Part 2/11:
In the late 19th century, William Suyard Vanderbilt Jr. and Lilian Vanderbilt, descended from prominent American families, embarked on an ambitious journey. William Vanderbilt was born into a prominent New York family in 1851, the son of diplomat James Watson Vanderbilt. Initially trained as a physician, Vanderbilt studied medicine in Vienna and Paris, but his destiny pulled him into the world of business and railroad development. His marriage to Lilian Vanderbilt, the youngest daughter of William H. Vanderbilt—who had significantly expanded the Vanderbilt fortune through railroad investments—cemented their place among America's wealthiest.