什么是范德比尔特

Vanderbilt, Cornelius

美国航运和铁路巨头。1810年购置第一艘小船，在纽约港口以摆渡为生。1812年战争时期拥有几艘木船，为政府运输军需。1818年出卖所有船只，当轮船船长。1829年在哈得逊湾开办自己的汽轮公司。收费低廉，座位舒适，因此控制了航运业务。後来，经营东北海运。到1846年他已是一个百万富翁。他组织了一个公司，经营从纽约市和纽奥良取道尼加拉瓜到旧金山的客货运输业务。因航路既迅速又便宜，他的公司获得巨大成功。後来，竞争对手以高价购买这一航线的业务。1850年代，他的目光转向铁路，购入纽约－哈林铁路公司的股票。又取得哈得逊河铁路和纽约中央铁路。死後，其遗产达一亿美元以上，是当时美国最大的贮蓄。曾捐款一百万美元给田纳西州的中央（後改称范德比尔特）大学。其大部遗产留给了他的儿子范德比尔特（W. H. Vanderbilt, 1821～1885），後者大规模扩展纽约中央铁路网，并购入其他铁路，将家族的财富增加了一倍。

1794～1877年

Vanderbilt, Cornelius

U.S. shipping and railroad magnate. Born in Port Richmond, Staten Island, N.Y., he began a passenger ferry business in New York harbor in 1810 with one boat, which he expanded to a small fleet in the War of 1812 to supply government outposts. He sold his boats to work as a steamship captain (1818-29), then started his own steamship company on the Hudson River. By cutting fares and offering luxury, he soon controlled the river traffic. He then provided transportation along the eastern seacoast. By 1846 he was a millionaire. He formed the Accessory Transit Co. to transport passengers and freight from New York to the California gold fields via Nicaragua. He again undercut his competitors, and they bought him out at a high price (1858). Turning to railroads, he acquired controlling stock in the New York and Harlem Railroad. After losing a battle for control of the Erie Railroad (1868), he bought and consolidated the Hudson River and the New York Central railroads (1869). After buying the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad (1873), he provided the first rail service between New York and Chicago. At his death, he left a fortune of over $100 million, the largest accumulated in the U.S. to that date. He gave $1 million to Central (later Vanderbilt) Univ. He left almost all the rest to his son William H. Vanderbilt (1821-1885), who greatly expanded the New York Central network, acquired other railroads, and doubled the family fortune.