CNN host Anderson Cooper will inherit less than $1.5 million from his mother, heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, a lot less than what people have speculated online.
Vanderbilt’s eldest son, Leopold “Stan” Stokowski, will inherit her midtown Manhattan condo, while everything else would go to her youngest son, Cooper, according to her will, reported Page Six.
EXCLUSIVE: Gloria Vanderbilt leaves almost everything to Anderson Cooper https://t.co/wUvSlrOM3M pic.twitter.com/KAmldYVgfN
— Page Six (@PageSix) July 2, 2019
As a descendent of railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, she was born into a multimillion-dollar trust fund, which she added to as a successful fashion entrepreneur, as previously reported.
Following her death on June 17 at the age of 95, several people speculated that Cooper could inherit an estimated $200 million.
However, according to probate documents obtained by Page Six, the rest of Vanderbilt’s estate is under $1.5 million.
Anderson Cooper to inherit just $1.5M from mother Gloria Vanderbilt https://t.co/afzeknk94k pic.twitter.com/NRNUuDfGRw
— Page Six (@PageSix) July 8, 2019
While the family’s fortune was estimated at $200 million in the late 1800s, it gradually diminished over the years through excessive spending, according to Forbes.
There was also a decline in the success of the family’s rail company.
Vanderbilt found success for some time with her fashion icon in the 1970s, where her line of tight-fitting blue jeans with her signature and trademark swan logo was said to rake in around $100 million each year, according to Forbes.
Gloria Vanderbilt, Jeans Queen https://t.co/GyHtdhbhZY pic.twitter.com/oiKsEtRXWn
— Aaron Mcneel (@AaronMcneel) June 18, 2019
In a 1985 interview with The New York Times, Vanderbilt said, ”I’m not knocking inherited money, but the money that I’ve made has a reality to me that inherited money doesn’t have. I have earned it myself.
“It is not something that was left to me by somebody else who worked for it. As the Billie Holiday song goes, ‘Mama may have and Papa may have, but God bless the child that’s got his own,'” she added.
”I was determined to make something of my life,” she said. ”I think that if we are determined enough, no matter what happens in our lives that is difficult or painful, I believe we can make it right.”
”I’m not talking about just surviving,” she added. ”Anybody can survive, really. I’m talking about being alive. To still be vulnerable, to have your heart open, that is what is important.”
“I’m not knocking inherited money, but the money I’ve made has a reality to me that inherited money doesn’t have. As the Billie Holiday song goes, ‘Mama may have and Papa may have, but God bless the child that’s got his own.’ ” https://t.co/WNsFTlMbR5
— Amy Peikoff ???????????? (@AmyPeikoff) June 18, 2019
Meanwhile, Cooper has previously expressed in an interview with the Howard Stern radio show, “My mom’s made it clear to me that there’s no trust fund.”
He added that “there’s no (Vanderbilt) inheritance,” but explained why he thought that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“It’s an initiative sucker,” he said. “Who has inherited a lot of money that has gone on to do things in their own life?”
Following her death, Cooper shared a special tribute to his mother.
“Gloria Vanderbilt was an extraordinary woman, who loved life, and lived it on her own terms. She was a painter, a writer, and designer but also a remarkable mother, wife, and friend. She was 95 years old, but ask anyone close to her, and they’d tell you, she was the youngest person they knew, the coolest, and most modern,” he said in the video. “What an extraordinary life. What an extraordinary mom. And what an incredible woman.”
CNN’s Anderson Cooper pays tribute to his mother, fashion icon and artist Gloria Vanderbilt, who died yesterday at age 95. https://t.co/mwOvsoonHN pic.twitter.com/S0h2SAVyeo
— New Day (@NewDay) June 18, 2019
