Why Didn’t Gloria Vanderbilt Leave Her Son, Anderson Cooper, an Inheritance?

The passing of Gloria Vanderbilt left the world with one less fierce woman and a gaping hole in the heart of the fashion industry. Television personality, Anderson Cooper, bid a sorrowful goodbye to the woman he called ‘mother’ for 52 years.

It’s no secret that the Vanderbilt name is one that’s built on glamour, prestige, privilege and riches. In addition to coming from one of the wealthiest families in the history of the United States, Gloria Vanderbilt also managed to add to her wealth by building her own empire worth millions.

With all of those untold riches, why then didn’t the Vanderbilt matriarch leave all of her inheritance to her son, Anderson Cooper? Even more surprising than the answer is the fact that this news didn’t come as a shock to Anderson at all. The famed news anchor and media personality had known for years that there was no golden ticket with his name on it waiting for him when his mother eventually passed.

Finding His Own Success

Why did Gloria Vanderbilt not give her son her full inheritance? It’s common practice for fortunes to be passed down along family lines. But it isn’t as though Cooper is struggling on his own. In fact, most people aren’t even aware of the fact that Cooper has such a prestigious family background.

Anderson Cooper has made a name for himself through reporting from war zones, breaking hard-hitting news stories, having his own top-rated show on CNN, and guest-starring on an endless list of entertainment shows. His high-profile friendship with Bravo mogul Andy Cohen has also helped expose Anderson to a whole new generation of fans. Of course, none of this has stopped the world from wondering why Gloria Vanderbilt didn’t leave all of her trust fund to Anderson Cooper. What is the reason? You might be surprised by just how wholesome it is.

The One Reason We Can All Rule Out Now

We definitely know one reason that we can rule out right away. You can go ahead and cross out any suspicions of bad blood. Vanderbilt certainly didn’t have any malicious intentions with the amount she gave her son. Gloria and Anderson were extremely close.

In fact, Anderson revealed in an interview recently that his mother once told him that the happiest day of her life was when a person referred to her as Anderson Cooper’s mom. The fashion mogul was clearly proud of the fact that her son had made a name for himself and found international recognition.

Love Over Money

Gloria Vanderbilt’s decision to deny her son a lofty inheritance actually has more to do with her love of her son than anything else. Anderson gave the world a glimpse into how he and his mother viewed the immense privilege they had been born into during an interview with Howard Stern back in 2014.

It was during that interview that Cooper revealed that he already knew that there was no inheritance waiting for him. He claimed that his mother had made it very clear to him that there was no trust fund. Of course, Cooper was also quick to point out that he was doing just fine on his own. That’s a statement that’s hard to argue with considering his estimated net worth of over 100 million dollars!

What Did Anderson Think About the Possibility of Getting No Inheritance?

Cooper apparently had no issue with the fact that his mother was effectively cutting him out of her will. In fact, he agreed with her decision. The news personality went on to tell Stern that he doesn’t believe in inheriting money. He even challenged the host to think of anyone he knows who has done anything worthwhile after inheriting a large sum of money. Cooper then called inheriting money a curse. It sounds like Anderson Cooper feels like his mother would be doing him a favor by sparing him from the temptation to simply rest on the assurance of a fat trust fund.

In an even stranger turn of events, Anderson Cooper credits his own massive success to the knowledge that he would not be getting a trust fund. He feels that he would not have had the motivation he needed to succeed in his career if he believed that a pot of gold was waiting for him.

Where Did the Money Go?

Much to everyone’s surprise, Anderson Cooper did end up getting some of his mom’s inheritance. He reportedly got less than $1.5 million, which was obviously way more than he expected. Gloria Vanderbilt’s oldest son received her Manhattan co-op.

Success Runs in the Family

It’s probably hard for most of us to picture actually being happy about being denied a trust fund that’s worth millions of dollars! However, it seems to have worked out just fine for Anderson Cooper. Just how rich was Gloria Vanderbilt? The mogul actually inherited a trust that was worth around $5 million back in 1925. That works out to be something like $70 million in today’s money. However, her fortune grew after she launched a successful fashion empire that was famous around the world for its iconic blue jeans.

Good jeans and a tenacious attitude toward building an empire paid off for Gloria. It is estimated that she was worth around $200 million at the time of her passing in 2019 following a brief battle with stomach cancer. Her son Anderson Cooper is grieving for the loss of his mother, but certainly not over her money.

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