Gloria Vanderbilt has an estimated $200 million, so I wouldn't say the Vanderbilts lost it all. Rather than 3 generations shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves, it's mor

Gloria Vanderbilt has an estimated $200 million, so I wouldn't say the Vanderbilts lost it all. Rather than 3 generations shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves, it's more like 5 generations from America's richest to merely very rich. Alfred Vanderbilt was less fortunate. He decided not to take the Titanic at the last minute, but 3 years later was on the Lusitania when it was torpedoed. Despite not knowing how to swim, he gave his life jacket to a young mother and died. (This is an interesting counterpoint to yesterday's article "Does power really corrupt" about how the rich are less caring.)