The Gilded Age 's George Russell is an amalgam of a handful of real-life robber barons, primarily Jay Gould. George is tested like never before in The Gilded Age season 3. George nearly lost his fortune, and Mr. Russell even survived an assassination attempt .

Mr. Russell's main inspiration, Jay Gould, was a self-made millionaire who butted heads with the old money establishment led by Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy). Mrs. Astor's Four Hundred was an exclusive group of legacy wealth carefully curated by the real-life Ward McAllister (Nathan Lane).

Mrs. Astor did not approve of Jay Gould or his ways and refused to acknowledge them as her equals. It wasn't until much later that Mrs. Astor finally allowed the Gould family into high society.

This resembles the trajectory of George's wife,

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