About Frederick William Vanderbilt
Frederick William Vanderbilt was a member of the American Vanderbilt family. He was a director of the New York Central Railroad for 61 years, and also a director of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad and of the Chicago and North Western Railroad. He was the grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, who first created the Vanderbilt family's wealth. Upon his grandfather's death in 1877, 95% of the $100 million estate was left to his father and his three brothers ($5 million to Cornelius, and $2 million apiece to William, Frederick, and George). In 1876, Vanderbilt graduated from Yale University's Sheffield Scientific School to which he later donated $500,000 (equivalent to $18,605,769 today) in 1902.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.