Before she died, Gloria Vanderbilt, heiress to the Vanderbilt fortune created by her great-great-grandfather, railroad and shipping tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, told her kids she would not leave them an inheritance. Gloria was herself the beneficiary of a trust fund worth an estimated $2.5–$5 million in 1925, or around $35–$70 million today, and had a reported net worth of around $200 million when she passed away.