Warning: SPOILERS for The Gilded Age Episode 2 - "Money Isn't Everything"
George Russell (Morgan Spector) makes an ostentatious display of his wealth at the end of The Gilded Age episode 2, which gives a hint of how rich the railroad tycoon really is. The Gilded Age is set in New York City in 1882 and the Russells are the wealthiest of the New Money families trying to stake their claim in the city's exclusive high society known as the Four Hundred. Yet their entry is barred by the members of Old New York like Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski), her niece, Aurora Fane (Kelli O'Hara), and Anne Morris (Katie Finneran). Yet none of Old New York's families have the financial resources of George, a self-made made who accumulated his fortune through his ruthless business acumen rather than inheritance.
Considering how obsessed The Gilded Age is with money, one would think George and Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) would qualify for automatic entry into New York's high society but it's actually the opposite. Old New York is vehemently opposed to anyone who doesn't come from the proper breeding, which is, specifically, the families who came to and helped build Manhattan in the 17th century. New Money like the Russells are despised and ostracized as a threat to the established power structure, but much of that fear is well-founded because robber barons like George Russell, and real-life multimillionaires like the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers actually represent the future, which means to demolish the old system of high society. In The Gilded Age episode 2, Bertha is deeply insulted when Mrs. Fane and Mrs. Morris opt to use the Fifth Avenue Hotel for their fundraiser to benefit war widows instead of the Russells' opulent ballroom on Fifth Avenue and 61st Street because allowing the Russells to host would mean "owing them." George rises in defense of his beloved wife and he shuts down the fundraiser before it even begins by buying the entire inventory of the event.
The way George Russell flashed his cash in The Gilded Age episode 2 is a glimpse into his true wealth, which left their enemies at the fundraiser slack-jawed. After learning that each stall hoped to raise $30-50, George paid each $100 to buy everything on sale and to close immediately. Adjusting for inflation, $30 is worth about $820 in 2022, while $50 equals $1,366.88. Mr. Russell's $100 is worth $2,733.35 in 2022, but considering he paid $100 to every stall, and there were approximately 10 stalls at the fundraiser, George shelled out about $1,000, amounting to $27,333.53 today. As George boasted, the fundraiser just became the most successful one ever held thanks to his "generosity." Judging from their reactions, none of Old New York's fortunes held a candle to the Russells'.
In contrast to George's wealth, Mrs. Bauer (Kristine Nielsen), Agnes van Rhijn's maid, owed $50 in gambling debts. Worth $1,366.88 in 1882, $50 is a devastating sum to owe when an industrial worker made between $380 to $564 annually. Indeed, Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), was only left with $30 to her name when her father died, which is why she had to move in with her aunts Agnes and Ada (Cynthia Nixon). Marian asked her cousin Oscar van Rhijn (Blake Ritson) for the money to help Mrs. Bauer but it was Ada who provided the $50 to pay off the maid's gambling debt.
Owing $50 was literally a threat to Mrs. Bauer's life, and she initially resorted to stealing candlesticks from the van Rhijns to pay off the debt, which would have gotten her fired and left destitute. Yet $50 is a drop in the bucket to George Russell, who already tried to put a competing railroad out of business and is pressuring the city alderman to change the laws so Russell Consolidated Trust can build a new railroad station in New York City. The Gilded Age is a stark contrast of the haves and have-nots, and George Russell is definitely one of the 'haves," at least in terms of money. Yet what Bertha Russell doesn't have and wants most is status in high society. So far, not even George Russell's staggering wealth has been able to buy their entry.
The Gilded Age airs Mondays @ 9pm on HBO and streams on HBO Max.