Not only is Anderson Cooper a successful and renowned broadcast journalist and political commentator known for his show Anderson Cooper 360° he also belongs to the once illustrious Vanderbilt family in Manhattan. One would believe he is thriving today owing to a large inheritance which is far from the truth. His heiress mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, paid for his college education, and the man has been on his own ever since. He ultimately received a little under $1.5 million from his mother’s estate but plans to take a page from her parenting book and not leave his son Wyatt any ‘pots of gold.
The Vanderbilt heir revealed his plans on Air Mail’s “Morning Meeting” podcast Sept. 25 to discuss the book “Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty,” authored by Cooper and Katherine Howe. Cooper revealed, ‘I don’t believe in passing on huge amounts of money,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what I’ll have. I’m not that interested in money, but I don’t intend to have some sort of pot of gold for my son.’
Coming from a family of immense wealth and watching relatives lose it all, the self-made man hardly gives money more important than required. “I grew up watching money being lost and knowing it was being lost and I from a very young age… was very aware of. This is not me. This is not something my mom has, or this is money that my mom has, but it’s not money I’m going to have and I need to forge my own way,” he said according to DailyMail. We have come across several big wigs in recent times that echo a similar sentiment, and many have acted on it too.
One of the richest men to ever walk the planet, Bill Gates had set a paltry sum of $10 million as an inheritance for each of their three kids. Hollywood actor Daniel Craig’s children won’t inherit his massive $180 million fortune. In fact, most millionaires now are worried about leaving an inheritance too large, according to a survey conducted by the Motley Fool. Around 68% of HNW individuals plan to access the legacy they leave contingent on meeting specific conditions.
Interestingly, 56% of HNW individuals felt that an enormous legacy would result in lazy heirs. Many business families also harbor the notion that second-generation businesses often fail owing to entitlement, lack of passion, and so on.
