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Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794 in Staten Island, New York
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Worked with shipyard, cargo, and passengers
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He ran to sailing vessels and shared the earning with his family. He had to share the earnings because they gave him a loan for the vessels.
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After the War of 1812, he obtained some boats and earned $10,000 (today worth about 149,476) by transporting people and goods.
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Cornelius married his first cousin Sophia Johnson and later would have 13 children.
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He saw potential in in the steamboat production, so he partnered with Thomas Gibson to make a steamship business.
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In New York, he decided to start his own steamboat company.
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He started to gain rivals because he became dominate in the shipping industry.
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His net worth reached more than $1 million.
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Because of the Gold Rush, he started getting paid more because the steamboats made it faster to get to California. He made 1 million dollars (26 million dollar today). He gained the nickname "The Commodore"
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Cornelius saw that the railroad industry was booming, so he decided to sell his ships and buy railroads.
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One of his biggest losses was when Fisk and Gould tricked him and they bought the Erie stock.
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He decided to start the construction of the Grand Central Depot, which was the biggest building in Manhattan at the time
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Vanderbilt became ill and lasted 8 months.
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After battling his illness, he passed away.Doctors assume it was syphilis.