Van·der·bilt  (vān'dər-bĭlt')  American transportation promoter and financier who amassed a great fortune through railroad and shipping interests. His heirs included his son William Henry (1821-1885), a financier and philanthropist, and William Henry's sons Cornelius (1843-1899), a railroad director; William Kissam (1849-1920), a railroad executive and philanthropist; Frederick William (1856-1938), a railroad manager; and George Washington (1862-1914), who commissioned Biltmore, the largest private home in America, located in Asheville, North Carolina. |
An American business leader of the nineteenth century; the founder of the Vanderbilt fortune. The family's money derived first from shipping and later from railroads.
Note: His son, William Henry Vanderbilt, summed up the Vanderbilt business philosophy in his famous comment, “The public be damned!”