14 DAY TRIAL // Anderson Cooper makes about $11 million (€7.97 million) a year as a CNN journalist so, with this kind of money, it’s not like he really needs an inheritance. Even if he did, though, he wouldn’t be getting it from his mother Gloria Vanderbilt.
The great-great-granddaughter of mogul Cornelius Vanderbilt, the 90-year-old socialite is on excellent terms with her equally famous son, so it’s not a family feud like in the case of the Spellings that has determined this decision, to leave Anderson out of her will.
From what he said the other day on Howard Stern, it was he who decided he didn’t want a single cent from his mother’s $200 million (€145 million) fortune, Us Weekly reports. And they say the rich always get richer no matter what.
In the Silver Fox’s case, that has to happen only through his efforts alone and not because he wakes up one morning and finds out his bank account is several times fatter than it was the night before. He doesn’t need the money and, believe it or not, he actually grew up not thinking about being rich.
“My mom’s made clear to me that there’s no trust fund. There’s none of that. I don’t believe in inheriting money. I think it’s an initiative sucker. I think it’s a curse. 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 said.
“I’m doing fine on my own, I don’t need any [money],” he added.
The topic didn’t come up but, if it had, we seriously doubt Anderson could have denied that, even if he never thought about money this way, it did influence his life considerably.
Just being the son of his parents opened a lot of doors for him as he was getting started so, while he got to where he is right now thanks to his obvious skills, he did have some help, no doubt about it. For starters, he would have probably not gotten the education he got because of his parents’ fortune.
“I’ve never paid attention to it, honestly,” he said of the Vanderbilt family wealth, crediting his father, Wyatt Emory Cooper, for keeping him grounded by always reminding him that he grew up poor.