Anderson Cooper has revealed that he doesn't intend on leaving his wealth to his son, Wyatt Morgan, despite having an estimated $200 million net worth.
Cooper, who shares his 17-month-old son with his ex-partner Benjamin Maisani, spoke about his views on inheritance while promoting his new book on the Morning Meeting podcast.
The book, titled Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty, is about past generations of his family.
And on the topic of his family, the 54-year-old CNN journalist told hosts Ashley Baker and Michael Hainey that he doesn't "believe in passing on huge amounts of money" to younger generations - even his own son, whom he welcomed via surrogate in April 2020.
He said: "I don’t know what I’ll have. I’m not that interested in money, but I don’t intend to have some sort of pot of gold for my son. I’ll go with what my parents said … 'College will be paid for, and then you gotta get on it.'"
In 2014, Cooper told Howard Stern of his own inheritance, stating: "My mom's made clear to me that there's no trust fund, there's none of that."
He also told the radio host: "I don’t believe in inheriting money… I think it’s a curse... From the time I was growing up, if I felt like there was some pot of gold waiting for me, I don't know if I would have been so motivated."
However, Page Six reports that when his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt died at the age of 95 back in 2019, she did leave Cooper $1.5 million - which is a small amount relative to Cooper's own wealth.
His mother was born into one of the wealthiest families in the US.
The great-great-granddaughter of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, who accumulated his fortune from building a railroad empire - Gloria was born with a trust fund worth about $35 million in today's money, according to Forbes. She then went on to spearhead her own fashion empire, adding to her already immense riches.
In related news, James Bond actor Daniel Craig also revealed recently that he doesn't believe in inheritances.
The father-of-two said: "I don't want to leave great sums to the next generation. I think inheritance is quite distasteful. My philosophy is get rid of it or give it away before you go."
