so instead he acquired all the vital connecting lines and cut fares, driving the stock price of Stonington down low enough for him to become president of the railway in 1847. This was the first major step for Vanderbilt on his road to becoming the first American tycoon. In the next decade of his life, Cornelius Vanderbilt began taking control of Erie Railway, Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Hartford and New Haven line, and the New York and Harlem. See, Vanderbilt took a fresh approach to railways and was one of the first people to making an extensive network of lines that could multiply their value. Thus, in 1867, he connected and acquired all the lines necessary to make New York's Central Railroad, the largest and most profitable railway system in the world stretching beyond 700 miles from the Great Lakes to the East Coast. By the end of his career, Vanderbilt had accumulated a fortune that adjusted into today's money would be roughly $215 billion, making him far richer than any living billionaire. While Cornelius himself was a modest spender considering his wealth, most of his earnings were invested back into his empire, but his financial legacy would synthesize into some of the most extravagant homes via his descendants, as well as a couple blockbusters and one of CNN's most iconic anchors. Without the incredibly ruthless and tenaciously industrial mind of Cornelius Vanderbilt, some could make the argument that America wouldn't be the same. After all, trains made it possible for places like Manchester, New Hampshire to become some of the most important cities in New England at the time, creating everything you see around me. It's just something to think about. Thank you so much.