CORNELIUS VANDERBILT 1794 1877 INDUSTRIALIST VANDERBILT CORNELIUS 1794 1877 INDUSTRY TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS/COMMERCE ECONOMY AND LABOR CORNELIUS VANDERBILT WAS BORN ON STATEN ISLAND NEW YORK HE LEFT SCHOOL AT THE AGE OF 11 WHEN HE WAS 16 HE STARTED A FERRY BUSINESS BETWEEN NEW YORK CITY AND STATEN ISLAND FROM 1818 TO 1829 HE WAS THE CAPTAIN ON A FERRY LINE BETWEEN NEW YORK CITY AND NEW BRUNSWICK NEW JERSEY IN 1829 VANDERBILT FOUNDED A STEAMBOAT COMPANY ON THE HUDSON RIVER BY 1846 HE HAD BECOME A MILLIONAIRE HE FINANCED AND ESTABLISHED A SHIPPING LINE TO CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA IN 1847 AND SOLD OUT TO COMPETITORS IN 1858 BEGINNING IN 1862 VANDERBILT BOUGHT CONTROLLING INTEREST IN THE NEW YORK AND HARLEM RAILROAD THE HUDSON RIVER RAILROAD AND THE NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD IN 1873 VANDERBILT BUILT GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL IN NEW YORK CITY IN ADDITION HE DONATED LARGE SUMS OF MONEY TO CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF NASHVILLE TENNESSEE LATER RENAMED VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY VANDERBILT'S WEALTH WAS ESTIMATED AT 100 MILLION AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH
