CORNELIUS VANDERBILT Anonymous I have been insane on the subject of moneymaking all my life. -- Vanderbilt, quoted in the New York Daily Tribune, March 23, 1878. Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794-January 4, 1877) was an American steamship and railroad builder, executive, financier, and promoter. He was a man of boundless energy, and his acute business sense enabled him to outmaneuver his ...