Van Rensselaer was the last in a line of aristocrats that had been given vast land grants in the New World under Dutch colonial rule. At one point he controlled over a million acres in New York State and had up to 100,000 tenants living on his land. He's the only member on this list to entirely inherit his fortune.

But Van Rensselaer was a progressive at heart, and let much of the rent owed to him slide. He also divided his estate among his 10 children instead of granting it all to his eldest son, which was the custom at the time.

In addition to founding Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he also helped finance work on the Erie Canal, commanded 6,000 men during the War of 1812, and was a U.S. Congressman.