United States financier who accumulated great wealth from railroad and shipping businesses (1794-1877)
"Cornelius Vanderbilt was a legendary American financier who built his fortune through the railroad and shipping industries."
A surname.
"The vanderbilt family built their fortune in shipping and railroads during the nineteenth century."
The surname Vanderbilt comes from the Dutch phrase van der Bilt, which literally means "from De Bilt," a village in the Netherlands. The family name was adopted into English to denote descent from this specific location.