This full-length documentary features the wealthy families of New York who were, and are, truly "old money". They come from an era where massive wealth was created for the titans of industry.
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The Lost Gilded Age Mansions of New York (Documentary) -
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Introduction
0:49 The Astors
19:54 The Vanderbilts
38:38 The Rockefellers
58:27 The Whitneys
1:13:26 The Roosevelts
1:37:27 The Sulzbergers
1:56:48 The Morgans
2:19:50 The Final Vanderbilts
2:37:13 The Final Astors
2:58:19 The Carnegies
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Long before Wall Street traders and tech billionaires, New York's elite was defined by dynasties who transformed a Dutch trading post into the world's financial capital.
The story begins with John Jacob Astor, who parlayed fur trading profits into Manhattan real estate, building an empire that would be worth $2.3 billion in today's dollars.
The Vanderbilts emerged from humble Staten Island origins to create America's largest railroad network, with Commodore Vanderbilt amassing the equivalent of $215 billion in modern terms.
John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil monopoly generated the largest private fortune in modern history, estimated at $418 billion today, while his philanthropy reshaped American education and medicine.
The Whitney family demonstrated remarkable adaptability, evolving from shipping and railroads to venture capital, financing everything from subways to tech startups.
The Roosevelt name counts two presidents among its ranks, but their true power came earlier - as Manhattan property developers who helped establish the city's most prestigious neighborhoods.
The Sulzberger family's control of The New York Times since 1896 has shaped American journalism for over a century, with each generation facing unique challenges in maintaining the paper's independence and integrity.
The House of Morgan, led by J.P. Morgan and his successors, didn't just finance America's industrialization - they repeatedly rescued the entire U.S. economy from collapse.
By the late 20th century, the mighty Vanderbilt fortune had largely dissipated, with later generations more famous for hosting reality TV shows than wielding financial power.
The final generation of prominent Astors traded Manhattan real estate for British aristocracy, with John Jacob Astor IV's death on the Titanic marking the end of an era.
Andrew Carnegie arrived in New York after building his Pittsburgh steel empire, using his fortune to establish libraries and cultural institutions that transformed the city's intellectual landscape.
Their influence remains visible in modern Manhattan - from Columbia University built with Rockefeller money to the New York Public Library funded by Astor and Carnegie fortunes.
These families didn't just accumulate wealth; they redefined what it meant to be rich in America, establishing patterns of philanthropy and social influence that continue today.
While tech billionaires and hedge fund managers now dominate headlines, these original dynasties created the template for American old money - where wealth brought not just luxury, but responsibility.
From the Astor's first investments in Manhattan farmland to the Sulzberger's ongoing stewardship of the Times, these families shaped not just New York's skyline but America's concept of dynastic wealth and power.
Through economic panics, world wars, and social upheaval, some of these dynasties adapted and thrived while others faded into history, but their collective legacy endures in the institutions, buildings, and cultural foundations that still bear their names.
In today's episode, we'll reveal how these remarkable families built, maintained, and sometimes lost their power, transforming what was once a modest colonial port into the financial capital of the world.
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