Here’s Why CNN’s Anderson Cooper Won’t Leave Inheritance For His Son

American journalist and author Anderson Cooper has a net worth of $50 million, but he does not plan to leave much of it to his son.

The CNN anchor is earning $12 million per year, as per Celebrity Net Worth, making him one of the highest-paid newsmen in the country.

Cooper welcomed Wyatt Morgan, his son with his ex-partner Benjamin Maisan, whom they had via surrogate, in April 2020.

In September, the 54-year-old anchor said in Air Mail’s podcast that he will follow his parents’ advice of not leaving his son a “pot of gold,” but he will pay for his college.

He told Howard Stern in 2014 that growing up, his mother Gloria Vanderbilt made it clear to him that “there is no trust fund." He also said he would not have been so motivated if he knew that a massive fortune will be handed to him.

A few weeks after the death of his mother in 2019, it was revealed that she had left the majority of her estate to her son, but this was denied by Cooper.

In his 2021 book, "Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty," Cooper claimed that there was no meaningful Vanderbilt family fortune left at the end of his mother's life.

His mother’s father, Reginald Vanderbilt, was the great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the creator of the railroad empire and one of America's first millionaires.

Reports stated that when Cornelius died in 1877, he had an inflation-adjusted net worth of $185 billion, which was enough to make him one of the wealthiest people of all time.

Cooper’s net worth is largely derived from his career in journalism, which dates back to 1992.

He joined CNN in 2001, anchoring alongside Paula Zahn on "American Morning." In 2002, he became CNN's weekend prime-time anchor.

His own show, "Anderson Cooper 360," began in 2003.

Aside from his broadcasting career, Cooper also made money through writing. He has authored a variety of articles as a freelance writer.

His memoir, "Dispatches from the Edge," was published in May 2006 by HarperCollins, and it topped The New York Times Best Seller list in June that year.

Cooper owns a beach house in the Brazilian town of Trancoso, as well as a renovated former firehouse in New York's Greenwich Village that he bought for $4.3 million in 2010.