If history is any indication, most inherited fortunes tend to evaporate within a few generations. Here are a few of the more famous mega-wads gone down the tubes:
如果说历史可以为鉴，那么可以预见，大多数被继承的财富可能会在几代人之内蒸发。以下列举了几个知名的、但已经败落的昔日的巨富家族：
THE VANDERBILTS
范德比尔特家族
Where the $ came from: Shipping and Railroads
财富来源：航运及铁路
'Commodore' Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) amassed more than $100 billion (in today's dollars). His early heirs went hog-wild building baronial estates like The Biltmore, a 250-room French-style chateau in North Carolina. But by 1973, according to one biographer, a reunion of 120 Vanderbilt descendants included not a single millionaire.
按今天的美元币值计算，康内留斯•范德比尔特(Cornelius Vanderbilt，绰号"准将"，1794-1877)积聚的财富超过1,000亿美元。他的早期后人发了疯一样地修建富丽堂皇的住宅，拥有250个房间的北卡罗来纳州法式庄园"比尔特摩"(The Biltmore)便是其一。然而据一位传记作家说，到1973年，120名范氏后裔聚会时没有任何一位是拥有百万身家的。
HUNTINGTON HARTFORD II
亨廷顿•哈特福德二世
Where the $ came from: A&P
财富来源：A&P超市
Blowing through hundreds of millions, this grocery heir died at 97. Among his lost 'investments': a self-named Manhattan art museum ($7.4 million), a 145-acre California artist colony, and a Bahamian resort development complete with an imported medievalcloister and gold-plated bathroom fixtures (estimate: $20 to $30 million).
花光数亿美元的财富之后，超市业继承人亨廷顿•哈特福德二世(Huntington Hartford II)以97岁的高龄去世。打了水漂的"投资"包括：曼哈顿一座以他自己的名字命名的艺术博物馆（740万美元），加州一处145英亩（约合59公顷）的艺术村，以及巴哈马一个度假村项目。这个度假村项目中有一道从国外搬过来的中世纪回廊，还有金子做成的卫生洁具，估计耗资2,000万美元到3,000万美元。
BARBARA WOOLWORTH HUTTON
芭芭拉•伍尔沃斯•赫顿
Where the $ came from: Five-and-dime stores
财富来源：Five-and-dime商店
The casual philanthropist and so-called 'poor little rich girl' blew through as much as half a billion (in today's dollars), splurging on art, jewelry (including historic pieces once belonging to Marie Antoinette) and seven husbands. She died nearly broke, with a reported net worth of just $3,500.
大手大脚的慈善家、"可怜的富家女孩"芭芭拉•伍尔沃斯•赫顿(Barbara Woolworth Hutton)把大笔金钱花在艺术品、珠宝（包括曾经属于玛丽•安托瓦内特(Marie Antoinette)、具有历史意义的那些珠宝）和七任丈夫身上。按今天的美元币值计算，她挥霍掉的财富达五亿美元。临死时她差不多已经破产，据报道说，那时她的个人净值仅剩3,500美元。
MISSY SULLIVAN
- indication [,indi´keiʃən]
n.指示；征兆，迹象 (初中英语单词) - shipping [´ʃipiŋ] n.船运业；船舶(总数) (初中英语单词)
- california [,kæli´fɔ:njə] n.加利福尼亚 (初中英语单词)
- resort [ri´zɔ:t] vi.求助；乞灵；诉诸 (初中英语单词)
- billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
- grocery [´grəusəri] n.食品杂货店 (高中英语单词)
- casual [´kæʒuəl] a.偶然的；临时的 (高中英语单词)
- so-called [´sou ´kɔ:ld] a.所谓的，号称的 (高中英语单词)
- jewelry [´dʒu:əlri] n.珠宝(饰物) (高中英语单词)
- historic [his´tɔrik] a.有历史意义的 (高中英语单词)
- evaporate [i´væpəreit] vt.蒸发；消失 (英语四级单词)
- chateau [´ʃætəu] n.城堡；公馆，邸宅 (英语四级单词)
- manhattan [mæn´hætən] n.曼哈顿 (英语四级单词)
- medieval [,medi´i:vəl] a.中古的；中世纪的 (英语四级单词)
- cloister [´klɔistə] n.修道院；隐居处 (英语四级单词)
- bathroom [´bɑ:θrum, -ru:m] n.浴室；盥洗室 (英语四级单词)
- biographer [bai´ɔgrəfə] n.传记作家 (英语六级单词)
- reunion [ri:´ju:njən] n.再结合；再联合；团聚 (英语六级单词)
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