Astor was the richest passenger aboard the RMS Titanic and was thought to be among the richest people in the world at that time, with a net worth of roughly $87 million (equivalent to $2.64 billion in 2022) when he died.
Best-known, however, was John Jacob Astor IV, of the renowned Astor family. His net worth of $87 million, the equivalent of $2.2 billion today, made him amongst the wealthiest men in New York City, and by far the richest man onboard. Astor had made his money mostly through real estate.
John Jacob Astor (1763–1848) was the founder of the family fortune. His son, William Backhouse Astor (1792–1875), who inherited the major portion of the estate, continued his father's program of investing in Manhattan real estate and greatly expanded the Astor Library.
John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by smuggling opium into China, and by investing in real estate in or around New York City.
The Scandalous True Story of Titanic's Wealthiest Passenger - JJ Astor & His Teen Wife
What happened to Astor fortune after Titanic?
John Jacob Astor IV was famously depicted in the 1997 James Cameron film Titanic and was played by actor Eric Braeden. He left $69million of his $85million estate, equivalent to approximately $2.6billion in 2022, to his eldest son William Vincent Astor who became the richest man in America.
John Jacob Astor IV's body was recovered by the steamer CS Mackay-Bennett on April 22, not far from the sinking. Reports said his body was badly crushed and covered in soot but all who examined his body maintained that it was in perfect condition with no bruising.
Neither Col. Astor, his valet, nor his cherished Airedale terrier, Kitty, survived the disaster. But Madeleine did, along with her maid and nurse. She was reported to be "dazed by shock" and suffering from a "nervous collapse" once she arrived back in New York, and was immediately put on bed rest.
Jack Astor went down on the Titanic in 1912, leaving his entire fortune to his son Vincent. Vincent Astor died in 1959, leaving his entire fortune to his wife Brooke. Brooke then spent the next 48 years giving away most of that fortune.
Did anyone survive the Titanic that was not in a lifeboat?
In researching his genealogy he has connected with distant cousins who descended from his grandmother Evelyn Kearney Connors side of the family. It was her sister, Edna Kearney Murray who survived the sinking of the Titanic but it wasn't in an overloaded lifeboat.
2 Cornelia Vanderbilt (1794-1877) Wealth: 1.15% of the U.S.economy. Built an impressive empire of steamboats and railroads. 3 John Jacob Astor (1763-1848) Wealth: 0.93% of the U.S. economy. His initial fortune came from the fur trade, then later in New York real estate.
As the Titanic was the height of luxury in 1912, some celebrities had tickets for its maiden voyage. But not all of them ended up boarding the ship. J. Pierpont Morgan and Milton Hershey were among those who missed the disaster.
Of the 337 bodies recovered, 119 were buried at sea. 209 were brought back to Halifax. 59 were claimed by relatives and shipped to their home communities. The remaining 150 victims are buried in three cemeteries: Fairview Lawn, Mount Olivet and Baron de Hirsch.
Madeleine Astor, then five months pregnant, boarded the Titanic as a first-class passenger in Cherbourg, France, with her husband; her husband's valet, Victor Robbins; her maid, Rosalie Bidois; and her nurse, Caroline Endres.
When the collision occured the order was quickly given for women and children to be placed in the lifeboats, despite this 61 children died in the Titanic disaster: one first class child passenger, two second class, and an astonishing fifty-seven third class. Both child crew members were lost.
Molly Brown, posthumous byname of Margaret Tobin Brown, née Margaret Tobin, (born July 18, 1867, Hannibal, Missouri, U.S.—died October 26, 1932, New York, New York), American human-rights activist, philanthropist, and actress who survived the sinking of the Titanic.
During the Gilded Age, the Astor Family were considered Manhattan's old money—being one of the first Dutch settlers on the island, they hailed the prestigious title of a true Knickerbocker, or in today's terms a native New Yorker.
Toward the end of that century, some of the family moved to England and achieved high prominence there. During the 20th century, the number of American Astors began to decline, but their legacy lives on in their many public works including the New York Public Library.
Vincent Astor inherited a fortune estimated at more than $87 million when his father, John Jacob IV, died on the Titanic in 1912. (The Astor fortune came to the United States from Germany in the 1780s with the first John Jacob Astor, who acquired his wealth through the fur trade and real estate.)
But Astor's marriage was falling apart. One source called it “tumultuous.” The last straw came when the 47-year-old began an affair with the 18-year-old Madeleine Talmage Force. Her mother, known behind her back by reporters as “Force majeure,” wanted Astor to make “an honest woman” of her daughter.
