Rockefeller

Rockefeller, can refer to the United States industrialist, John D. Rockefeller, who made a fortune in the oil business. He gave half of his fortune away to charity, and lived between 1839-1937.

John D. Rockefeller 1917 painting

Early Life

• Rockefeller had begun to work as a book-keeper or accountant and he liked the job.
• However, he was interested in starting a business so wanted to learn everything he possibly could by reading books.

Rockefeller Center in New York City (New York, USA)

Beginning

• John started a produce business with Maurice Clark, one of his friends and the business was an automatic success.
• At that time, oil was getting popular, so Rockefeller decided to start an oil business.
• The commonly used oil at that time was whale oil, but he believed that whales were being over hunted and getting the oil was expensive.

Venture in to oil business

• He then invested in kerosene which was drilled out of the earth, and with the help of his friend Maurice Clark they started a company called Rockefeller and Andrews.
• Rockefeller formed another company called Standard Oil in 1870.

John D. Rockefeller

Monopoly

• He began to buy out his competitors and make improvements because he wanted to control all of the businesses in the world (this is called monopoly).
• He would tell them that they could either sell out to him for a good price or he would run them out of business, but most of his competitors decided to sell to him.

Antitrust laws

• People felt that Standard Oil's advantage on the oil business was unfair, so they began to issue laws to try to increase competition, but they didn't work.
• In 1890, the U.S. government passed the Sherman Antitrust Act to prevent companies from unfair practices.
• Finally, in 1911, the company was found guilty of breaking the antitrust laws and Rockefeller’s company was divided up into many different smaller companies.

World's first billionaire

• Rockefeller was declared as the world’s first billionaire and was worth a fortune so many believed that he was the richest man ever in history.
• Rockefellers networth in 2020 According to the USA today, John D. Rockefeller's net worth peaked at nearly $285 billion when adjusted to 2020 dollars.

Donations to charity

Fortunately, Rockefeller donated most of his wealth to medical research, education, science, and the arts.

Also see

• Wikipedia's article
• Biography
• PBS

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