Gloria Vanderbilt Not Leaving Family Fortune To Son Anderson Cooper

Gloria Vanderbilt comes from one of the wealthiest families in American history, but her son, Anderson Cooper, will not be inheriting the estimated $200 million fortune from the Vanderbilt railroad and shipping heiress, socialite, and former denim designer, according to Us Magazine.

Anderson Cooper spoke to Howard Stern recently on his radio show, and said that his mom has said that there will be no inheritance from the Vanderbilt fortune.

“My mom’s made clear to me that there’s no trust fund. There’s none of that.”

It may come as a bit of a surprise to some however, that Cooper says he is perfectly fine with not receiving an inheritance from Gloria when the time comes.

“I don’t believe in inheriting money. I think it’s an initiative sucker. I think it’s a curse.”

Anderson has been pretty successful on his own. The 46-year-old CNN anchor has worked hard to become a success, and the “Silver Fox,” as he’s been dubbed, brings in a reported $11 million per year through his contract with the network. Even without the Vanderbilt inheritance, Cooper is still doing alright for himself.

His mom, Gloria Vanderbilt, is the great-great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, an American tycoon, businessman, and philanthropist who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. Cornelius provided the initial gift to found Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., which was named for him. In 1963 Gloria married her fourth husband, Wyatt Emory Cooper, and they had two sons together; Carter Vanderbilt Cooper and Anderson Hays Cooper. Carter commited suicide in 1988. The Inquisitr covered both Gloria and Anderson speaking about Carter’s death in 2011.

Being the son of Gloria Vanderbilt, Anderson did have a privileged upbringing, but the Yale grad told Howard Stern that his father’s roots were more modest.

“My dad grew up really poor in Mississippi… I paid attention to that because I thought that’s a healthier thing to pay attention to than like some statue of a great-great-great-grandfather who has no connection to my life.

Who has inherited a lot of money that has gone on to do things in their own life? From the time I was growing up, if I felt that there was some pot of gold waiting for me, I don’t know that I would’ve been so motivated.”

Cooper has been able to find his own success, and obviously he attributes much of that to not having a big Vanderbilt trust fund waiting, which has motivated him to work hard and make something of himself.

“I’m doing fine on my own, I don’t need any [money].”

[Image courtesy of New York Observer]