Old money is "the inherited wealth of established upper-class families (i.e. gentry, patriciate)" or "a person, family, or lineage possessing inherited wealth". It is a social class of the rich who have been able to maintain their wealth over multiple generations, often referring to perceived members of the de facto aristocracy in societies that historically lack an officially established aristocratic class (such as the United States), in contrast with new money whose wealth has been acquired within its own generation.

Wealth and class

Wealth—assets held by an individual or by a household—provides an important dimension of social stratification because it can pass from generation to generation, ensuring that a family's offspring will remain financially stable. Families with "old money" use accumulated assets or savings to bridge interruptions in income, thus guarding against downward social mobility. "Old money" applies to those of the upper class whose wealth separates them from lower social classes.

United States

According to anthropologist W. Lloyd Warner, the upper class in the United States during the 1930s was divided into the upper-upper and the lower-upper classes. The lower-upper were those who did not come from traditionally wealthy families. They earned their money from investments and business, rather than inheritance. Examples include John D. Rockefeller, whose father was a traveling peddler; Cornelius Vanderbilt, whose father operated a ferry in New York Harbor; Henry Flagler, who was the son of a Presbyterian minister; and Andrew Carnegie, who was the son of a Scottish weaver. In contrast to the nouveau riche, whose riches were acquired in their own generation, the upper-upper class were families viewed as "quasi-aristocratic" and "high society". These families had been rich and prominent in the politics of the United States for generations. In many cases, their prominence predated the American Revolution (1765–1783), when their ancestors had accumulated fortunes as members of the elite planter class, or as merchants, slave traders, ship-owners, or fur traders. In many cases, especially in Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas, the source of these families' wealth were vast tracts of land granted to their ancestors by the Crown or acquired by headright during the colonial period. These planter class families were often related to each other through intermarriage for more than 300 years, and are sometimes known as American gentry. They produced several Founding Fathers of the United States and a number of early presidents of the United States. After the American Civil War (1861–1865), many in the upper-upper class saw their wealth greatly reduced. Their slaves became freedmen. Union forces under Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip Sheridan had also cut wide swaths of destruction through portions of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. They destroyed crops, killed or confiscated livestock, burned barns and gristmills, and in some cases torched plantation houses and even entire cities such as Atlanta. They were using scorched earth tactics, designed to starve the Confederate States of America into submission. After the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1865) and the emancipation of the slaves, many plantations were converted to sharecropping. African American freedmen were working as sharecroppers on the same land which they had worked as slaves before the war. Despite the fact that their circumstances were greatly reduced, the enactment of Jim Crow laws and the disenfranchisement of freed black people allowed many planter class families in the Southern United States to regain their political prominence, if not their great wealth, following Reconstruction (1863–1877). In the early 20th century, the upper-upper class were seen as more prestigious than the nouveau riche even if the nouveau riche had more wealth. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, the nouveau rich flaunted their wealth by building Gilded Age mansions that emulated the palaces of European royalty, while old money was more conservative. American "Old money" families tend to adhere to various Mainline Protestant denominations; Episcopalians and Presbyterians are the most prevalent among them.

Early Colonial

Late Colonial

Early National Era

Although many "old money" individuals do not rank as high on the list of Forbes 400 richest Americans as their ancestors did, their wealth continues to grow. Many families increased their holdings by investment strategies such as the pooling of resources. For example, the Rockefeller family's estimated net worth of $1 billion in the 1930s grew to $8.5 billion by 2000—that is, not adjusted for inflation. In 60 years, four of the richest families in the United States increased their combined $2–4 billion in 1937 to $38 billion without holding large shares in emerging industries. When adjusted for inflation, the actual dollar wealth of many of these families has shrunk since the '30s. From a private wealth manager's perspective, "old money" can be classified into two: active "old money" and passive "old money". The former includes inheritors who, despite the inherited wealth at their disposal or that which they can access in the future, choose to pursue their own career or set up their own businesses. Paris Hilton and Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou did this. On the other hand, passive "old money" are the idle rich or those who are not wealth producers. "Old money" contrasts with the nouveau riche and parvenus. These fall under the category "new money" (those not from traditionally wealthy families).

Europe

The Rothschild family, as an example, established finance houses across Europe from the 18th century and was ennobled by the Habsburg emperor and Queen Victoria. Throughout the 19th century, they controlled the largest fortune in the world, in today's terms many hundreds of billions. The family has, at least to some extent, maintained its wealth for over two centuries. On the other hand, in Britain, the term generally exclusively refers to the nobility - that is, the peerage and landed gentry - who traditionally live off the land inherited paternally. The British concept is analogous to good lineage and it is not uncommon to find someone with "old money" who is actually poor or insolvent. By 2001, however, those belonging to this category—the aristocratic landowners—are still part of the wealthiest list in the United Kingdom. For instance, the Duke of Westminster, by way of his Grosvenor estate, owns large swaths of properties in London that include 200 acres of Belgravia and 100 acres of Mayfair. There is also the case of Viscount Portman, who is the owner of 100 acres of land north of Oxford Street. Many countries had wealth-based restrictions on voting. In France, out of a nation of 27 million people, only 80,000 to 90,000 were allowed to vote in the 1820 French legislative election and the richest one-quarter of them had two votes.

United States