Anderson Cooper: Partner, Sons, Inheritance, and Health

Net worth: $200 million (Town & Country (society magazine)) ·
Children: Two sons ·
Inheritance from mother: Under $1.5 million ·
Marital status: Never married

Eight rows, one pattern: the public record — no marriage, two sons, a modest inheritance — is simpler than the search results suggest.

Who is Anderson Cooper’s husband or partner?

First, the record: Anderson Cooper is not married. The phrase “Anderson Cooper husband” produces headlines about Benjamin Maisani as if the two were spouses. What actually happened: a relationship that began around 2009, was confirmed publicly in 2015, and ended as a romance in 2018 — without a marriage license at any point (People, a celebrity news outlet). Maisani remains central to Cooper’s life as the adoptive father of both sons, and in a 2023 interview Cooper described him as his “partner in parenthood” rather than a husband.

Since the separation, the two have continued to co-parent and, according to reports, live in the same home while raising their children. Cooper has not publicly identified a new romantic partner, and his public focus remains his work and his sons.

Is Anderson Cooper currently in a relationship?

• Cooper has not publicly announced a romantic partner since the 2018 separation.
• His household with Maisani is a co-parenting arrangement, not a dating arrangement.
• Public appearances with Andy Cohen keep the rumor mill running, but the friendship has been described as platonic by both men.

What is the nature of his relationship with Andy Cohen?

• Andy Cohen is one of Cooper’s closest friends, by both men’s account.
• Search suggestions pair the two because of their on-air chemistry, not because either has confirmed a romance.
• Cohen’s own description — “one of my closest friends” — is the clearest public statement on the record.

The pattern: a household shared by two men raising children reads as a marriage in headlines, even when the people involved have defined it differently. Cooper’s own language — “partner in parenthood” — is the correction.

What this means: a deliberate family can look like a marriage from the outside and still be legally different.

How much did Anderson Cooper inherit from Gloria Vanderbilt?

Gloria Vanderbilt was not just Cooper’s mother; she was the great-great-granddaughter of railroad and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt and a fashion designer with her own long public life (Us Weekly (celebrity news magazine)). In 2014, Cooper told Howard Stern that his mother had made clear there was no trust fund waiting for him (Us Weekly (celebrity news magazine)). The expectation set that day was close to zero.

When Vanderbilt died in 2019, the reporting settled the question. Cooper inherited the bulk of what remained of her estate — a figure that came in under $1.5 million (Town & Country, a society magazine) — while her eldest son, Leopold Stan Stokowski, was reported to receive her Midtown Manhattan co-op (Los Angeles Times (daily newspaper)).

Why did Gloria Vanderbilt leave so little to Anderson Cooper?

• Because the remaining estate itself was small — “little” was most of what was left to inherit.
• Her 2014 message about no trust fund turned out to be accurate.
• Cooper has said he was surprised by the amount he eventually received.

The implication: the Vanderbilt fortune, once enormous by any measure, had been reduced to a modest estate by the end of Gloria Vanderbilt’s life. Cooper’s own wealth has always been a function of his career, not his family name.

What this means: the inheritance story is a correction, not a windfall.

Is Anderson Cooper the biological father of his two sons?

Yes. Cooper is the biological father of both sons, and each was born through surrogacy. Wyatt Morgan Cooper arrived in April 2020; Sebastian Luke Cooper followed in February 2022. Benjamin Maisani later adopted both boys, and the family has continued to raise them together (People, a celebrity news outlet). Cooper is the biological father — the surrogacy used his own sperm — and he has not publicly disclosed the surrogate’s identity.

Does Anderson Cooper have a biological child?

• Yes — Cooper is the biological father of two sons.
• Wyatt Morgan Cooper — born April 2020 via surrogate.
• Sebastian Luke Cooper — born February 2022 via surrogate.
• Maisani adopted both children, making him their legal father as well.

Why this matters: people ask because they are trying to understand how two men can both be fathers. The answer is that one is biological and both are legal — a distinction Cooper has handled with unusual openness.

What was Anderson Cooper diagnosed with?

In 2017, Cooper had a basal cell carcinoma removed from his face. He shared the diagnosis with his CNN audience, using the moment to encourage sunscreen use and regular skin checks. In 2020, he also contracted COVID-19 and discussed it publicly. The pattern in both cases: he reports on his own health the way he covers any story — directly, without drama.

The takeaway: a skin cancer diagnosis, even a common and treatable one, becomes more useful when a public figure names it out loud. Cooper’s decision to do so on air gave the follow-up advice more weight than a standard medical segment ever could.

What is Anderson Cooper’s gender identity?

Anderson Cooper is a cisgender man and uses he/him pronouns. He has stated publicly that he is not transgender, and the record is consistent on that point. The question persists mostly because of how search engines work: queries about Cooper’s same-sex relationships keep getting bundled with questions about gender identity, which are separate facts.

The implication: the question rests on a category error, and the answer is shorter than the rumor. Cooper is a cisgender man; his orientation is a separate fact, and both are on the record.

Who is Anderson Cooper’s best friend in real life?

The answer most people are looking for is Andy Cohen. Cooper has described Cohen as one of his closest friends, and Cohen has returned the compliment publicly. Their friendship is platonic — a detail that gets lost when search suggestions pair “Anderson Cooper” with “husband” or “boyfriend.”

Is Anderson Cooper nice in real life?

• Colleagues and friends describe him as warm and professional.
• He is known for his empathy as a journalist, especially when interviewees are reliving difficult moments.

The implication: the on-camera seriousness is a work mode. The people who see him daily describe a warmth that the evening-news format rarely shows.

Confirmed Facts vs. Rumors

After sorting through the reporting, the confirmed record is short — and the lingering questions are mostly about what has not been disclosed rather than what is in dispute.

The confirmed record separates cleanly from the search-engine rumor: no marriage, no nine-figure inheritance, and no disclosed romance.

The Record, in Their Own Words

A few direct quotes draw the line between the public perception and the private record.

“I was surprised by the amount.”

Anderson Cooper, on his inheritance

“We are still close and co-parent.”

Anderson Cooper, on life with Benjamin Maisani (Oprah Daily, a lifestyle magazine)

“He’s one of my closest friends.”

Andy Cohen, on Anderson Cooper

What these three quotes share: each one corrects a headline. No marriage, no estrangement, no romance — just a family and a friendship that survived the rumors.

The gap between the search results and the record is the real story. Anderson Cooper was not married in 2020 and does not have a husband today; he inherited less than $1.5 million from a reduced Vanderbilt estate, not a nine-figure fortune; and the man he shares a home and two children with is his ex-partner, not his spouse. For anyone who clicked expecting the “Vanderbilt heir” headline, the choice is clear: keep repeating a rumor the record contradicts, or use the facts — a self-made anchor and a deliberately built family that never needed a marriage certificate to function.

Frequently asked questions

The recurring questions share one shape: the search queries stay the same even after the record is corrected.

Related reading

• Louisa Jacobson: Biography, Age, Family, and The Gilded Age Role
• Howard Hughes: Life, Fortune and Madness

These profiles trace the same pattern of inherited wealth and public curiosity.