Q&A: What is Anderson Cooper’s connection to the Vanderbilt family? (2024)

FAQs

Q&A: What is Anderson Cooper’s connection to the Vanderbilt family? ›

As she said, Anderson Cooper is Gloria Vanderbilt's son from her fourth marriage, to author Wyatt Emory Cooper. That branch of the family descended from George Vanderbilt's older brother, Cornelius II, and his wife, Alice Gwynne Claypool. They had a son, Reginald, who married Gloria Morgan.

Anderson Cooper grew up in the shadow of great wealth: His great-great-great-grandfather was Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the richest men in American history.

Vanderbilt was born on February 20, 1924, in Manhattan, New York City, the only child of railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt of the Vanderbilt family and his second wife, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt. When Vanderbilt was born, her father was heard to exclaim in delight, "It is fantastic how Vanderbilt she looks!

Fun fact: George Vanderbilt was Gloria Vanderbilt's great uncle, making Anderson Cooper his great, great nephew. Construction of Biltmore House was underway in 1889; it was a massive undertaking that included a mansion, gardens, farms, and woodlands.

Consuelo Vanderbilt is the third of her name — her great great grandmother and great great great aunt were both Consuelo Vanderbilts — and is the third cousin, twice removed, of Anderson Cooper, the CNN journalist.

Vanderbilt's inheritance is even more massive when adjusted for inflation: In 2024, Vanderbilt's $5 million fortune would have been worth more than $90 million. Cooper has said that his mother spent most of her fortune while she was alive, leaving him a relatively small $1.5 million inheritance.

Anderson Cooper, the son of heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, doesn't believe in inheritance. "My dad made clear to me there wasn't a Vanderbilt fortune waiting for me," he told People.

Consuelo's children, John Albert Edward William Spencer-Churchill and Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill share a common ancestor with Princess Diana; his name was James Hamilton, Duke of Abercorn. The Duke of Abercorn was their great-grandfather and is Prince William's 4th great-grandfather.

Contemporary descendants include American art historian John Wilmerding, journalist Anderson Cooper (son of Gloria Vanderbilt), actor Timothy Olyphant, musician John P. Hammond, screenwriter James Vanderbilt, and the Duke of Marlborough James Spencer-Churchill.

A little context: Cooper's wonderfully eccentric mother, the late Gloria Vanderbilt, offered to carry the ashen CNN anchor's child years ago when she was still a spry and apparently womb-viable 85 years old, and Cooper discussed the hilarious tale on a recent episode of The Howard Stern Show.

Does Anderson Cooper own any of the Vanderbilt mansions? ›

Bottom line: "Anderson Cooper does not have any ownership in, or get any special privileges at, Biltmore Estate," Sims said, "although we would love to have him visit." In case you're wondering, Gloria Vanderbilt also was married to Pasquale DiCicco, Leopold Stokowski and Sidney Lumet.

Today, Biltmore is still family-owned and operated under George Vanderbilt's mission of preservation through self-sufficiency – a philosophy embraced before the first stone was ever placed.

The vast majority of Vanderbilt's fortune will go to her youngest son, Anderson Cooper. The only exception is that her eldest child, Leopold Stanislous Stokowski, was left with his mother's apartment in a co-op in Midtown Manhattan.

Anderson Cooper and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, always had what he described as a "unique relationship." The two were very close and survived family tragedies together, including the untimely death of Cooper's father in 1978, and the death of his brother Carter by suicide in 1988.

Cornelius Vanderbilt, the founder of the dynasty, had two children. But he had nine grandchildren and they all had issue. There are now so many Vanderbilts around in the seventh generation that the wealth has so grossly diluted that they no more can be classed as plutocrats.

Descendants. Through his son, Reginald, he was the grandfather of Gloria Laura Vanderbilt, the socialite and fashion designer, and the great-grandfather of news anchor Anderson Hays Cooper.

At the time of his death, aged 82, Vanderbilt had an estimated worth of $105 million ($3,004,312,500 in 2023 dollars). In his will, he left 95% of his $105 million estate to his son William (Billy) and four grandsons through him.

After his death in 1877, Cornelius' son William took over the portfolio. Rather incredibly, William doubled the value of the Vanderbilt fortune to US$200 million by the time he died in 1885. William's family inherited the Vanderbilt fortune and proceeded to squander it.