If we trace the history of all the known big capitals, those that are now called "old money", then most often at the source of the first profits will be a person with dubious moral principles, but with great charisma. And this applies to any of the modern princes, lords and senators. It is worth recalling the domestic history, not even so distant as to understand: in some hundred years the descendants of people who made a fortune in the 90s of the last century, if they are not with titles, they will surely become respected people on all continents. Unless, of course, capital will increase. Sometimes pampered descendants simply waste the fortune. This happened to the legacy of America’s first richest man.
Everyone knows the name Cornelius Vanderbilt in the United States, his operations are included in economic textbooks, coaches and teachers of personal growth strategies shock him. But his story and the story of the family ends on his son. This is not what the billionaire dreamed of.
The van der Bilt family
Cornelius was the fourth child in the family, his full name sounds like Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., he received his name in honor of his father. The birthplace was a family farm, it happened in May 1794. Like all Americans, van der Bilt was an emigrant who longed to get their life set to an acceptable level. Nobody dreamed of millions. It is good and hard work to feed a family and earn a quiet old age - perhaps this was the only financial motivation for the family. The surname Vanderbilt initially consisted of three components: Van der Bilt. Over time, the gaps were smoothed out, and the surname acquired cohesion in both pronunciation and spelling.
The father of the future tycoon earned a small farm, hiring work in the port. In his understanding, sea, port life is a very heavy burden, in which there is only dirty work and small earnings. He inspired this thought to his fourth son, but the boy understood everything in his own way. In his dreams, marine life meant freedom, wealth and unlimited possibilities. Since childhood, distinguished by a sharp temper, Cornelius Vanderbilt dreamed of leaving school at 11 years old in order to start his own business. And even left its walls, but didn’t reach the port right away, he worked at a family farm until the age of 16. But even if he wanted to continue his studies, he would not succeed. He set up his first business and scandal within the walls of an educational institution.
The first trade and blackmail experience
Before heading for the first million, Cornelius Vanderbilt showed scandalous character, enterprise and toughness in solving problems. The matter happened even within the walls of the educational institution, where the young money-grubber comprehended reading and arithmetic.
The teachers at the local school were no different from the local hard workers, except for the ability to write, read and count. The rest of the list of “virtues” was ordinary, and drunkenness occupied the first line. Noticing once the torment of a hangover at one of his teachers, Cornelius decided to alleviate the suffering and offered as a treatment maize vodka of dubious origin. Of course, it cost some money. The teacher could not resist and confessed to the "savior" in his sin, especially since the brought drink was cheaper than in all the surrounding saloons.
How long this symbiosis lasted, history is silent, but once an unlucky teacher decided to break out of the pupil's tenacious clutches. It was here that the true nature of the shark of business was revealed: Cornelius Vanderbilt said that he would tell the whole story to the headmaster and all the people around him, on whom the teacher's position depends. Tom had to give up immediately. The story eventually became clear, a great scandal erupted, the teachers were expelled with shame, Cornelius left himself.
He later said: “If I wasted time studying, I would not have time to earn anything at all.” Such an attitude toward the school philosophically makes him alike with all the nouveau riches of America's industrialization period.
Business for 10 bucks
Vanderbilt Cornelius did not ponder exactly how to make money and where to get start-up capital. He asked his parents for ten dollars to buy a sailboat. The amount for the farmers is quite large, and my father could not decide on such an adventurous step, especially if it came to the port and everything connected with it. But the mother knew her son well and preferred to satisfy his request, but with the condition of working first on the farm. In order to get start-up capital, Cornelius had to sweat pretty hard at the household: to drag stones, dig up the ground, plant plants and stuff - there is always a lot of work on the ground. Having fulfilled all the promised, he received from her mother her personal savings.
First boat
Without putting the matter into a distant box and not engaged in reflection, the sixteen-year-old newly-born sailor immediately went to buy a sailboat. The purchased ship was fragile, barely kept afloat, but the captain was determined to become the main carrier in the New York port area. The competition for transporting residents from one coast to another was huge, it was the only way to get from one part of the city to another. Many took a voyage several times a day, floating taxis fought for each passenger and for a place under the sun among themselves. Cornelius Vanderbilt was too young, and, in the opinion of seasoned cabmen, it was not difficult to deal with him.
For the first time, his ship tried to sink every night. Finding out what was the matter, Vanderbilt realized that the bottom was breaking through the boat. The anger was great, fists, abuse were used. The crazy pressure did its job - they began to fear it. A huge growth of two meters, a tinned throat and a stock of non-literary words and phrases that clearly proved their advantage in the dispute helped to inspire fear for their opponents.
After the first incident, the competition did not abate, but the guy received a “residence permit”. Many more times he would have to solve problems in this way, but the legend was forged under the name Cornelius Vanderbilt. The tycoon’s biography is full of fights, eccentricities, cruelty and the ability to achieve goals.
Strategic dumping
In a short time, realizing that playing by the general rules was unprofitable and would not succeed in earning money quickly, Cornelius Vanderbilt created his own rules. The ship with the name “Fleet”, according to rumors, barely kept afloat and threatened to sink every minute, but passengers nevertheless used its services. Three dollars per person - that’s how much it cost to move to the other side of New York, and everyone took so much. Vanderbilt reduced the fare to one dollar, and passenger traffic increased significantly. Thirsty to cross the river began to fight for a place in his boat and were ready to sit on each other's lap, just to save money.
Twelve months later, Cornelius gave his mother a loan of ten dollars, and replenished the family cashier by a thousand. The atmosphere created by him among the carriers did not contribute to mutual understanding, the price had to be reduced for everyone, someone went bankrupt. Everyone wanted to get rid of the upstart. Fights were a constant affair for Vanderbilt, the vocabulary was replenished due to marine terms and a selected mat. Nevertheless, Cornelius Vanderbilt earned money to expand his business.
First flotilla
Having bought several ships, Vanderbilt selected a team to suit himself: everyone cursed, knew how to intimidate a competitor with a fierce look, a strong word, and, if necessary, a fist. The small flotilla worked actively, shamelessly dumping, it would occupy the entire market. But in 1812-1815. the confrontation between England and America happened. C. Vanderbilt, risking his ships and life, continued shipping, only now he was carrying equipment and supplies for the army.
The supply of the army was not free, and Cornelius established a speculative scheme: he bought popular goods in one part of New York and sold in another. He considered gesheft from resales to be secondary, but the main goal was enrichment, and therefore this business was also well established. Gradually, he bought up all the floating means of carriers and almost became a monopolist. It took seven years. He became a master of coastal shipping, one of the best suppliers, earned the name Commander, saved fifteen thousand dollars, but ... the era of steamboats came.
Captain
Not immediately Cornelius Vanderbilt appreciated the prospects of steamboats, but realizing, he decided to act for sure. For success, he needed knowledge of the new ships and their capabilities. As a man who does not tolerate half-hearted decisions, he sells his entire fleet and is hired by the captain on the steamboat vessel Thomas Gibbons with a salary of one thousand dollars a year. At the same time, he married a modest young lady from a neighboring farm, Sofia Johnson.
Gibbons steamer, led by Captain Vanderbilt, briskly made flights from New York to New Jersey. Cargo for various purposes and passengers were transported. Having studied in a few years all the intricacies of steamship shipping and big business, Cornelius Vanderbilt convinced Gibbons to jointly build a new ship.
A new era of business
Vanderbilt invested all his money in the new ship and made the project himself. The new vessel was called Bellona, ​​and Vanderbilt Cornelius, as the leader of the enterprise, revived his own style of doing business - he began to desperately dump. The fare on Belonna was only $ 1, which was four times less than that of all other carriers.
Competitors, on whose side the law was, filed a lawsuit against him several times, bailiffs came for the cunning captain, but each time he eluded them. It was rumored that there were secret cabins on the ship, of which only the Commander knew, and therefore he was hiding from Themis with such ease. Gaining a dominant position in business, he acted like an invader and a wolf, tearing a competitor to shreds, in fact, as befits a person named Cornelius Vanderbilt.
He also founded another business: he acquired a small hotel with a tavern on the banks of the river, where a respected public could live waiting for his ship and just have a good time. The owner of the institution was his wife. This continued until 1829. Thirty thousand dollars had already accumulated in his pocket, but he was greedy, this K. Vanderbilt, the first million overflowing with inviting prospects was still far ahead. It was time to start the big game.
Failure as a form of income
Cornelius Vanderbilt is a great entrepreneur, and this became clear during the organization of the first monopoly. Eager to start his own business without a companion, he sells his stake in New Jersey and moves to New York. The wife resisted the change of place of residence, but the head of the family convinced her in a very extravagant way: he placed his wife in disagreement with his decision for two months in a house for the insane.
Returning to New York, he establishes a shipping company and is engaged in a familiar business: transporting goods and passengers, but the fare is only twelve cents.
A steamboat runs between New York and Pickxill, by the time Vanderbilt appeared, there was already a monopolist on this route. And he was driven out of the market. Then he started a competition with the Hudson River Association, using heavy artillery - he did not take any money for travel at all. But naive passengers were expected to suffer a heavy blow from free transportation: the cost of food and drinks on the ship was several times overstated, which partially compensated Vanderbilt for dumping games. The Hudson River Association surrendered: this was the first time that a company asked a private carrier to curtail its operations. One hundred thousand dollars and five thousand dollars each year for ten years were offered as compensation. And the Commander agreed!
First million
Vanderbilt relocates its operations and carries passengers to Boston, Long Island and Connecticut cities. Business is booming; by the age of forty, Cornelius had already accumulated a fortune of half a million dollars, but his thirst for money was not satisfied. The family moved again, now to Long Island. Continuously dumping, the Commander survives competitors, receives compensation, and by 1846 his ships are moored in all major cities in America. This year K. Vanderbilt earned the first million in the shipping business.
Panama Canal
In 1848, gold deposits were discovered in California, and another fever swept America. The easiest way was to get through Panama, the idea of ​​digging a channel was not new, but Vanderbilt was the first to show energy for the implementation of the idea. Alas, the technical means were not enough then, and Cornelius decided to reduce the time on the way for prospectors in his own way. Having agreed with the government of Nicaragua, he organized charter flights, thanks to which quick-seekers were on the spot two days earlier than their colleagues who applied to other companies. Each year, the transit of passengers brought the Commander one million net income.
The idea of ​​laying the Panama Canal did not leave Vanderbilt. Once again selling the entire business, Cornelius went in search of companions. So the Panama company Accessory Transit Co. was founded.
Private life
In anticipation of the sixtieth anniversary of the head of the Vanderbilt family in full force went on a yacht on a trip around Europe. The ship was called the Northern Star, and Cornelius Vanderbilt personally took care of its design and design. Photos of the yacht with pleasure printed in the then press. The millionaire’s taste was specific, and everything related to his personal possessions turned out to be grandiose, screaming about luxury. The Commander was very fond of shocking the audience, reminiscently reminiscing to those around him where he had come “to the people” and how many classes he had. Newspapers of those times often interviewed him, in one of them he stated: "All my life I went crazy for money, the invention of new ways to do it did not leave me time for education."
No less pompous was his house on Staten Island, built with all the tycoon's wishes in mind. It was a fantastic explosive mixture of different styles, had three floors, the atmosphere was the richest in value and tasteless in design. The most challenging art object of the house was a statue with the signature "Cornelius Vanderbilt." Photos of the mansion were often published in the media of that time.
Railway Tycoon
In 1853, the Vanderbilt family went on a trip; this was Cornelius' first full vacation. To manage the affairs of Accessory Transit Co, he left two of his cunning employees who, through fraud, took control of the controlling stake. The anger of the Commander poured out in a telegram: “Lord! You dare to deceive me. I will not sue you because the judiciary is very slow. I will destroy you. Sincerely, Cornelius Vanderbilt. ” As he said, he did so - the profit from the war for its wealth returned in triple size. The trial lasted several years, Cornelius Vanderbilt won in it. Statements by the tycoon to Themis and former employees were widely quoted in the press.
Once, while traveling by rail, the Commander realized that land transportation was safer and cheaper, and the prospects for the development of this business promised huge profits. Vanderbilt once again sells his entire business and buys the most unprofitable railway at that time - the Harlem railway.
Buying short railway lines and shares of other companies, he worked on mergers and acquisitions. By investing in development, he managed to make a long railway route out of small branches. Thus formed the Central New York Railway. Acting in the usual way - reducing transportation prices, Cornelius Vanderbilt quickly became the owner of two long and profitable railways - Harlem and New York. During this period, he leads a tough competition, which only adds pepper to life. During the five-year railway saga, Vanderbilt enmeshed half of America with railroad rails, the cost of tickets for his trains was always lower than the rest.
The heirs
The tycoon had 11 children, four of them were boys. Because of his upbringing, the father did not pay attention to the girls - they will not bear his last name after marriage, and the family business must be passed on to his son, who will continue him. Of the sons, the most promising, even during the life of his father, recognized financial genius was William Vanderbilt. He got almost the entire state of Cornelius: 90 million dollars. The total amount of heritage was America's largest fortune at that time - $ 102 million. The remaining 12 million were distributed between charities and other children.
No matter how his contemporaries and descendants relate to him, his activity voluntarily or involuntarily served the development of the country, even if the main goal was profit, but that was Cornelius Vanderbilt. Quotes from his interviews spread across books, and many of them became mantras for entrepreneurs. But the decisive factor in the activities of the tycoon was the character and indefatigable ingenuity in "taking money from the population."