In the 19th century, Cornelius Vanderbilt built a shipping and railroad empire that made him the wealthiest man in the world. His empire included Vanderbilt's shipping company, the Vanderbilt Railroad ...

Getty Images; Elm Court Estate; Library of Congress Elm Court Estate was built in 1886 as a summer home for Emily Vanderbilt, granddaughter of railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, and her family.

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During the Gilded Age in the late 1800s, railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt was the richest man in America with a net worth of $100 million, or around $200 billion today — more money than the ...

Vanderbilt, known as the "poor little rich girl", was the great-great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, a 19th Century tycoon. The socialite, who was married several times, made her name in ...