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There's a lot to love about The Gilded Age. The interpersonal dynamics between all the characters are fascinating, the costumes and mansions are gorgeous, and who doesn't love a New York City setting, no matter the time period? Well, as a history nerd, there's one detail I couldn't help but wonder about recently: what was the net worth of affluent families like the Russels during the Gilded Age?
Well, lucky for us, a number of the characters in the show actually existed in real life which means we know exactly how much money they had. And let me tell you, nothing serves as a better encouragement for saving and investing than the numbers you're about to read...
Keep scrolling to see how much each character in The Gilded Age made in real life!
The Vanderbilts (AKA the Russells)
HBO
Okay, so while George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha (Carrie Coon) Russell are characters created just for the show, they are inspired by the real-life Vanderbilt family.
IRL, the Vanderbilt family fortune was all started by Cornelius Vanderbilt (whose grandson George Vanderbilt constructed the Biltmore estate in Asheville, NC) when he borrowed money from his mother when he was 16 years old. He purchased a boat, and by the time he was an adult, he had acquired a fleet of steamships.
Just like George Russell, Cornelius Vanderbilt also became involved with the Railroad. Market Realist reports that when he died in 1877, Cornelius' net worth was $185 billion — which comes out to around $5.7 trillion today.
The Astor Family
HBO
The Astor family do show up in The Gilded Age, but they also serve as inspiration for old money characters like Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski).
Britannica reports that John Jacob Astor (who lives from 1822 until 1890) increased the family's existing fortune to at least $75 million. Even if that's "all" he made (and I'm using the term "all" lightly because that's still a ton of cash), $75 million in 1890 comes out to around $2.7 billion today.
Julia C. Collins (a real-life Peggy Scott)
HBO
Julia C. Collins was a Black teacher, writer, and abolitionist behind The Curse of Caste; or, The Slave Bride.
The Christian Recorder newspaper wrote in April 1864 that Julia had become a schoolteacher, and according to Illinois State, female teachers in the mid-1800s made around $14 a month. $14 in 1864 calculates out to $261 today.
J.P. Morgan
Karolina Wojtasik/HBO
J.P. Morgan was a financier who lived in New York until he passed in 1913. According to Philanthropy Roundtable, newspapers covering his death reported his estate was worth $80 million — which is worth $2.6 billion in 2026.
Ward McAllister
HBO
Ward McAllister was a writer who got his hands dirty when he published the scandalous Society As I Have Found It, AKA a book detailing all the drama surrounding the Manhattan elite. He also came up with the phrase "the Four Hundred," which references the amount of people who were considered part of New York society, based on how many people were invited by Mrs. Astor.
There doesn't seem to be a ton of information surrounding Ward's finances, but a 1925 New York Times article reports his daughter's estate was worth $471,270 — $8.8 million today.
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