Who was the richest passenger aboard Titanic?

The richest passenger aboard Titanic was John Jacob Astor IV. An American business magnate, real-estate developer, and member of the prominent Astor family, he was estimated to be worth about $87 million when he died in 1912.

Astor and his pregnant 18-year-old wife, Madeleine, boarded Titanic at Cherbourg, France, in first class. They were returning to the United States because Madeleine wanted their child to be born there. The couple traveled with servants and Astor’s Airedale terrier, Kitty.

Astor was 47 when Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912. He helped Madeleine into a lifeboat but did not survive. His body was recovered later, and his estate was valued at nearly $87 million—an enormous fortune for the period. His son, William Vincent Astor, inherited most of it.

J. P. Morgan is a common mix-up because he controlled the International Mercantile Marine, which owned White Star Line, but he was not aboard Titanic. Isidor Straus and Benjamin Guggenheim were also wealthy first-class passengers, yet Astor was generally identified as the ship’s wealthiest passenger.