“I’m not knocking inherited money, but the money I’ve made has a reality to me that inherited money doesn’t have.” – artist, fashion designer, actress and heiress Gloria Vanderbilt
Gloria Vanderbilt was the only child of Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt, who was the great-grandson of the immensely wealthy U.S. railroad and shipping magnate Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt.
At the age of 18 months when her father passed away in 1925, Gloria inherited a US $5 million trust fund (approximately US $71 million in today’s dollars). At the age of 10, she was the subject of a notorious custody trial between her mother and victorious paternal aunt.
Always reinventing herself, she collaborated in 1976 with manufacturer Murjani to create the first ever line of designer jeans, which bore her name. By 1979, her denim line was the best-selling one in America beating rivals Calvin Klein, Jordache and Sasson.
In more recent years, much to her delight, Gloria was best known as being the mother of CNN anchor and journalist Anderson Cooper.
In a 2014 interview, Anderson said:
“My Mom’s made clear to me that there’s no trust fund. There’s none of that…I’m doing fine on my own. I don’t need any…I don’t believe in inheriting money…I think it’s an initiative sucker, I think it’s a curse. Who’s inherited a lot of money that has gone on to do things in their life? From the time I was growing up, if I felt like there was some pot of gold waiting for me, I don’t know if I would have been so motivated…We believe in working…[My Mom, who has made more money herself than she inherited is] the coolest person I know. She really is.”
“I would want [any children I have] to start working early on and start to have a sense of responsibility…If maybe I felt like they had a good sense of responsibility, maybe I would try to leave some money. I don’t know.”
Gloria passed away on June 17, 2019 at the age of 95 with a devoted Anderson by her side.
It is reported that he inherited less than US $1.5 million from her estate.
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