Cornelius Vanderbilt -
Transportation tycoon

Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794 in Staten Island, New York. His father was a farmer who had to sail his produce from Staten Island to New York. At age 11 Cornelius quit school to help his father. This was the time he learned to handle a boat and by age 16 he bought his first boat with $100 he got from his mother. He used this to start a ferry service between Staten Island and New York.

He was very successful, as he had built a reputation for himself as a reliable boatman and for charging lower fares than his competitors. During the war of 1812, he got the contract to supply the six forts around New York City and made a handsome profit from this. It was during this time that he got the name 'Commodore' as he was in command of the biggest schooner on the Hudson River.

In 1818, he realised that steamboats were where shipping were headed, so he sold his interests and got a job on a steamboat under Thomas Gibbons. They started to operate on the ferry route between New Brunswick and New York City where Fulton and Livingston had a monopoly. They charged $1 per ride where Fulton and Livingston charged $4. They were then taken to court on account of violating the monopoly granted to Fulton and Livingston, but in a landmark case in 1824, the Supreme Court nullified the monopoly. Here Vanderbilt's zest for a fight and his good business instincts made Gibbons a rich man.

It was then in 1829 that Vanderbilt decided to go out on his own. His first run was on the New York - Peekskill line. He also operated on the New York - Philadelphia line and the Hudson River trade to Albany. In both of the latter cases, Vanderbilt cut prices so low that his competitors bought him out or paid him not to operate on those routes. He also ran the service to Long Island Sound, Providence, Boston and places in Connecticut. By the 1840's he had more than a hundred steamboats and employed more people than any other business in the United States.

The gold rush to California presented another opportunity to him and he started a line from New York to California through Nicaragua. This was so successful that it netted him in the region of $1 million a year. He then announced that he would take the first vacation of his life. He left Charles Morgan and Cornelius Garrison in charge of his business while he went on a tour of Europe. They manipulated the stock and took control of his company, but by shrewd buying he won it back in few months. The Nicaraguan government used this to rescind his transport agreement so he sold his interests to Nicaragua Transit Company. They, however, failed to pay him and he was quoted as saying "You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I'll ruin you." He did just that in two years by running another group of steamers.

Nearing the age of 70, he saw the future was in railroads and got started by acquiring the New York and Harlem Railroad. He managed this by cornering the stock. He also bought the Hudson River Railroad with the purpose of consolidating it with the New York and Harlem. Daniel Drew and some of his legislative cohorts sold short to prevent that, but Vanderbilt bought all the stock and stabilized the price. Many a legislator, who was out to make a killing, was caught having sold more stock than actually existed, and they were ruined financially.

He also acquired the New York Central Railroad and merged it with the Hudson River Railroad. He also made a failed attempt for the Erie Railroad, but Daniel Drew dumped 100000 shares of fraudulent stock on the market, thus preventing a takeover by Vanderbilt. He extended his line to Chicago by acquiring Lake Shore- and Michigan Southern Railroad, Canadian Southern- and the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1873, he built the Grand Central Station, and provided work to thousands of men, despite the panic and depression in the economy.

Cornelius Vanderbilt is not remembered as a very generous man. He did, though, donate $1 million to the Central University of Tennessee that became the Vanderbilt University. Rather, he is remembered for the transportation empire he had built and his contribution to the economy of the United States. By the time of his death on January 4, 1877, Cornelius Vanderbilt was the richest man in the world with an estate of $100 million.

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