Gloria Vanderbilt Left No Trust Fund For Anderson Cooper—And He Says He Is Okay With That

CNN personality Anderson Cooper has made it clear that he has always been content making his own way in life, as well as his own money. As it turns out, that is a good thing, as it would seem he is not in his late mother’s will.

Cooper, 52 years old, is the son of the world-renowned artist and heiress Gloria Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt reportedly passed on Monday, after losing a courageous battle to stomach cancer. Given that the elder Vanderbilt was wealthy, from both her inheritance from her late father and heir to a railroad fortune as well as her own business ventures, Cooper knew up front that there would be no inheriting a trust fund upon his mother’s death.

In an interview in 2014 on the Howard Stern Sirius XM Show, Cooper stated: “My mom’s made clear to me there’s no trust fund. There’s none of that.” He went on to say he was doing fine on his own, and that he didn’t need a trust fund.

Cooper then proceeded to explain why he didn’t mind that his mother was not choosing to leave him the Vanderbilt fortune. He stated that he quite simply did not believe in inheriting money. Cooper referred to it as what he called an initiative sucker, and also a curse. He also stated that while growing up, if he thought that there was money waiting for him, he wasn’t sure he would actually have been that motivated to succeed.

Cooper also pointed out that what many people never knew is that his mother made much more money by herself than she ever did inherit. He went on to state: “We believe in working. She’s the coolest person I know. She really is.”

Through the years, Vanderbilt made it perfectly clear, on many occasions that she valued making her own money. In an interview with the New York Times, dated in 1985, she emphasized that she was in no way mocking those who inherited wealth, just that money she made herself had a given amount of reality that inherited money never did or would have.

In his on-air eulogy to his mother, Cooper touched on much of her complicated past. He also stated that much of his mother’s life was lived in the public eye. She was born into money, and as a result, ended up dealing with all the failings that seem to be associated with her particular station in life. In the end, “she worked to make a name for herself, and make something of her life, and to find the family that she so desperately craved.”

So, what’s the verdict—you decide.

Was the fact that she did not provide a trust fund for her son make into the man he is today—one that she could be proud of?