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We are glad to welcome you, dear readers of the blog! Few people know who Cornelius Vanderbilt is, but in fact he deserves more attention, as he is considered the richest and most brilliant entrepreneur of the 19th century.
Detstvo
Born May 27, 1794 in New York in a middle-class family, not particularly different from the rest. The father, also Cornelius, was a very hard-working man, and thrifty. He worked as a ferryman while Phoebe’s mother took care of household chores. Over time, they were able to accumulate enough money to buy a farm on Staten Island, where, in principle, our hero was born.
When the boy was 11 years old, his father called him to him, as it was hard to cope with the work alone, so he had to forget about training. The “street” took up his upbringing, where the future millionaire learned a very important lesson — you need to be able to stand up for yourself and rise with every fall. So, learning the science of life and honing the craft, by the age of 16, Vanderbilt thought about his own business in order to earn big money, and not save penny for penny, like his parents.
It was decided to continue the family of boatmen (grandfather Jan Van Der Bilt was the first to take up transportation, passing on knowledge and experience to his son), only it was necessary to find money for their own transport. His mother helped by lending a hundred dollars, setting the condition that he himself would plow and sow more than three hectares of land. Perhaps she hoped that he would not cope, since this is a very big job for a teenager, and the land was rocky, and it was necessary to make a lot of effort to plow it. But Korni was hard-working, like his father, and also stubborn, so the field was ready in due time, and the mother had no choice but to fulfill the terms of the contract.
Business
Home
With the money received, the future millionaire took an old punt boat «Speedy». After carefully studying the map of New York, he decided to compete with a hundred other boatmen, ferrying clients from Staten Island to Manhattan, and vice versa. At that time, there were no exact timetables for departure and arrival, there were no fixed prices, and so on. Therefore, the young entrepreneur, having made bets on his iron will and fists, estimates the crossing on his «Speed» at 18 cents.
People who were ready to be melted down standing or sitting on each other’s hands instantly “tumbled down” to it, because they saved about 82 cents each time. And Korni was not afraid to cross into a storm, like the rest of the ferrymen, skillfully driving a punt.
By the way, he really was a master of his craft, because in his biography there is only one fact of the accident. Starting his business, he lost control, because of which he collided with an oncoming boat. More than a single ship, not a single schooner that was in his possession, did not get into trouble, and they were distinguished by quality and comfort.
By the end of the first independent working year, Cornelius not only repaid the debt to his mother, but also received an income of $ 1. This allowed him to hire staff and purchase more boats. To survive in fierce competition, the main requirement for applicants was the ability to fight, so after a while the schooners of his hooligans captured the waters of New York. A little later, the hero of our publication decides to expand his business, and begins to trade in products that he transports from Manhattan.
The decisive factor in his activities was the war in 1812, or rather the contract with the government. The agreement was that the dexterous businessman would make deliveries of food to the soldiers who were in the blockade. This brought a considerable income, which he invested in the purchase of two ships, and engaged in the sale of whale oil, alcohol, oysters and other goods, supplying them to ships that came from afar. It was during this period that he earned the nickname «Commander».
Expansion
Having earned a little more than 9 thousand, he leaves the boat business, which began to generate income that did not satisfy him at all. He got a job on a steamer with Thomas Gibbons with a modest salary — $ 1000 a year. This decision was reasonable and balanced. Our hero decided to study the shipping business in order to engage in a more serious occupation in the future than punt transportation.
Having mastered the intricacies of navigation, he builds his own steamship «Bellona», becoming a partner of Thomas. The fight against competitors is carried out using old methods — by minimizing the cost of travel, he again «conquered» all customers. Which, of course, caused a lot of indignation among other «water taxi drivers». They turned to the police, but our genius managed to escape with every attempt to arrest.
In 1813 he married Sophia Johnson, his cousin. Together they moved to New Bruswick and opened a hotel with a tavern near the river. Now every traveler or sailor could rest, get enough sleep and have a hearty, delicious meal before moving on. Sophia managed everything herself, and she did it very well, at least there were always many clients there. There is a version that initially she refused to move, but her husband managed to “convince” her. After spending 2 months in a lunatic asylum, Sofia was willing to do anything to get out of there.
The Commander himself is at this time fighting the Hudson River Association. The reduction in the cost of transportation seemed to him insufficient, and he completely made travel free. The costs were paid off due to the high price of products that passengers purchased during the trip. It was the height of arrogance. Considering that Corny was stubborn, cunning and fearless, the Association had no choice but to agree “in a good way” so that he left the route and did not sabotage the work of other carriers.
The contract cost $100, plus $000 paid over 50 years. The commander changed the route, gradually «growing» with ships. And already in 000, he owned about 10 steamships, which allowed him to become the largest entrepreneur in New York.
Gold rush
In 1848, the Gold Rush swept California. People flocked there in droves hoping to make money, and Vanderbilt knew this was his chance. Having studied the routes of residents of different countries who aspired to work as prospectors, he proposed the shortest and cheapest option. Cornelius made a deal with the Nicaraguan government, which consisted in the fact that he gets the right to organize a charter flight.
Having paid $10 for this, he opens the Accessory Transit company. Having invested more money in the safety of the new route (clearing the channel of the San Juan River, building a road from rubble to get to the port, and building docks), the enterprising genius personally took up transportation on his steamer. He made over a million dollars in one year. And all because by choosing his ship, gold miners saved at least 2 days and $200, so the demand was high.
Betrayal of partners
In 1853, he decided to take a break for the first time, and organized the construction of a steam yacht of the highest order, spending almost half a million dollars. At that time it was the most luxurious yacht. The furniture in which was made of gilding and velvet, the halls were decorated with marble trim, and the saloon was decorated in the style of Louis XV. died before reaching middle age) he went to Europe. The rest turned out to be glorious, only with plebeian manners. For example, he could disrupt a performance at the London Opera by renting a hall for the evening.
When he got home after the holidays, he was extremely unpleasantly surprised. The managers, Morgan and Garrison, to whom he entrusted the management of Accessory Transit, staged a coup and took it over. Roots showed his tough character in this case too. He wrote them a letter stating that he did not intend to sue for such an act, because it would take a long time, he would simply crush them in the near future.
And indeed, having organized a different route, through Nicaragua, having won all the clients with the help of old methods, in just a year he returned his brainchild to himself, bankrupting the traitors. And competitors, having taken a promise to close transportation through Nicaragua, monthly paid compensation in the amount of $40, eventually increasing to $56. Which was very helpful, because the flow of gold miners was declining, and interest shifted to transatlantic transportation.
Leaving the shipping business
Three of his ships plowed the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, delivering people from New York to France. The most powerful steamer was the Vanderbilt, which carried mostly middle-class passengers at a minimal cost. Being confident in his «brainchildren» Korni refuses to insure them, which allowed him to save a lot of money. But he did not manage to work in this business for a particularly long time, since in 1861 the civil war began, on the eve of which he managed to sell it for 3 million dollars.
The passenger liner «Vanderbilt» turns into a warship, and protects the waters of his country. There are three versions, according to which he gave his beloved brainchild to the war. First, Abraham Lincoln personally asked for help. The second is that he rented it out, receiving good dividends. And the third, that he simply donated (despite the fact that the cost of its construction was approximately $600).
Even in his youth, in the 30s, he tried to master and establish the railway business. There was an accident, the boiler exploded, and a young entrepreneur with serious burns and injuries ended up in a hospital bed after spending 2 months there. This incident for a long time deprived him of the desire to engage in land transport, but in the 60s he decided to return to this idea.
Having bought shares in various railroad companies, he consolidated almost all communications near New York. The road of the entire Hudson River, as well as the Harlem road, fell into his possession. All in all, after five years, he «made» $25 million and became the most powerful personality in the US transportation business.
Personality and character
Remember, the hero of our publication had to leave school to help his father? So, until the end of his days, he remained illiterate, not even knowing how to sign. But he was never ashamed of this, explaining that he achieved everything thanks to the focus of attention precisely on work, and not on study.
Interestingly, despite his millions, he lived quite modestly, apart from holidays in Europe. For example, lying on his deathbed, he refused to drink champagne prescribed by a doctor, and you know why? Because it’s expensive. He did not want to do charity work, once he helped only the university, which was later named after him, as well as the Church of Wanderers.
In 1869, his wife died, but literally a year later, being a 75-year-old man, he remarried a distant relative, who was 35 years old at that time.
His biography ends on January 4, 1877. Cornelius left this world at the age of 83, leaving behind a serious scandal, as he managed the accumulated capital in a very strange way.
Will
The will indicated that 90 million dollars out of about 100 were received by the eldest son William in order to develop his business further. The rest of the children received $100 each, and the widow $500. Although initially he planned to leave all the capital to his youngest son George, he died at the age of 25. The middle son was addicted to alcohol and gambling, plus he suffered from epileptic seizures, so he seemed to his father completely unreliable and not worthy of money.
The rest, girls, would not be able to compete and manage such a powerful father’s business. Of course, the “deprived” relatives were angry and sued William, relying on the fact that Cornelius was out of his mind when he made the will. The case was lost, and the will of the Crocodile (as he was called when he became interested in railways) was fulfilled.
Conclusion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! As you may have noticed, without education it is quite possible to become a millionaire, the main thing is to believe in yourself and your strengths, as well as work hard. I also recommend that you familiarize yourself with other inspiring biographies, in this link one of them, Carlos Slim Elu.
The material was prepared by Zhuravina Alina.