The Vanderbilt family

Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794 –1877) gained success with his shipping and railroad empires. The family expanded their business into various other areas of industry and philanthropy. Cornelius Vanderbilt's son Billy Vanderbilt I joined as executive of the empire in 1862, but his grandsons spent the family's treasure on real estate, building grand mansions on Fifth Avenue in New York City, luxurious "summer cottages" in Newport, the palatial Biltmore House in North Carolina and various other opulent homes.