Robbery Barons in AmericaWhat is a robber baron? Webster's New Dictionary defines him as a late 19th century American capitalist who became wealthy through exploitation (of natural resources, government influence, or low wage scales) or a person who satisfies himself by depriving others. In America, we had a lot of these kinds of people. For this report I will tell you about those which seemed the most interesting to me. I would first like to tell you about Cornelius Vanderbilt. Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in Port Richmond on Staten Island, New York in 1794. Cornelius, at the age of 16, had already entered the business world and he didn't even know it. At age 16, he entered the steamboat business, establishing freight and passenger service between Stanton Island and Manhattan. Little did Cornelius know that this would be one of the main ways for him to make millions and millions. Cornelius got into the steamboat business in 1818 and purchased his first steamboat in 1829. Cornelius was not a laid back man, nothing was ever good enough for him. If that were the case and Cornelius Vanderbilt wanted it, there wasn't much you could do to stop him from getting it. It's the kind of attitude that propelled him to the top of the world. After establishing his steamship, Vanderbilt became a very vigorous competitor, lowering his rates while placing his ships at the high end of the line. Vanderbilt, the entrepreneur himself, soon controlled most of the Hudson River. After a while, his competitors in the steamboat business paid him to take some of his traffic elsewhere so as not to get all the work. In 1846, Vanderbilt was a very wealthy man, and through his wealth he learned power. He became widely known as Commodore Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt sold his steamboats in 1862 and began buying railroad stocks. In just 5 years, Vanderbilt used his power to maintain most of New York's central rail system. Vanderbilt, as in his steamboats, now strove to be the best of the railroads. Vanderbilt established numerous railroad systems during his railroad career, perhaps the most famous being one that connected New York and Chicago by a direct rail line in 1873. At the time of Vanderbilt's death in 1877, its peak value was of more than 100 million dollars. at that time. Another questionable hard worker is that of John Davison Rockefeller. Rockefeller was born in R...... middle of paper...... from what we know about cars to Henry Ford. Ford died on April 7, 1947, in Dearborn. Who owns the “Superstation” and the Atlanta Braves? The King of Television Robert Edward Turner III, born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1938. Turner who was educated at the Georgia Military Academy and Brown University. Turner experienced a major setback in his life after his father's suicide. He inherited the family billboard advertising business. In 1970, Turner had purchased a bankrupt television station in Atlanta, Georgia, and by 1975 he transformed it into one of the major networks. It achieved this by broadcasting low-cost sports and entertainment programs via satellite and cable systems throughout the country. In 1976, Turner purchased the Atlanta Braves baseball team, then the following year he purchased the Atlanta Hawks. In 1980, Turner invented Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour news channel. In 1988, he launched Turner Network Television (TNT). Then, in 1991, Turner married actress Jane Fonda. Turner, now 63, still owns all of his..