Phillips joked that there was an easy way to get rid of his excess money. “No, there ain't,” Vanderbilt replied, “for what you have got isn't worth anything unless you have got the power; and if you give away the surplus you give away the control.” Vanderbilt looked beyond his son to build a foundation for the dynasty's third generation, by assigning tens of thousands of Harlem and Central shares to William's four sons, Cornelius, William K., George W, and Frederick W. He also brought William K. onto the Central board in place of the disgraced James Banker.
