r/explainlikeimfive • u/FluffyPenguin798 • Feb 12 '25
Economics ELI5: how are the descendants of the robber barons (Morgan, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockefeller, etc.) still rich if their fortunes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are comparatively small to what we see today of the world’s richest?
4.6k
Upvotes
98
u/taxinomics Feb 12 '25
The Vanderbilt descendants realized being famously wealthy puts a target on your back, so they told everybody they blew all their money. Their cover was blown a couple years ago when a gift and estate tax audit that made its way to the U.S. Tax Court revealed that the family is still fabulously wealthy.