The fur-trade-and-real-estate dynasty that built America's first great fortune and ruled New York society.
John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant, built a fortune first in the fur trade and then in Manhattan real estate, becoming the first multi-millionaire in the United States.
His descendants dominated New York high society for generations, built the Waldorf-Astoria, and endowed the Astor Library (a foundation of the New York Public Library). John Jacob Astor IV died aboard the Titanic in 1912.
The Astors set the template for American dynastic wealth and society, and their name still marks hotels, neighborhoods, and institutions in New York and beyond.
The family's philanthropy helped seed the New York Public Library.
The Astor family is based in New York. America's original moneyed dynasty; the name endures on hotels and landmarks
1780s.
John Jacob Astor — fur and real-estate magnate; first U.S. multi-millionaire
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