William Henry Vanderbilt
1821 – 1885 American railroad magnate
Railroad heir who briefly made the Vanderbilts the richest family in the world.
- Religion
- Protestant (Episcopalian).
- Affiliations
- President of the New York Central and other railroads; doubled the Vanderbilt fortune.
He took over his father's railroads and nearly doubled the fortune in a few years. His many children built the Fifth Avenue mansions and Newport 'cottages' that came to define Gilded Age display.
Connections
- family of Consuelo Vanderbilt — Her grandfather.
- family of Consuelo Vanderbilt — His granddaughter, who married the Duke of Marlborough.
- family of Cornelius Vanderbilt — His eldest son and chief heir.
- family of Cornelius Vanderbilt — His father.