There’s a new bio out about Cornelius Vanderbilt, the man who built the original Grand Central Terminal and amassed a fortune buying up railroads. “The First Tycoon”, written by T. J. Stiles (no relation to another notable scribe, TJ from Trainjotting), depicts Vanderbilt as something of a monosyllabic bridge-and-tunnel guy who relished his ruthlessness. Vanderbilt was raised on a farm in Staten Island and, fittingly, got his start on ferries, writes Dwight Garner in today’s NY Times.
A strapping fellow known for his “elbows-out aggressiveness,” Corny then built and operated his own fleet of steamships, which earned him the “Commodore” moniker, before turning his attention to railroads. Vanderbilt made a little coin in the process.
The book’s final sections unpack Vanderbilt’s greatest coup, buying and then consolidating New York’s major railroad lines, using every trick in his arsenal, including the manipulation of stock prices. His wealth became enormous.
“If he had been able to sell all his assets at full market value at the moment of his death,” Mr. Stiles writes, “he would have taken one out of every 20 dollars in circulation.”
Think of Mr. Vanderbilt today when you hop down Vanderbilt Avenue en route to Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Hall.