Cornelius Vanderbilt: $185 Billion Men That Ones Control New York City

There is always someone who starts the trends, and when you think of tycoons, one man holds the name. In today's episode, we'll talk about the first tycoon in history, and how he controlled what came in and out from the now-known New York City. We are going to take a look into the Shipping and Railroad Empire of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt was born in Staten Island, New York, when the city had a population of only 33,000 people. His father used to drive ships across Staten Island and Manhattan. Vanderbilt dropped out of school at the age of 11 to work on the ferry with his father, transporting cargo. He borrowed $100 from his father while looking for ways to start a business. The competition in the industry began when ships began transporting passengers between Staten Island and New York City. Vanderbilt, a 16-year-old, charged 18 cents per trip and worked long hours, making him a lot of money. To pay back $100 in loans in a one-year while also making a $1,000 profit. Many people became acquainted with him as a result of his renowned business practices. Vanderbilt's ruthless approach and image as a go-getter earned him a contract from the government to deliver supplies to various ports that guarded New York. By the end of the war, he had amassed a small fleet of boats to do business and conquer New York City. And, with a $10,000 working capital, transporting passengers from Boston to Delaware. However, his business began to decline in 1818 as larger and more powerful steamships entered the market. Continuing on the same path, thinking of ways to gain an advantage, he began designing a steam engine for his boats and transitioning from sail to steamboats. He kept his boats on a strict schedule. Plan on working more hours than his competitors was his strategy to take them out of business. Vanderbilt spent the next 40 years building the world's largest shipping empire, and he soon became a billionaire. James W. Marshall was a dominant force in the industry, but he was just getting started in the early 1948s. He discovered gold in California and the discovery of gold attracted approximately 300,000 people to California. From all over the United States and abroad, Vanderbilt made certain that everyone who came to or from California used his boats, earning him more than a million dollars in a year. He then went up against a cartel where one man was about to put a group together. The companies that operated under the Hudson River ran out of business and the vendors started capitalizing on President Andrew Jackson's populist language, naming their service the People's Line. Offering low freight rates to customers, his service quickly became a large player in the Hudson River, and they bought him out. In 1853, some of Vanderbilt's associates had sold him out for a hundred thousand dollars. During that incidence, Vanderbilt was on vacation when they took over one of his most important projects. When he discovered their treachery, he penned a letter to them. Gentlemen, you have agreed to defraud me. I will not sue you because the law takes too long and will ruin me. Within a year, he had re-established Vanderbilt's roots, and he was now the most powerful man in the world. As transportation became more popular, he sold his steamship company and invested the proceeds in a railroad. Railroads as a new mode of transportation, one of the inventions of the steam engine, first on water, now on land. The year 1861 marked the start of the Civil War. The country required a means of transporting goods, and all eyes were on him as he invested heavily in railroads. The war lasted for four years beneath the Hudson River Railroad, killing 620,000 people. Including George Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt's son, was expected to take over his business by his father. Vanderbilt, at 72, was emotionally affected by the loss of his son. By negotiating contracts, the railroad saw this as a weakness and took Vanderbilt lightly. Vanderbilt owned the only rail bridge in New York City at the time, the Hudson. The river bridge was the gateway to the country's largest port connecting railroads from the east. Vanderbilt blocked the bridge for his rivals, refusing to allow any traffic, and wants to buy them out. In order for cargo to enter the city, the New York Central Railroad had no choice but to sell their stocks. When Wall Street realized that there was a massive sell-off, share prices plummeted. Seeing this, Vanderbilt took this opportunity and purchased New York Central's stocks for pennies in a matter of days. Merging the two companies resulted in the creation of America's single largest railroad company. The New York Central and Hudson River Railroads were formed, and soon, they connected America from coast to coast. He owned 40 of the nation's rail lines, and in 1869, he built a main hub in the Midwest, connecting his three new lines in the city's heart, the Harlem, Hudson, and New York Central. Work on the country's largest train station began, and it will take nearly two years to complete. By 1870, Vanderbilt had created the Grand Central Depot, now known as Grand Central Station, in New York. But, he could no longer run the operation of the railroad empire, because the train lacks the power to move as the structure grow bigger. To keep the trains running, he looks into kerosene. He can run the rails more effectively if he can get kerosene on his train, so he went to buy kerosene from Rockefeller, and oil began to fill Vanderbilt's train. Vanderbilt died at the age of 82. In his Manhattan home, he left the majority of his fortune, estimated to be worth more than 100 million dollars, to his son. Today, Vanderbilt family's net worth is estimated to be more than 1 billion dollars for his sons, wife, and daughters. He would be remembered as the man who controlled sea transportation, which valued, today, will be around 180 billion dollars. Have a good one, the land that paved the way for entrepreneurs to come. Until next time, business wisdom.