"You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I'll ruin you."
— Cornelius Vanderbilt
You Have Undertaken To Cheat Me
You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I'll ruin you.
About this quote
This warning is widely cited in Vanderbilt biographies and is attributed to a letter he sent to former associates who had attempted to take control of a steamship line from him during his absence in Europe in the early 1850s. Vanderbilt followed through, spending years methodically ruining the men involved. Whether the letter is verbatim or paraphrase remains contested by historians, but the episode itself is well documented.
Source
Attributed letter to associates, widely reported in Vanderbilt biographies
