About book Fortune's Children: The Fall Of The House Of Vanderbilt (1991)
The book profiles the Vanderbilt heirs. The first chapter, obligatorily about the Commodore, is a tale often told, most recently in The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt. which led me to this 1989 book. The following chapters describe children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a few great-great-grandchildren. The female scions, who are essentially disinherited, are dropped right away, as are the Commodore's son Cornelius and his progeny. There are a few tales of some high profile disinheritances.The writing takes the reader into the society of Gilded Age with its lavish houses and parties. The descriptions of other major players such as Mrs. Astor, Mrs. Fish, the Lehr's and Ward McAllister are interesting, but I'd rather have had the space devoted to more on the Vanderbilts.One chapter is devoted to Alva (a Vanderbilt for only 20 years) who brought this socially shunned family into society by building the most lavish homes and throwing the most lavish parties. Her sad mother-daughter story appears in several places throughout the book. For more on this relationship I recommend Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age.The sub-title implies that the Vanderbilt wealth is gone, as does the discussion at the end. This is not entirely proved since not all Vanderbilts are covered, and not all who are covered are followed up on. The Biltmore, while not a residence, and is now shrunk to 8,000 acres, is still in the contol of Vanderbilt heirs. There are some females, such as Gertrude, who joined their inheritances (modest in Vanderbilt terms) through marriage creating new assets that probably continue to produce great wealth today. The Commodore's plan to keep the wealth together in the male (named) line clearly did not pan out. The Commodore could have never envisioned Doris Duke The Richest Girl in the World: The Extravagant Life and Fast Times of Doris Duke. another outsider to Society, who kept the Duke tobacco and energy fortune together through equally turbulent times.The book is a good read. The writer, Arthur T. Vanderbilt, makes it flow. He never discloses his place in the family tree. I checked the internet and still have no clue. I did find that in 2008, this book had been optioned for a movie. ... 2013- I see that this book came out in a new edition in 2012. Now, there is a bit more info on the internet identifying the author as a distant (to those in the book) Vanderbilt cousin.
A visit to Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. had me wanting to learn more about the wealthy Vanderbilt family. Fortune’s Children was just the book to appease my curiosity. It's amazingly detailed, which makes for some dry parts, but I found that I couldn't put it down! It’s very interesting to read about the members of this family and the different attitudes they held about their wealth and social prominence. One thing they all seemed to share, however, was a seemingly unfulfilled and discontented life … which is quite a testament to the old adage, "Money doesn't buy happiness." William K. Vanderbilt, grandson of patriarch Cornelius Vanderbilt, said of his inherited wealth, "It has left me with nothing to hope for, with nothing definite to seek or strive for ... It is as certain death to ambition as cocaine is to morality." Fortunately for later Vanderbilts, living this aimless life wouldn’t be a problem. Fortune’s Children is full of no-expense-spared tales of custom built yachts, sprawling mansions, and lavish parties. It’s no wonder that at a 1973 family reunion attended by 120 of Cornelius Vanderbilt’s descendants, there wasn't a millionaire to be found. Would’ve been interesting to hear their conversations!
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Fascinating look at what money really does to people. Great read and I enjoyed it, the idea of The Gilded Age is rather romantic and awful at the same time. Such extravagance, yet such waste. I'd have liked to see the row of Vanderbilt mansions in their heyday, tragic that none exist now.One issue I had with the book is how the chapters were divided. Each chapter would begin with the story of the person it was titled for. Yet it would then move on to someone else within the chapter, moving distinctly out of the timeframe included with the family member. A family tree would have also been helpful to keep track of all the boys named William and Cornelius.The amount of money that the Commodore's descendants blew through in such a short time truly is staggering. It was such a massive fortune at that time, but in today's terms I can't even begin to imagine what that kind of wealth would be like. It would certainly outdo Buffet, Gates, etc. It's simply mind-blowing to even think about.
—Sarah
Fascinating story of how the riches of one generation are made and spent by the offspring. In a day when people worked for $1.00 a day (or less) the Vanderbilt family was making thousands a day to become the wealthiest family in America. Yet in two generations it was all lost. It reminds me of the current philosophy of some of today's billionaires " leave your children enough money to enable them to do what they want to do, but not so much that they don't do anything." The overwhelming majority of us won't have this problem and maybe that's O.K.
—Nancy
Having spent significant time near Asheville (and time in Newport RI), I felt it was important to know more about the Vanderbilt family and how they acquired such wealth and built ridiculously enormous homes. It turned out to give a great understanding of business and wealth in the time period. There were a few chapters that went it to too much detail about the things that were purchased, but most of the book was explaining the generational wealth creation - and overspending - of the family through multiple generations. I suspect part of the reason I enjoyed the book was because I have visited New York, Asheville, and Newport, RI to get context of the descriptions in the book.
—Doug Probst
