United States
American locations such as the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Gold Coast of Long Island; Westchester County, NY; Fairfield County, Connecticut; Newport, RI; Boston's Back Bay and Beacon Hill; Weston, MA; Philadelphia's Main Line; and the Grosse Pointe area of suburban Detroit, Michigan are associated with old money. Ironically, these areas' inhabitants that are colloquially described as "old money" are almost always descendants of the people the term "nouveau riche" (new money) was originally coined to describe: nineteenth century industrialists, bankers, and builders. Traditionally, wealth was associated with landowning and these Gilded Age fortunes made money in a new way, hence the term new money. Edith Wharton, among Gilded Age America's greatest chroniclers, referred to industrialists and their ilk as "brazen new money".
Wealth - assets held by an individual or by a household - provides an important dimension of social stratification because it can pass from generation to generation, ensuring that a family's offspring will remain financially stable. Families with "old money" use accumulated assets or savings to bridge interruptions in income, thus guarding against downward social mobility.
"Old money" applies to those of the upper class whose wealth separates them from lower social classes. According to anthropologist W. Lloyd Warner, the upper class in the United States during the 1930s was divided into the upper-upper and the lower-upper classes. The lower-upper were those that did not come from traditionally wealthy families. They earned their money from investments and business rather than inheritance. In contrast to the nouveau riche, the upper-upper class was families viewed as "quasi-aristocratic" and "high-society". These had been rich for generations. They lived off idle inheritances rather than earned wealth.
During the early 20th century, the upper-upper class were seen as more prestigious.
"Old money" contrasts with the nouveau riche and parvenus. These fall under the category "new money" (those not from traditionally wealthy families). Some families with "old money" include:
- The Rockefeller family: While founder John D. Rockefeller had modest origins and was initially considered "new money", he made billions of dollars in oil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Over time, the Rockefellers became considered "old money" as their wealth was passed down from generation to generation and their lineage still remains wealthy.
- The Du Pont family fortune began in 1803, but they became an extraordinarily wealthy family by selling gunpowder during the American Civil War. By World War I, the DuPont family produced virtually all American gunpowder. In 1968, Ferdinand Lundberg declared the Du Pont fortune to be America's largest family fortune. As of 2008 E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company ranked 81st on the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations.
- The Vanderbilt family made their fortune in the railroad industry and other investments. They have been a prominent wealthy family in the United States for 200 years.
- The Astor family made their fortune in the 18th century, through real estate, the hotel industry and other investments.
Although many "old money" individuals do not rank as high on the list of Forbes Top 400 richest Americans as they once did, their wealth continues to grow. Many families increased their holdings by investment strategies such as the pooling of resources For example, the Rockefeller family's estimated net worth of $1 billion in the 1930s grew to $8.5 billion by 2000. In 60 years, four of the richest families in the United States increased their combined $2–$4 billion in 1937 to $38 billion without holding large shares in emerging industries.
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