Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. John Jacob Astor built his fortune in the fur business and New York real estate. John Jacob Astor III and William Backhouse Astor ...
When William Waldorf Astor died in 1919, he owned more New York City real estate than any other one person—something in the vicinity of $60,000,000 worth —a fortune founded in the fur business ...