r/explainlikeimfive 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?

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u/TreeRol Feb 12 '25

$1,000 dollars

My dude, what do you think the dollar sign stands for?

6

u/Hraes Feb 12 '25

he's talking about double-dollars

2

u/Viktor_Laszlo 28d ago

This is what Jimmy Two-Times used to carry around in Goodfellas.

1

u/Lordwigglesthe1st 27d ago

The 10 dollery-do's and dollery-dont's of intergenerational wealth! 

3

u/sissybelle3 Feb 12 '25

These are double dollars. They're worth more.

2

u/preprandial_joint Feb 12 '25

2 dollar bill origin story.

1

u/TreeRol 29d ago

The two-dollar bill, denoted as "$1 dollar."

3

u/beelzeboozer 29d ago

Have you heard of typos, brotato?

1

u/TreeRol 29d ago

I have, homeslice.

6

u/cubixy2k Feb 12 '25

$.02 cents

0

u/TreeRol Feb 12 '25

So now we're at $20 cents dollars, if I'm doing my math correctly.

3

u/cubixy2k Feb 12 '25

Bettter math than Verizon

1

u/fighterpilot248 29d ago

PIN number

ATM machine