Anderson Cooper: The CNN Anchor Who Built His Own Name Beyond the Vanderbilt Legacy

Anderson Cooper has spent more than three decades reporting from war zones, disaster sites, and CNN’s anchor desk, building a career defined by on-the-ground journalism rather than the storied family name he was born into. As the longtime host of “Anderson Cooper 360°,” he has become one of American television’s most recognizable news anchors, while also opening up publicly about grief, loss, and his own path to fatherhood.

Here’s a closer look at his career, family history, and where he stands today.

Who Is Anderson Cooper?

Anderson Hays Cooper was born June 3, 1967, in Manhattan, New York City. He is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator who has anchored CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360°” since September 2003. He is a member of the Vanderbilt family, the son of writer Wyatt Emory Cooper and artist Gloria Vanderbilt, and a descendant of business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Cooper has won 18 Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, and an Edward R. Murrow Award over his career, and in 2012 became widely recognized as one of the most prominent openly gay journalists on American television.

Early Life and Family

Cooper’s father, Wyatt, died in 1978 during open-heart surgery when Cooper was 10 years old. When Cooper was 21, his older brother, Carter Vanderbilt Cooper, died by suicide in 1988. Both losses profoundly shaped Cooper’s life and, later, his journalism; he has said his brother’s death sparked his early interest in the field, pushing him to understand questions of survival and loss.

As a child, Cooper had an unusually public early life: he was photographed as a baby by renowned photographer Diane Arbus, appeared on “The Tonight Show” at age three, and modeled for Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Macy’s between the ages of 10 and 13. He attended the Dalton School in Manhattan and, after graduating early, spent several months traveling through Africa, where he contracted malaria.

Education

Cooper attended Yale University, where he majored in political science, was a coxswain on the lightweight rowing team, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1989. During college, he spent two summers as an intern at the Central Intelligence Agency.

Career Timeline

Early War Reporting

After struggling to land an entry-level job at ABC, Cooper began working as a fact-checker for Channel One News, a youth-oriented news service. Determined to report firsthand, he used a friend’s help to create a press pass and traveled to Myanmar alone to cover student uprisings against the government. He went on to live in Vietnam for a year studying the language, then reported from Somalia, Bosnia, and Rwanda in the early 1990s, covering some of the decade’s most difficult conflicts and humanitarian crises firsthand.

ABC News (1995–2000)

Cooper joined ABC News as a correspondent in 1995, eventually becoming co-anchor of the overnight program “World News Now” in 1999. In 2000, he shifted paths to host the reality competition series “The Mole,” later saying he wanted a change of pace after years of demanding overnight news shifts.

CNN (2001–Present)

Cooper joined CNN in 2001, initially anchoring “American Morning” alongside Paula Zahn before becoming the network’s weekend primetime anchor in 2002. On September 8, 2003, he became anchor of “Anderson Cooper 360°,” a role he has held ever since. His live coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — including his on-air confrontations with politicians over the government’s disaster response — became a defining moment of his career and significantly raised his national profile.

Cooper has covered major global events including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, for which he received Haiti’s National Order of Honour and Merit, and numerous elections and international crises. From 2011 to 2013, he also hosted the syndicated daytime talk show “Anderson Live.” In 2016, alongside Martha Raddatz, he moderated a presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, becoming the first openly LGBT person to moderate a general election presidential debate. In 2023, he launched the CNN Sunday newsmagazine “The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper.”

60 Minutes (2006–2026)

Cooper joined CBS News’ “60 Minutes” as a correspondent during its 2006–2007 season, reporting stories for the program while continuing his full-time role at CNN. In February 2026, Cooper announced he was leaving “60 Minutes” after nearly two decades, citing a desire to spend more time with his young children. He had signed a new multi-year contract with CNN in December 2025, ensuring his continued role there across his primetime show, Sunday newsmagazine, and podcast work.

Personal Life

Cooper came out publicly as gay in July 2012, in a widely covered email to writer Andrew Sullivan, after years of not discussing his personal life in interviews. He was previously in a long-term relationship with Benjamin Maisani; the two purchased a historic Connecticut estate together in 2014 before splitting in 2018. Cooper and Maisani remain close and co-parent Cooper’s two sons: Wyatt Morgan Cooper, born via surrogate in April 2020, and Sebastian Luke Maisani-Cooper, born in February 2022.

In 2022, Cooper launched a podcast called “All There Is,” exploring grief and loss through conversations with guests including Stephen Colbert and Molly Shannon, drawing directly on his own experiences losing his father, brother, and later his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, who died in 2019. The podcast won a Webby Award in 2023.

Books

Cooper is the author of several books, including the memoir “Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival” (2006), which topped The New York Times Best Seller list. In 2017, he and his mother co-authored “The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss,” compiled from emails between them. He later co-authored two family-history books with Katherine Howe: “Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty” (2021) and “Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune” (2023).

Where Is Anderson Cooper Now?

Anderson Cooper continues to anchor “Anderson Cooper 360°” on CNN, along with “The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper” and his podcast “All There Is,” having stepped away from “60 Minutes” in 2026 to focus more time on his family.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Anderson Cooper related to the Vanderbilt family? Yes, his mother was artist Gloria Vanderbilt, and he is a descendant of business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt.

What show does Anderson Cooper host? He anchors “Anderson Cooper 360°” on CNN, as well as the Sunday newsmagazine “The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper.”

Did Anderson Cooper leave “60 Minutes”? Yes, he departed as a correspondent in 2026 after nearly two decades, citing a desire to spend more time with his children, while remaining at CNN.

Does Anderson Cooper have children? Yes, he has two sons, Wyatt and Sebastian, both born via surrogate and co-parented with his former partner, Benjamin Maisani.

What awards has Anderson Cooper won? He has won 18 Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, and an Edward R. Murrow Award, among other journalism honors.