Anderson Cooper is the son of Gloria Vanderbilt. For those who don’t know, Gloria came from Railroad money. It’s odd to emphasize that in the age of the Silicon Billionaires, but before that kind of money existed, Vanderbilt money and its ilk was the watermark for fortunes. Gloria added to her estate with her own fashion empire. But when she died, she only left Anderson $1.5M. Anderson knew he was not in for a windfall when his mom died, she’d already told him there were no trust funds or anything to expect. Now that he is father to son Wyatt, Anderson says he will not be leaving his son a large inheritance either. He will cover Wyatt’s college, but after that, he expects Wyatt to earn his own path in life.
Anderson Cooper, who inherited less than $1.5 million from late mom Gloria Vanderbilt’s estate after she died in 2019, revealed that he does not plan to leave his wealth to his son, Wyatt.
“I don’t believe in passing on huge amounts of money,” the CNN anchor, 54, told Air Mail’s Ashley Baker and Michael Hainey on Saturday’s episode of their “Morning Meeting” podcast.
“I don’t know what I’ll have,” Cooper added of his fortune, which is estimated to be $200 million. “I’m not that interested in money, but I don’t intend to have some sort of pot of gold for my son. I’ll go with what my parents said … ‘College will be paid for, and then you gotta get on it.’”
A few celebrity parents have said similar things. Gordon Ramsay, Sting and Ashton Kutcher have publicly said their money would be going elsewhere. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet will be leaving “small portions” to their kids. I’ve said before, these folks name and position in the world have given their kids enough advantages. That seems like a decent enough inheritance. I have no problem with a parent who lets their children know if they want a large sum of money, it’s on them to earn it. Also, who wants their kids counting the day until they die just for a pay out? (I kid, I kid).
In Anderson’s case, he knows both sides of the rich kids’ story. His mother was forever scarred from being at the center of a custody case, famously dubbed by the press as Poor Little Rich Girl. On the other side, his mother “only” left him $1.5M because that was all her estate had left to give him. Her jean line declined, she’d been swindled by those she employed, and she got in trouble with the IRS. Not to mention good old fashion rich people indulgent spending. So he knows that what money he has now may not be there when he dies. Whatever he does end up leaving to his son, it doesn’t hurt to set Wyatt’s expectations that he needs to make his own way. Let’s face it, having college paid for, which I assume will cover graduate and post graduate if Wyatt chooses, is a huge burden lifted in and of itself.
Speaking of Vanderbilt history, Anderson has a new book out, Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty.
Photo credit: Instagram and Avalon Red
His son is so freaking cute!!! Wyatt will be fine. His legacy will be enough to open any doors in whatever career he chooses. And if Anderson’s drive and work ethic runs off on him he’ll be more than fine.
The biggest heritage for these children are their names and connections. Doors will be open to them and they will have many more opportunities than others. Yes, it’s a nice thing to let them make their money but it’s not like they are starting from zero.
Yep. Being Anderson Cooper’s son is probably just as valuable as a boatload of money. He’ll go to the best schools his whole life and be surrounded by incredibly important people. This kid will be able to do pretty much whatever he wants.
Also, let’s be real, Anderson will be footing the bill for the kid’s first apartment, etc.
Yep, and Wyatt will get to live in the Vanderbilt Suite at Yale, just like Anderson did (it isn’t reserved for a Vanderbilt, just that if one is there, he/she gets to live there).
Exactly. I get what Anderson’s trying to do, but I wish he and more celebrity parents would acknowledge the enormous privileges their children will still have, without an inheritance. Having access to the best schools and likely having his living expenses paid, in addition to coming from a famous family and the doors his name will open will ensure Wyatt will be more fine than most of us. Also, Wyatt is adorable!
We are paying for college for our son and we haven’t decided if we will pay for post grad or not since he’s only a sophomore. My husband wants to retire early so he won’t be working forever just to die after retirement to leave our son all of our money. We plan on traveling and spending it.
We are paying for college and graduate school plus a down payment for a house. We also provided a car and pay all living expenses while in school. The house money is only theirs if they live at home through graduate school. If they want to move out before they are able to pay their own bills it will come out of the money set aside for a downpayment. They have both decided to stay home and save the cash. They can also decide to stay at home for a year or two after they start working to start a nest egg. My husband did that, saved a considerable amount to invest, and that is why we can afford to support our kids now. When my youngest graduates from undergrad in two years my husband will retire and we plan to spend the rest before we die.
We pay all of his expenses while in school. He doesn’t drive but we would have bought him a car if he wanted one and the offer is still out there in case he changes his mind. We are likely buying a condo for him to live in off campus and have a roommate to help cover expenses. We’ll also likely buy a place where ever he decides to settle after college and offer a reduced rent to coworkers to help defray expenses. That seems to be what the recent college grads my husband employs have set up. My husband has also decided that he is always welcome on vacation and there isn’t an age cut off when he needs to start paying for himself on vacation.
When Kiddo was very young, my in-laws were kind/generous enough to set up a 529 which will cover their undergrad. Kiddo is now a high school senior and looking at universities outside the US, which are much, much less expensive than colleges in the US (even as an international student paying full tuition and buying into a national health system). That means there will probably be enough in the account to pay for at least some of graduate school.
What a lot of people forget is that end of life care in the US is expensive and Medicare doesn’t cover everything. My Dad died of pancreatic cancer in early 2020 (just as the pandemic was starting). In four months, we paid over $40,000 just for home health/hospice care. People may think “I’m going to inherit XYZ.” But realistically, there isn’t usually much left after the bills are paid.
Right , Medicare doesn’t cover assisted living or a nursing home and so many are surprised by that. It is health insurance and doesn’t cover custodial care. It does cover hospice and home health for skilled disciplines but not personal care.
My parents are prudent savers, but they’ve always told me that they’re saving to cover the costs of their own end-of-life care. They sat me down one day a long time ago and said “We hope you’ll never feel responsible for taking care of us, and that is our gift to you.”
A parenting possibility is telling your kids they get nothing but then leaving them $ as a surprise. My parents paid for my undergrad but when it came time for grad school, my dad said “no way…it’s time to pay your own way.” And then when he died, turned out he left money to pay off my grad school student loans. As for the rest of the family, I always knew I was getting something but didn’t know how much. Then when my mom dies it turned out it was a crap ton. We had always lived modestly but comfortably and I was never aware of how much was in the bank. And it paid for two more degrees and makes up most of what my husband and I live on now…I’m a social worker that does not make a living wage so I’m thankful for the $ to allow me to work in the field I want to work in. I also usually don’t think about it as my money…it’s my mom’s money and I’m just the steward. A great deal of the corrupting impact of a huge inheritance is determined by the parenting that came before it.
My parents paid for my bachelors degree, as well as all my siblings. (There are 6 of us.) We were on our own for anything after that.
Husband and I followed in their footsteps, paying for our kids’ bachelors degrees. We had a deal that they second they got a credit card, we’d stop paying tuition, so they’ll both start out life with no student loans and no credit card debt. It’s not Vanderbilt money, but it’s a good start.
Okay, that credit card line in the sand is brilliant, and I am stealing it for use with my own son. Especially with how the credit card companies target incoming college freshmen. My hat is off to you!
Agreed. Wyatt will go to a private school and most likely an Ivy (like Anderson did) and that combined with the family connections will ensure he’s set up quite nicely in life – inheritance or not. I’d argue that a top class education from 3-22 (and maybe beyond) along with access to the best jobs/connections is worth far more than money (but that helps of course! 😉 )
I might pick up Anderson’s book. Quite interested in the Vanderbilts.
I think the important thing is that they are setting expectations from the beginning and also pushing education. Yeah, these are still privileged kids. But we all know the Tori Spelling story. Kudos for Anderson and these other parents for trying to avoid that.
What Anderson should have also said was that because we live in a world where nepotism and name recognition is important, his son would have still advantages and privilege without an inheritance.
Well said
It’s so weird to hear “I will not be leaving my children any estate,” when that is one of the things that I think about pretty regularly – how to build wealth to help my children when we pass on. Of course, i will not be amassing a fortune. There will be no trust fund. Lol they will need to make their own way. And maybe that is the difference but I would love to be able to set my kids up for life. Just interesting to think about these thought patterns.
I think with Anderson and other ultra rich celebrities and business people when they say they’re not leaving their kids a lot of money, that is because they already will be able to set them up for life before they die – paying for top tier education, exposure to culture and enrichment activities, access to internship and job opportunities through the parents and their well-connected classmates. Basically, these kids will have the education and opportunities to follow their interests and build careers, as long as they stay motivated. And I think it’s not uncommon for “trust fund kids” to lag in motivation if everything is handed to them and they don’t learn how to earn for themselves.
I think if parents have the money that they should set up an inheritance for their children. My parents left myself and 5 siblings a nice-sized inheritance and it was very much appreciated. Also, going through the pain and agony of losing our parents was slightly mitigated by receiving an inheritance.
Every time I see Wyatt, I see Gloria Vanderbilt’s face and joie de vivre looking back at me. It’s like she never left.
I see Carter, who looked just like Gloria.
*tears up* Yes, Carter too. The poignant conversation between Anderson Cooper and Stephen Colbert comes to mind. How Stephen called his own loss a gift nearly blew the silver right out of Anerson’s hair.
I definitely want to read this book. I find it fascinating how they went from such a huge fortune in the late 19th century to where they are now (is there still any vanderbilt money left?) I mentioned a few weeks ago that I read the book The Husband Hunters which features the Vanderbilts quite prominently and I also read The Social Graces about Vanderbilt v. Astor in the late 19th century (fiction) so I kept googling to figure out what the money would be today – like when they said that Cornelius or whoever had 10 million I would google and realize it was like 50 billion in today’s money (okay that’s not exact haha but you get my drift.) So I want to learn and find out what happened next.
As for not leaving anything to his son – setting his son up so he can start his career completely debt free and with the kinds of connections he’ll have is an enormous legacy on its own. But I also sort of figure when these people say they won’t leave “anything” to their children that they’ll either set them up in life (not just by college, but maybe by buying them a house or apartment or giving them a “small” amount to start off careers or something) or leave them a very small inheritance. 5 million out of 200 doesn’t sound like a lot but it can help enormously obviously. I would take it, ha.
If you have never been to Newport, RI, you can get a sense of the Vanderbilt fortune by checking out the website for The Breakers. This was the SUMMER house https://www.newportmansions.org/explore/the-breakers The extended Vanderbilt family also owned Marble House about half a mile down the Newport Cliff Walk, also a SUMMER house. Gloria summered at The Breakers. There is a “children’s playhouse” on the grounds that is only slightly smaller than the average house in RI.
I have never been but I really want to go!! We visited Biltmore Estate in Asheville maybe 15 years ago and I loved it, it was just incredible. That kind of wealth is just insane.
I’ve visited both estates and it’s amazing and unfathomable to think that people have/had that kind of wealth. The tour guides at the Biltmore stressed at how much the Vanderbilts did for the community and how beloved they were, but still. It’s crazy. I recommended visiting both around Christmas, the decorations are just gorgeous.
Gah! Look at that adorable child!
I’m not sure why celebrities feel the need to share this info. Do they think it makes them look like better parents? Is it to emphasize that he is very rich? What IS he going to do with the money, then? The baby isn’t even a year old: why does he feel this needs to be out there?
Perhaps I am just jealous because I would love to be able to make my kids’ lives easier. We do what we can, but they work very hard to earn a living. Nothing wrong with that, but would I like to ease their financial burdens? Absolutely.
Because most people assume because he’s a Vanderbilt, he’s had everything handed to him without having to work for it. He’s had advantages but he still had to work. He’s not someone like a Paris Hilton who’s expenses would be paid regardless.
I suspect people ask him this question frequently because of his lineage.
If Tori Spelling didn’t blow through money like it’s coming out of a water fountain, she’d probably be asked the same thing. As it stands right now, I don’t think anyone wants life advice from Tori Spelling.
I mean, leaving your kid “only 1.5 million” is kind of what many of us could only dream of. It’s basically starting at most adult’s fantasy finish-line (by which I mean, most adults don’t amass that much wealth in their lifetimes).
Exactly. She left him enough to have a very comfortable retirement–more than comfortable if he invested wisely. So you know what THAT does? It allows a person to take more risks, and pursue more dreams, than people who have to work for every penny. When you know your retirement is in the bag, you can do what you want during your working life.
That’s right!! I adore Anderson Cooper, and Wyatt, but the bottom line is that his child, and every other family of massive wealth, gives their children an unearned opportunity. They grow up with the best educations that money can buy, incredible connections and have already started their working life with an incredible opportunity of just dropping their name. I am not bashing on Anderson, but his mother left him an enormous inheritance and attend the best schools from preschool on up. All children of wealthy families already have an enormous opportunity to achieve vast wealth, solely with their name.
As for the rest of us, we have to make hard decisions in helping our children attend college. Some of us have had the benefit of our parents helping us, but there are millions of children who don’t have the security of their parents to help them. It’s a sad that those in lower income brackets can never have more than a high school education, and the position of living as a lower income citizen continues.
But she left him this at 50 and it’s less than 1% of his net worth. I’m not saying he’s not privleged but it’s different to giving a teenager 1.5 million. This inheritence was kind off random and unplanned. Whatever she happened to have left at the end.
I love Anderson Cooper and I’m so excited the read his new book. Always been fascinated by the Vanderbilts.
This is a long one, so I apologize in advance 🙂
I understand where he is coming from, but 1.5 million is still a lot of money, and he had his name and family connections to make a great life for himself. (I am sure his son will have those same advantages, regardless of money.) Giving money away to worthy causes is fantastic, but I hope he puts a safety net in for his son. Bad things in life happen to good people all the time, and if he passes, I am sure he would hate for his son (and his future family) to be struggling because of things outside of his control. I hope he would put money aside for him to receive at specific parts of his life or some trust if he is worried about his son not being motivated for himself.
Maybe because my situation has been challenging, and I would never want my children to go through the struggle we are going through these past few years, my perspective is different.
Some background on why I feel this way is not to say woe is me, just insight into my thought process. Four years ago, our life got turned upside down when my husband lost his job, and then my son attempted suicide. (He was on life-support for three days and shouldn’t be alive right now. He is doing good, but please check on your kids, even the little ones!!!). This was the beginning of a string of random horrible events, me being sick as well, and now we are at the second point this year of losing our home. (We can’t sell since it is falling apart and we are upside down in it.) I would hate for my kids to go through what I am going through right now, and if I could prevent it, I would in a heartbeat. The stress, anxiety, and worry are unbearable, but even though we hustle every single day, we barely make ends meet. Point of the story, even if you work hard, do everything right, and are a good person, bad things can still happen, so I hope he (and anyone else with the means to do so) think about that for their children.
Just my two cents.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I think it’s easy for people to take health and financial safety for granted, and don’t tend to consider what can go wrong. I’m so sorry to hear of everything you are going through. I will keep your family in my prayers.
I agree. Of course we tell our kids they have to work and make their own money, but you never know what can happen. An illness (physical or mental) or accident can set someone back to the point where “pilling yourself up by the bootstraps” isn’t an option. I want my kids and their kids to be OK in case something like that happens. So, we have more set aside for them….but they won’t be getting it now, unless they really need it. Hopefully not for a few more decades!
so_annoyed, I hear you. A safety net is an enormous privilege. It allows you to take opportunities that are a little riskier and move forward in ways that are easy to take for granted. My hubby had a small family inheritance that allowed him to put down a deposit on our starter home when we were otherwise low income. Then, faced years later with the idea of selling our house with two children under five and a big barky dog and cosmetic repairs to perform, we were able to borrow enough of a down payment from our parents so we could move out before selling. We have a good income and can pay our mortgage but didn’t have money to put down unless we sold the first place. That lack of generational wealth has kept many people from moving up. Having comfortable (but not rich) parents who set us up well in life and are happy and able to help us through sticky patches makes all the difference.
@ LAR, I touched on that in my response earlier. There are millions of kids from lower income families that are unable to put their children through college, so the family maintains the same lack of generational wealth. Parents always want better for their children, but they don’t have the money.
The cost of a college education today as opposed to thirty plus years ago, is ridiculous. I don’t think that college has been affordable since the ‘70’s, but the institutions keep raising the cost of an education, all the while pay scales have not. Any safety net for our children is a privilege, no matter what income bracket you are growing up in.
I think that’s why I love Dr. Biden so much. She knows how incredibly important it is to have an education and the fact that the administration is trying to make community college free would be a fabulous stepping stone that so many children could benefit from.
@ so_annoyedk, I hear you and I am so sorry that your lives have turned upside down. It’s an incredibly upsetting feeling when you are drowning and see no bright future. It’s incredibly taxing on your mental and physical health. My heart breaks for you. You are so fortunate that you still have your son. You are living every parents worst nightmare. Then to add these outside challenges, you are feeling despondent and it’s a terrible feeling. I have been in your situation as well, except without the added stress of almost losing my child. I understand your feelings in that you never want your children to experience what you and your husband are experiencing. I came out of my situation with the same conclusion. The daily stress of losing my home was awful, on top of being a divorced mother of two and working 2 jobs. Very bad things happen to very good people and you always want better for your children. I hope that things turn around for you and your husband. I hope that there are programs or organizations out there that could help you both. I will be thinking of you both and will be praying for you and your family during this period. May you soon see the light at the end of the tunnel.
It may be that Anderson said this to throw future scammers and users off his son’s tracks. I mean there are probably other reasons too, but this could also protect is son.
I think some posters are misconstruing what Anderson means. Of course, Anderson grew up with the advantages of a private school education and good connections. But as he said, his parents expected him to work and to build a career for himself after graduation. It’s a good thing to grow up knowing you will need to work, rather than expecting huge sums to live off, while lazing around. Nothing in life is a given, in any case.
Also, fwiw, it’s my understanding that Anderson never leaned on using the ‘Vanderbilt’ name. His last name is Cooper, so few people in his working world orbit knew about the family connection. This freedom from notoriety (Anderson also grew up in a less intense celebrity culture era), helped Anderson to build his career in journalism on his own merits. It wasn’t until after he achieved success as an international investigative reporter and later as an anchor for CNN, that it was publicly revealed who his mother is.
Most people were surprised by Anderson’s ‘Vanderbilt’ family connection. I certainly was. I never followed Gloria Vanderbilt’s personal life, so I didn’t know she had two sons. I didn’t know that her oldest son had committed suicide in front of her either, until I read Anderson’s memoir.
Having family wealth can come with huge burdens and dangerous temptations. The most important things parents need to give children is love, a happy childhood, access to a good education, and strong character-building. That’s all Anderson is trying to say is his intent for his own son, Wyatt! Kudos to Anderson, and to his amazing mother! Also kudos to his father, who died relatively young, but by all accounts was a caring and loving parent too.
In fact, as Anderson has previously mentioned in interviews, he’s thankful that his substantial success in life, enabled him to largely take care of his mother’s needs in her later years. And just to enjoy life with her. Most of her money had been lost and the remaining funds were likely tied up during her lifetime. Gloria was surely very proud of Anderson. Her and her husband’s parenting did not go to waste.
Sadly, Gloria made a number of poor business decisions, and she trusted the wrong people. But she was also a resilient survivor.
I wonder what his mother did with all her money then?
Well some got spent by her mother (Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt) hence why the Vanderbilts got involved and the custody trial happened. She also had a terrible therapist who not only drove a wedge between her and her older son but she also trusted him with her money which did not work out and he pretty much lost it all for her. And as the article says, she got in trouble with the IRS
The Vanderbilts lost all their money, and then she lost a lot of money that she earned initially from her business.
I hate this type of attitude.
Most of these fathers have worked so much they were barely present in their children’s lives and instead of allowing that small advantage they turn it into some sort of bootstrap challenge.
Most children born now will struggle to own a home, will not be as wealthy as the boomers, will not have as many opportunities.
It always seems to be some sort of virtue signalling. I did it, therefore everyone else including my children should be able to as well.
That said, 1.5 mil is enough to set you up comfortably and not even close to ‘nothing’
My husband works long hours and occasional weekends but he always managed to make time for our son’s event and be present even if he had to go back to work afterwards. Anderson was well established in his career and legit rich on his own when his mother died so that’s why the only 1.5 million comment sticks out. And she was a god damned Vanderbilt so people expected her to have gobs of money.
What’s to hate? Anderson said years ago before he had a child that he doesn’t believe in inheriting large sums of money as it’s an initiative killer. (It also perpetuates wealth inequality and a lot of people who inherit money they didn’t earn blow it and it goes to waste bc they don’t know how to manage it. Case in point – his family.) Personally I find it quite refreshing and rare. He’s not trying to virtue signal, just trying to prevent the harm that would come with unearned wealth. My MIL, who is very loving, told me if she won the lotto she would pay of our house, but not give us retirement money bc she didn’t think that would do us good. (Sometimes people who retire without purpose die soon after or become depressed.) 1.5 mil inherited didn’t make a difference to him when he was 50 and already worth 200 mil on his own.
As people have said above – the child’s family name and connections will go a long way towards setting him up in life. A first class education will do the rest. However – comma – while I understand and applaud not wanting to raise a spoiled, entitled brat, I wonder if Anderson and others realize how it comes across to parents who are struggling to provide the bare minimum? Even just being in the position to say “I’m not giving my child $200 million” is…a lot when I’m worried about paying for even half of my kid’s college. It’s a level of privilege I don’t think they comprehend.
I think you are misconstruing him Dena. He’s also probably leaving that money to causes and people in desperate need instead of spoiling his own sprog who might blow it on yachts and cars and not have any direction in life. What’s the problem with that? It also allows normal people to relate to him better if they know “ok this kid has a normal job and apartment and doesn’t have tens of millions that daddy just handed to him that they can blow through.” It makes it hard to have normal relationships when people expect you to pick up the tab bc they see you as an atm and can resent you.
Having a famous Dad isn’t easy, i think George Clooney said that? A lot of famous or successful offspring struggle/commit suicide and I’m sure Anderson (whose own brother killed himself) is well aware and is treading carefully.)
I don’t have any wealth but I’m going to pay for my child’s uni…nobody paid for mine but me and I carried that debt for 13 years. It shaped almost every major decision of my 20s. Paid interest for 10 years while living in the US, didn’t make the slightest dent in the loan. Moved abroad and paid it all off in full in cash in 3 years. So, I’ll give him that freedom. He’ll have to go to school outside the US though because no undergraduate degree is worth that amount of money; it’s gotten ridiculous. I can save for moderate tuition fees, not insane ones.
International students pay 3 times the tuition…so you’ll have to think about that. Unless your child has dual citizenship with another country. An undergraduate degree in America will be way cheaper for your child. Also, what a huge accomplishment for you to pay off all that debt. You should be proud of yourself.
No, that is not true. It is way cheaper to get an undergraduate degree outside the US, even as an international student. My friend (she is American) got into Georgetown and McGill, she turned down Georgetown due to the tuition and went to McGill in Canada instead because it was WAY cheaper. She then got her graduate degree at London School of Economics, not sure how much the tuition was but I’m guessing cheaper than if she got a grad degree in the US.
I think university in Germany might be free. Some Americans consider that as an option.
oh, my child has some options in terms of nationality. But no, actually, attending school in, say, Canada at non-resident prices is still often significantly cheaper than tuition fees in the US. And in terms of quality of education, there’s no real difference. The US just tends to have more resources, but that doesn’t make much of a difference at the undergrad level.
A Masters degree could be worth it in the US, due to either the resources or networking opportunities. You could do your BA/Sc for cheap in another English-speaking country, then get your professional or grad degree in the US. That way, you’ll actually make enough income to pay it off. But there is just no need to pay the kind of money that American universities are demanding these days.
I was super proud! I recommend it to everyone who can swing it (in their 20s, usually): go somewhere where the job market is in your favour. Teach English, whatever. Make your money. It’s so much easier to do it abroad than in the US.
Let’s not forget it’s three years to get your Bachelor’s in the UK vs 4 in the US. One additional year of fees.
So did Anderson not get any inheritance from his mother when she died? I wonder. I think there is nothing wrong with leaving your child/children inheritance as long as you have a good relationship with them, and they are working towards a career or something and not just waiting for you to die so they can have your money. It’s a personal choice though.
He got about 1.5 million.
Can’t wait to read Anderson’s book. I read the last one he wrote, about being a foreign correspondent, and it was interesting. I love fatherhood for him. He’s had so much loss in his life I’m glad he’s got a little one in his life to focus on.
I like what he says here about leaving money to his son. He’s not suggesting that he’s not going to make sure Wyatt is taken care of — I’m sure he’ll be set up with a nice chunk of change. I think he just isn’t interested in leaving him *so much money* that he never has to work a day in his life, which is what other celebrities have said when we’ve spoken about this issue in the past.
I don’t know why people think it’s a big deal for wealthy parents not to support their kids past college. Most people don’t. I’m sure if something happened and Wyatt needed money Anderson would help but it’s not a big deal to not financially support him or leave a huge inheritance. Likely he’ll receive something but I think wealthy people do this to make sure the kids aren’t depending on a payday.
100% – it’s psychological. If you don’t HAVE to get good grades bc you don’t HAVE to get into a good college bc you don’t HAVE to get a good job bc your whole life is going to be paid for by your parents, well where does your motivation to try come from? It’s more likely that your kid is going to develop a work ethic rather than a sense of entitlement by having to work.
He’s giving his kid the gift of powerful connections, which is how rich people REALLY get ahead in this world.
They’ll be fine.
The kid is a Vanderbilt, he’ll be alright.
I remember reading a story once about how the Commodore stuck one of his sons on an island to teach him the bootstrap lesson, he basically lived on the whim of his penny pinching father. At least the kid doesn’t have to go through that. He’ll have a job or an internship after graduation.
You know when rich folks say this it’s because they’ve set up trusts for their children, then they don’t have to “leave” them anything. Saves on taxes also….
Not necessarily. I have a friend from an extremely wealthy family. They had one trust set up for the kids, grandkids, etc. That fund pays for educational expenses, as well as one-time down payment on a primary residence. That’s all. The rest of the money has been given to charity.
Of course, having your last name on university buildings and hospitals is going to open doors. But they all have to work for a living, and are all normal, well-adjusted people.
Still seems like a lot to me. Reading through everyone’s stories has been amazing to me. The help I got with college was my mom allowing me to live with her rent free. That was the best she could offer & I was grateful for it. I worked at a job that had tuition reimbursement–part time during term & full time during breaks–so I was able to get my undergrad without debt. My mom had a very small savings (I mean, <$20k) which she left to me after her death, and I was again grateful for it. That kickstarted my graduate degree, although I still had to take out a loan, and that was again with a job that I could work full time during all my breaks. [Side note: I work for a federal agency & actually truly got my loan forgiven after ten years; I'm one of the 0.1% of people who applied for the PSLF program & got it approved!] Got zip from my dad, which was no more nor less than I expected. To read that Anderson Cooper was 'only' left $1.5 mill because the great Vanderbilt fortune was gone, just–I don't know. I'm not jealous, I realize there are rich people & their lives are very different from mine, but still.
He probably wants to make sure his kid has an actual job like he does. Theoretically some of these rich kids could do nothing if they wanted to, even with all the connections. Can’t blame him for wanting to avoid a Chet Haze or Tori Spelling scenario.
The privilege of “not being that interested in money” is really something else. Of course you aren’t, because you don’t have to be. I find that statement to be so out of touch while a majority of people are acutely aware of how much money they have and what they need in order to make ends meet.
You read my mind.
Only an old money Vanderbilt descendant would say “I’m not that interested in money.” The rest of us plebes do not have the luxury of thinking the same. I do think though that Anderson became a journalist in his own right. Sure, I’m sure his mom’s connections probably helped but I honestly had no idea he was Gloria Vanderbilt’s son until after college. He never really talked about her until maybe the last few years before she died. I remember when I found out (read his Wiki bio) and my brain kind of exploded because I had NEVER heard him mention it, he was pretty tight lipped about his personal life for a very long time. Anyways, his son is part of the Vanderbilt dynasty, even if the fortune may be long gone. Just being Anderson’s son will open doors for him throughout his life, even if he has to work for his money. It’s one of those weird conundrums of the ultra rich we’ll never relate to: do I leave all my fortune to my heirs or do I leave most to charity and only give them a small portion? There are pros and cons to both.
I think Anderson always would have made something of himself. He has the work ethic and he has the ability. He does straddle serious journalism and lighter stuff when most are one or the other but that is ok. Yes he’s a Vanderbilt but if he didn’t/couldn’t have done the work it wouldn’t have panned out for him in the way that it has. Look at all his relatives who blew all that money they inherited, are they still loaded like him just bc they’re a vanderbilt? Of course not. There’s always a lot of talk of privledge on this site, and that’s valid – but if you become a nurse, scientist, social worker, etc you still have to do the work and be competent. People’s conecctions aren’t always limitless and you can’t get away with being terrible at your job year after year just cause your oddball rich Mom used to be famous.
I agree, Anderson Cooper is the definition of having a work ethic, and he was always going to make something of himself.
When he said he’s “interested in money” I took that to mean he’s not interested in Jeff Bezos/Elon Musk/Mark Zuckerberg kind of money. In the world he moves in, maybe the amount of money has is comparatively more modest. Sort of like that quote from the Facebook movie where Justin Timberlake says “A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A BILLION dollars.” He probably moves in circles where people are certifiably insane about money.
Agree remarks. He’s admittedly cheap and I think although he is obviously rich he’s not super interested in big ticket items or extravagance. He’s a super plain eater for example and doesn’t care about food.
I like Anderson but this I’m not leaving my children any money is such a rich white privileged male issue.
Ok, so Gloria did not leave Anderson a ton of money but did she help him buy his NY apartment, his house in the Hampton?
As a person of color I can’t afford to take this attitude, whatever I manage to scrape during my lifetime will go to my children to hopefully make their financial load a little lighter.
No his Mom did not buy his houses. His Dad had told him he would have to make his own way and he’d have college paid for but that’s it, then he died when Anderson was 10. He was actually picking up the tab for her more often bc she was a bigger spender and flakier.
Look, I don’t have much money nor did I inherit anything but when I hear “That is such a rich white male thing” What would you rather him do – perpetuate wealth inequality even more by handing his kid everything like most rich people do, rather than not helping those in need just bc they aren’t family? Like yes of course it’s a rich person thing, so what, otherwise the topic wouldn’t even come up? And yes he’s male and white, but he can’t help that.
He’s doing what his parents did for him, and he had a lot of initiative and drive as a young person. He saw what happened in his own family when a massive sum of money was lost in a generation or two and doesn’t want that to happen again, not sure why this is a problem?
I don’t think regular people can afford to think like he does, but I also don’t think he expects them to either.
I think he simply answered the question asked of him that best fits his scenario. This question probably wouldn’t be posed to a less well-off person.
I like Anderson but I have no idea why he has even thought of this when the kid is only a toddler. And I’ve less idea why he would tell anyone about it. And I also can’t understand why you wouldn’t leave your money to your child. If you’ve brought them up properly they should be mature enough to handle it responsibly and not let it warp them. If they can’t that’s on you. Daniel Craig has also banged on about not leaving his money to his daughter. It seems to be the new ‘I don’t shower often’ for celebs.
When you have a kid, you have to think about drawing up a will in case God forbid something happens to you. If Anderson were to drop dead tomorrow, his estate would probably go to his son. But if he didn’t have a will, his half-brothers could maybe contest it for example. This the kind of thing parents need to think about as soon as a child is born, rich or poor. But it obviously gets more complicated the more assets a parent has. It makes perfect sense for him to think about it, a bit less to publicly tell us his thoughts.
I think a very wealthy person would consider early on what will happen to his money and how it may or may not be passed on after he dies. He probably thought about it even before the kid was born. For people with that level of money, It doesn’t make sense not to, especially with all the tax implications.
If Gloria died in 2019, Anderson was already extremely wealthy and it seems like, wealthier than she was by that point? So he by no means needed her money. It is also absolutely her business what she chose to do with her estate. But it just seems like a weird situation to be in where your children are so well off already that they don’t need anything. A good situation! But a weird one.
Good point, forgot about that. He was already established & quite wealthy by the time she died, she lived a really long life.
I love that they are wearing #TeamBeans stuff! <3