Autobiography of Rockefeller. The story of a millionaire. John Rockefeller (John Davison Rockefeller). John Rockefeller: interesting facts
Today I will tell you about how I made my fortune - the first dollar billionaire, the richest man in the world in the history of mankind. To this day, the name of this man is a symbol of wealth. John Davison Rockefeller lived in the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th century, but still heads.
The first billionaire of our time, the leader - Bill Gates lags behind him in terms of financial status by more than 4 times! Biography and success story of John Rockefeller, the most interesting facts from life in today's publication on Financial Genius.
John Rockefeller: biography. Childhood.
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (later he had a son with the same name) was born in 1839 in Richford, New York. His parents were very religious (Protestants), the family was large: a total of 6 children were born, of whom John Rockefeller was the second. John's father had a small capital, but often left for long periods of time, selling elixirs; during these periods, his mother was poor and saved a lot on everything.
From childhood, mother, father and the priest, whom the Rockefeller family often visited, taught their children to take care of personal finances, work and earn money on their own. WITH early years business became one of the main directions of family education for John.
His father often paid him for various services, while bargaining. At a very young age, Rockefeller was already buying a pound of candy, then distributing it into piles and reselling it to his sisters at a higher price. At the age of 7, he began working part-time for his neighbors, digging potatoes for them, and raising turkeys for sale. Since childhood, John Davison Rockefeller wrote down all his income and expenses in a small book, and put all the money he earned into his piggy bank. By the way, he kept and continued to maintain his home accounting, the maintenance of which began from an early age.
At the age of 13, John Rockefeller saved up $50 and lent it to a farmer he knew at 7.5% per annum.
John successfully graduated from school, after which he entered college, which taught the basics of accounting and commerce, but soon decided that he would only waste time there, so he left college and instead completed a three-month accounting course, after which he began.
John Rockefeller: biography. Career and entrepreneurship.
John Rockefeller got his first serious job at the age of 16, after 6 weeks of searching: he first became an assistant accountant in a trading company with a salary of $17, and was soon promoted to an accountant with a salary of $25 a month. Rockefeller proved himself so well in this place that after some time, when the head of the company left his post, John became the manager of this company with a salary of $600. However, Rockefeller did not like the fact that the previous manager was paid $2,000 a month, and he was only paid $600, so he soon quit.
This job became the only place of employment in the biography of John Rockefeller.
In 1857, Rockefeller learned that an entrepreneur from England was looking for a business partner with a capital of $2,000. At that time, he only had $800, but he was inspired by this idea, so he borrowed the missing money from his father at 10% per annum and became the junior co-founder of the Clark and Rochester company, which specialized in the sale of hay, grain, meat and some others goods.
When the company had a need to borrow money to increase working capital, negotiations with the bank were conducted by John Rockefeller: thanks to his sincerity and talent for persuasion, he was able to convince the manager to provide their still young company with a loan in the required amount.
John Davison Rockefeller: oil business.
At the beginning of the 2nd half of the 19th century, kerosene lamps became popular in the United States, which stimulated an increase in demand for the main raw material for their production - oil. During this period, John Davison Rockefeller met practicing chemist Samuel Andrews, who specialized in the processing of petroleum raw materials and predicted a great increase in the popularity of kerosene as a product for lighting. They combined their capital with that of Rockefeller's business partner Clark and created the oil refining company Andrews and Clark.
John Rockefeller saw great prospects for the oil market and tried to persuade Clark to transfer all his available capital to this business. When he still refused, Rockefeller bought out his share in the enterprise for $72,500 and devoted himself entirely to the oil business.
In 1870, John Davison Rockefeller Sr. created his main oil company, Standard Oil, which in the future brought him his main wealth. This company has already carried out a full cycle: from oil production to production and supply of the final product.
At his company, John Rockefeller introduced a non-standard system: instead of wages he paid the employees with company shares, which constantly grew in price and brought good income. It turned out that the employees themselves were interested in doing their work diligently and efficiently: after all, the success of the company depended on this, and therefore the increase in the price of its shares and their personal income.
The Standard Oil company developed rapidly, increasing its turnover, and John Rockefeller began to invest the profits received from its activities in other oil companies. He found an opportunity to dump on the cost of transporting products by agreeing with railway transport companies, which his competitors could not afford. Therefore, Rockefeller presented his competitors with a choice: either merge with him or go bankrupt. So many of them gradually became part of Standard Oil.
In just 10 years, John Rockefeller's company became an almost absolute monopolist in the United States: it concentrated 95% of the country's oil production. After this, Rockefeller raised prices for his products and Standard Oil became the largest oil company in the world.
Another 10 years later, in 1890, an antitrust law was adopted in the United States. At first, the oil tycoon bypassed his norms in every possible way, but when he could no longer resist the authorities, 21 years later, in 1911, he divided his corporation into 34 enterprises, retaining a controlling stake in each of them.
The Standard Oil company brought Rockefeller a profit of $3 million annually (in today's money, that's billions). The corporation's assets included:
– more than 400 enterprises;
– more than 90 miles of railway tracks;
– more than 10 thousand railway tanks;
– 60 oil tankers;
– 150 ships.
The company's share in global oil turnover exceeded 70%.
John Rockefeller: net worth.
Oil tycoon John Rockefeller's fortune was estimated at $1.4 billion, or $318 billion in today's US currency. At the time of his death, Rockefeller's fortune amounted to 1.54% of US GDP, and in 1917 it reached 2.5% of US GDP.
In addition to Standard Oil, John Rockefeller's assets included:
– 16 railway companies;
– 6 steel production companies;
– 9 companies engaged in real estate trading;
– 6 shipping companies;
– 9 banks;
– 3 orange groves.
Rockefeller lived richly, but never focused on his wealth. He had several villas and houses in different states, land plot 273 hectares, private golf course.
John Rockefeller: charity.
From his earliest years, John Rockefeller consistently used 10% of his income to donate to the Baptist Church. Over the course of his life, he transferred more than $100 million there.
In addition, Rockefeller donated about $80 million to the University of Chicago, he also became the founder and sponsor of the New York Institute for Medical Research, and later established the famous Rockefeller Charitable Foundation.
At the end of his life, John Rockefeller gave away about half a billion dollars to charity.
John Rockefeller Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller Jr. is The only son John Rockefeller. He inherited $460 million from his father, and spent about this amount on charity throughout his life. In particular, thanks to his donations, the UN headquarters in New York and the famous Empire Building were built.
John Rockefeller Jr. left behind 5 sons (known as the Rockefeller grandchildren) and a daughter. Each of them has its own story, but all are somehow connected with running a business.
John Rockefeller: interesting facts.
Since childhood, John Rockefeller dreamed of living to be 100 years old and earning 100 thousand dollars, but he only lived to be 97 years old and earned 1.4 billion.
At the age of 96, John Davison Rockefeller received an insurance payout of $5 million as a person who lived to that age. The insurance company estimated the probability of such an “insured event” to occur as 1:100,000, and this was the first such case in the company’s history.
In 1908, John Rockefeller wrote a book, Memoirs, in which he described his life path, your success story. To this day, the Memoirs of John Rockefeller is a very popular book, published many times in huge editions, highly appreciated by readers and critics.
Workers of the Rockefeller company used to scare their children with it: “If you cry, Rockefeller will take you.”
What John Rockefeller was most proud of was not his wealth and achievements, but his morals, which he considered impeccable.
The most famous quotes from John Rockefeller:
– He who works all day has no time to earn money;
– Your well-being depends on your own decisions;
– If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it.
Here it is - the biography and success story of John Rockefeller - the richest man on earth, an oil tycoon.
Stay on, increase your financial literacy, learn to use personal finance competently and effectively, and perhaps someday you too will be able to achieve at least a small fraction of what John Davison Rockefeller achieved in life. See you again!
John Rockefeller is still considered the richest man in US history. As of the 2000s, Forbes magazine estimated his fortune in 2007 equivalent terms at $318 billion, while the largest fortune of that time, Bill Gates, was about $50 billion. John Rockefeller's wealth is legendary. So, in 1917, his fortune amounted to 2.5% of the total US gross product. Rockefeller could easily finance the entire state without being on the verge of ruin. For comparison, a few figures: the entire US federal budget in 1917 was $715 million, and Rockefeller's fortune in the same year is estimated at between $900 and $1 billion;
Many people adored Rockefeller because, being a pious man, he spent a fair share of his income on charity. Really helping both the country and many people who lived in it. At the same time, for many, Rockefeller was associated with the devil, who always took what he needed in business. No matter the situation. It was precisely such a person who could get rich during the oil boom in the United States, which then could only be compared to the gold rush. You could instantly make a fortune and just as quickly lose it.
“Wealth is either a great blessing or a curse.”
Childhood
John Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 in Richford, New York. His father was first a lumberjack, and then a traveling merchant who called himself a “botanical doctor” and sold various elixirs and was rarely at home. According to the recollections of neighbors, John's father was considered a strange man, trying to avoid hard physical labor, although he had a good sense of humor. By nature, William was a risk-taker, which helped him build up the small capital that allowed him to buy a plot of land for $3,100. However, risk-taking coexisted with foresight, so part of the capital was invested in various enterprises. Eliza, John's mother, was a homemaker, a very devout Baptist, and often in poverty because her husband was constantly away for long periods of time and she constantly had to save on everything. She tried not to pay attention to reports of her husband's oddities and adultery. All this contributed to the fact that young John, from childhood, was imbued with faith in God and religious values (thanks to which he became the largest philanthropist of that time). In addition, he made a vow to himself that he would never lead such a wasteful and empty life as his father.
John Rockefeller recalled that from an early age his father told him about the enterprises in which he participated, explained the principles of doing business, he wrote about his father: “He often bargained with me and bought various services from me. He taught me how to buy and sell. My father was simply “training” me to get rich!”
When John was seven years old, he began feeding turkeys for sale and earned extra money by digging potatoes for his neighbors. He recorded all the results of his commercial activities in his little book. He invested all the money he earned in a porcelain piggy bank, and already at the age of 13 he lent $50 to a farmer he knew at the rate of 7.5% per annum. His father's upbringing was continued by his mother, from whom he learned hard work and discipline. Since the family was large, and William Rockefeller’s enterprises did not always end successfully, she often had to save.
“I was brought up on the principle: work and save”
At the age of 13, John went to school in Richford. In his autobiography, he wrote that it was difficult for him to study and he had to study hard to complete his lessons. Rockefeller successfully graduated from high school and entered Cleveland College, where he taught accounting and the basics of commerce, but soon came to the conclusion that three-month accounting courses and a thirst for activity would bring much more than years of college, so he left it.
Labor activity
Since John Rockefeller was the eldest child in the family, already at the age of 16 he went to look for work. By that time, he already knew mathematics quite well, and even completed a three-month course in accounting in Cleveland. However, finding a job was not so easy. 6 weeks of searching were in vain. Until John was finally hired as an accounting assistant at Hewitt and Tuttle. It is worth noting that this was such a time that for the first three months Rockefeller studied rather than worked. That is, he did everything completely free of charge.
However, Rockefeller truly enjoyed his studies. He started his work day at 6:30 am and ended later than 10 pm. John Rockefeller, in general, quickly established himself as a competent professional. And as soon as the manager of the company left his post, John was immediately appointed in his place. True, his salary was set at $600. This greatly offended Rockefeller, since his predecessor received 2000. Because of this, Rockefeller left the company, and this was his only hired job in his biography.
“I never knew who I would end up in this life, but I always knew that I was born for something more.”
Just at this time, the English entrepreneur John Morris Clark was looking for a partner with a capital of $2000 to create a joint business. At that time, Rockefeller had saved up $800, he borrowed the remaining amount from his father at 10% per annum, and on April 27, 1857, he became a junior partner in the Clark and Rochester company, the company traded in hay, grain, meat and other goods. During these years, the southern states declared secession from the Union and the Civil War began, the federal authorities had a need to supply a large army, and to fulfill large-scale food supply orders, the starting capital of $4,000 was not enough, the company needed a loan. Despite the fact that the company was young, Rockefeller managed to produce with his sincerity positive impression to the director of the bank, and he agreed to provide the company with a loan.
“You need to joke and borrow money suddenly.”
In 1864, Rockefeller married teacher Laura Celestina Spelman, whom he met while still a student. Although she was pious, she also had a practical mind. Rockefeller noted: “Without her advice, I would have remained a poor man.”
Standard Oil Company
In the late 1850s and early 1860s, kerosene lamps became widespread and demand for the raw material for kerosene, oil, increased. At this time, Rockefeller met the chemist Samuel Andrews, who worked on oil refining and was convinced of the promise of kerosene as a means of lighting. Rockefeller was interested in a message about an oil field discovered by Edwin Drake in 1859. Common interests brought Andrews and Rockefeller together, and they founded a new oil processing company, Andrews and Clark, on a parity basis with Clark's company. The partners established the Flats oil refinery in Cleveland. Transported oil and finished products by rail.
The Standard Oil Company was founded in 1870. Rockefeller began searching for oil. At the beginning of his career, the future millionaire noticed that the entire oil business was some kind of chaotic machine (by the way, the same situation has now developed with the Internet). He understood that only by putting things in order would he be able to think about some kind of commercial success. This is what he and his partner did. To begin with, the company's charter was created. In order to motivate employees, Rockefeller initially decided to refuse wages, rewarding them with shares. He believed that thanks to this they would work more actively, because they would consider themselves part of the company. And their final income will depend on the success of the business.
"Good management is about showing ordinary people, how to make the work of excellent people."
Success
The business began to generate income, and Rockefeller slowly began to buy up other oil companies. One at a time, small enterprises that could not cost too much. Rockefeller negotiated with railroad companies to regulate transportation prices, so Standard Oil received lower prices than its competitors: it paid 10 cents for transporting a barrel of oil, while its competitors paid 35 cents, with a difference of 25 cents per barrel for Rockefeller's company also received income. Competitors could not resist him, Rockefeller gave them a choice: unite with him or go bankrupt. Most of them chose to join Standard Oil in exchange for a share of shares. This strategy did not sit well with many Americans. The press even called Rockefeller nothing more than a pirate. John's path to success was darkened not only by attacks from the press, but also by criticism from many citizens. And sometimes by spreading outright rumors. They say that Rockefeller is largely to blame for the fact that society was wary of him. He never responded to attacks. Even if it was outright slander. And people perceived silence as a sign of recognition of their guilt. Be that as it may, by 1880, thanks to numerous small and medium-sized mergers, 95% of the entire US oil business was in the hands of Rockefeller. Standard Oil becomes at this time largest company in the world. True, not for long. In just 10 years, the famous Sherman Act against monopolies will be released. Rockefeller would respond by breaking Standard Oil into 34 small companies (in all of which he would have a controlling stake). Thanks to this law, John Rockefeller becomes even richer than before. By the way, it is worth noting that almost all of the current major oil companies came from Standard Oil. For example, this can be said about such giants as Mobile, Exxon, Chevron and others.
Standard Oil brought Rockefeller $3 million annually, he owned sixteen railroad and six steel companies, nine real estate firms, six shipping companies, nine banks and three orange groves.
The Rockefeller name became a symbol of wealth. Rockefeller lived in great comfort, but did not flaunt his wealth like other millionaires on New York's 5th Avenue. He had a villa and 700-acre (283 ha) plot of land on the outskirts of Cleveland, as well as houses in New York, Florida and a personal golf course in New Jersey. But most of all he loved the Pocantico Hills villa near New York.
In 1935, when Rockefeller turned 96 years old, the insurance company sent him a check for $5 million, this was the first time in the history of the company - according to statistics, only one person in a hundred thousand survives to that age. Rockefeller wanted to live to be a hundred years old, but did not live three years - on May 23, 1937, he died of a heart attack at the age of 97.
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Charity
John Rockefeller was one of the greatest philanthropists in American history. True, since he sincerely believed in God, he tried not to advertise his activities. Since the end of the 19th century, John has increasingly paid attention to charity, transferring business management to reliable partners. During this time he will do a lot for the country. Moreover, this is not only about helping those in need. Rockefeller would pay church tithes throughout his life - 10% of his monthly income. In 1905, this share amounted to $100 million. In addition, he would build the University of Chicago, Spelman College, Rockefeller University, and the Museum Contemporary Art, monasteries and the Rockefeller Foundation, Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.
At the end of his life, Rockefeller gave away up to half a billion dollars, and yet his only son, John Rockefeller Jr., inherited $460 million. Rockefeller Jr. built the famous Empire State Building. John spent about half a billion on charity, and in addition gave money for the construction of the Rockefeller Center for the communications industry in New York and donated $9 million for the construction of the UN building (it was thanks to his help that the UN headquarters was built in New York, not in any other city in the world).
“My duty is to earn a lot of money, and even more money to use the money I earn for the benefit of my fellow countrymen according to the dictates of my conscience.”
John Rockefeller was noted as a hardworking, purposeful and devout Christian, for which his partners called him "Deacon". He always preached healthy image life and complete cessation of alcohol and smoking. He had four daughters and one son, who inherited the management of the Rockefeller Foundation.
Among other things, Rockefeller was remembered wise quotes . Here are some of them:
“Charity is only useful if it helps you gain independence”
“Friendship based on business is better than business based on friendship.”
“The ability to deal with people is a commodity that can be bought in the same way that we buy sugar or coffee... And I will pay more for such a skill than for anything else in the world.”
“Earn a reputation and it will work for you.”
“It is easier for a monopolist to raise prices than to increase sales.”
“I have always tried to turn every failure into an opportunity.”
“Business growth is simply survival of the fittest.”
“The first and foremost prerequisite for success in business is patience.”
“I have ways of creating money that you don’t even know about.”
“A person who succeeds in life must sometimes go against the grain.”
“The way to make money is to buy when there is blood in the streets.”
“I would rather earn income from 1% of the efforts of a hundred people than from 100% of my own efforts.”
“Through perseverance, anything, whether right or wrong, good or bad, will be achieved.”
“It’s not enough to just do the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you’re doing the right thing.”
“Do you know what gives me the greatest pleasure? Seeing the dividends come from the efforts I put in.”
“I know of nothing more despicable and pathetic than a man who devotes all his time to making money for the sake of making money.”
“I don’t think there is any other quality so necessary for success of any kind as persistence. Persistence can overcome anything, even the laws of nature.”
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John Davison Rockefeller. Born July 8, 1839 in Richford, New York - died May 23, 1937 in Ormond Beach, Florida. American entrepreneur, philanthropist, first dollar billionaire in human history.
Founded the company in 1870 Standard Oil and managed it until his official retirement in 1897. Standard Oil was founded in Ohio as a partnership of John Rockefeller, his brother William Rockefeller, Henry Flager, Jabez Bostwick, chemist Samuel Andrews and one non-voting partner, Stephen Harkens. As the demand for kerosene and gasoline soared, Rockefeller's wealth also increased, and he became the richest man in the world at one time, with a net worth of $1.4 billion (1937 nominal) or 1.54% of US GDP at the time of his death. Taking into account inflation The New York Times estimates his wealth to be around $192 billion. in 2006 equivalent.
Rockefeller was one of the US philanthropists, the founder of the Rockefeller Foundation, who donated large amounts for medical research, education, in particular, for the fight against yellow fever. He also founded the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller University. He was a practicing Baptist and donated part of his income to support church institutions throughout his life. He was noted as a hardworking, purposeful and devout Christian, for which his partners called him “Deacon”. He always preached a healthy lifestyle and a complete cessation of alcohol and smoking. He had four daughters and one son, who inherited the management of the Rockefeller Foundation.
Rockefeller was the second child of six children in a family of Protestants William Avery Rockefeller (October 13, 1810 - May 11, 1906) and Louise Selyanto (September 12, 1813 - March 28, 1889).
He was born in Richford, New York. His father was first a lumberjack, and then a traveling merchant who called himself a “botanical doctor” and sold various elixirs and was rarely at home. According to the recollections of neighbors, John's father was considered a strange man, trying to avoid hard physical labor, although he had a good sense of humor. By nature, William was a risk-taker, which helped him build up the small capital that allowed him to buy a plot of land for $3,100. However, risk-taking coexisted with foresight, so part of the capital was invested in various enterprises.
Eliza, John's mother, was a homemaker, a very devout Baptist, and often in poverty because her husband was constantly away for long periods of time and she constantly had to save on everything. She tried not to pay attention to reports of her husband's oddities and adultery.
Rockefeller recalled that from an early age his father told him about the enterprises in which he participated, explained the principles of doing business, he wrote about his father: “He often bargained with me and bought various services from me. He taught me how to buy and sell. My father was simply “training” me to get rich!”
When John was seven years old, he began feeding turkeys for sale and earned extra money by digging potatoes for his neighbors. He recorded all the results of his commercial activities in his little book.
With his first salary, Rockefeller acquires a good ledger. In it he writes down all his income and expenses, paying attention to even the smallest details. He treated this book with special awe and respect, keeping it for the rest of his life. As well as the memory of your first working day, as an understanding of your first step on the path to becoming.
He invested all the money he earned in a porcelain piggy bank, and already at the age of 13 he lent $50 to a farmer he knew at the rate of 7.5% per annum.
His father's upbringing was continued by his mother, from whom he learned hard work and discipline. Since the family was large, and William Rockefeller’s enterprises did not always end successfully, she often had to save.
At the age of 13, John went to school in Richford. In his autobiography, he wrote that it was difficult for him to study and he had to study hard to complete his lessons. Rockefeller successfully graduated from high school and entered Cleveland College, where he taught accounting and the basics of commerce, but soon came to the conclusion that three-month accounting courses and a thirst for activity would bring much more than years of college, so he left it.
In 1853, the Rockefeller family moved to Cleveland. Since John Rockefeller was one of the eldest children in the family, already at the age of 16 he went to look for work. By that time, he already knew mathematics quite well, and completed a three-month course in accounting in Cleveland. After six weeks of searching, he was hired as an assistant accountant by Hewitt & Tuttle, a small real estate and shipping company, and soon rose to the position of accountant. He quickly established himself as a competent professional, and as soon as the manager of Hewitt & Tuttle left his post, Rockefeller was immediately appointed in his place. At the same time, the salary was set at $600 dollars, while his predecessor received $2000, because of this Rockefeller left the company, and this was his only hired job in his biography.
Just at this time, the English entrepreneur John Morris Clark was looking for a partner with a capital of $2000 to create a joint business. At that time, Rockefeller had saved up $800, he borrowed the remaining amount from his father at 10% per annum, and on April 27, 1857, he became a junior partner in the Clark and Rochester company, the company traded in hay, grain, meat and other goods. During these years, the southern states declared secession from the Union and the Civil War began, the federal authorities had a need to supply a large army, and to fulfill large-scale food supply orders, the starting capital of $4,000 was not enough, the company needed a loan. Despite the fact that the company was young, Rockefeller managed to make a positive impression on the bank director with his sincerity, and he agreed to provide the company with a loan.
In 1864, Rockefeller married teacher Laura Celestina Spelman, whom I met while still a student. Although she was pious, she also had a practical mind. Rockefeller noted: “Without her advice, I would have remained poor.”.
In the late 1850s and early 1860s, kerosene lamps became widespread and demand for the raw material for kerosene, oil, increased. At this time, Rockefeller met the chemist Samuel Andrews, who worked on oil refining and was convinced of the promise of kerosene as a means of lighting. Rockefeller was interested in a message about an oil field discovered by Edwin Drake in 1859. Common interests brought Andrews and Rockefeller together, and they founded a new oil processing company, Andrews and Clark, on a parity basis with Clark's company. The partners established the Flats oil refinery in Cleveland. They transported oil and finished products by rail.
The Standard Oil Company was founded in 1870. Rockefeller began searching for oil; already at the beginning of his activity, he noticed that the entire oil business was organized inefficiently and chaotic, and focused on putting things in order. The first step was to create the company's charter. In order to motivate employees, Rockefeller initially decided to refuse wages, rewarding them with shares, he believed that thanks to this they would work more actively, because they would consider themselves part of the company, since their final income would depend on the success of the business.
The business began to generate income, and Rockefeller began to gradually buy up other oil companies one by one, small enterprises that were not too expensive. This strategy did not sit well with many Americans. Rockefeller negotiated with railroad companies to regulate transportation prices, so Standard Oil received lower prices than its competitors: it paid 10 cents for transporting a barrel of oil, while its competitors paid 35 cents, with a difference of 25 cents per barrel for Rockefeller's company also received income. Competitors could not resist him; Rockefeller forced them to choose: unite with him or go bankrupt. Most of them chose to join Standard Oil in exchange for a share of shares.
By 1880, thanks to numerous small and medium-sized mergers, 95% of America's oil production was in Rockefeller's hands. After becoming a monopoly, Standard Oil raised prices and became the largest company in the world at the time. Ten years later, the Sherman Anti-Monopoly Act required the division of Standard Oil. After that Rockefeller split the business into 34 small companies and in all of them he retained a controlling stake and at the same time increased capital. Practically all major American oil companies descended from Standard Oil, including ExxonMobil, Chevron.
Standard Oil brought Rockefeller $3 million annually, he owned sixteen railroad and six steel companies, nine real estate firms, six shipping companies, nine banks and three orange groves.
Rockefeller's name became a symbol of wealth: he lived in great comfort, but did not flaunt his wealth like other millionaires on New York's 5th Avenue. He had a villa and 700-acre (283 ha) plot of land on the outskirts of Cleveland, as well as houses in New York, Florida and a personal golf course in New Jersey. But most of all he loved the Pocantico Hills villa near New York. Rockefeller wanted to live to be a hundred years old, but did not live three years - on May 23, 1937, he died of a heart attack at the age of 97.
John Rockefeller Family:
John Rockefeller Sr.'s five grandchildren continued the tradition of philanthropy and political involvement. The most famous of them was Nelson Rockefeller, Vice President of the United States from 1974-1977. Younger son John Rockefeller Jr., David Rockefeller, was the head of Manhattan Bank from 1969-1980.
They say that part of Rockefeller's success belongs to his wife. Few could compete with John in his tight-fistedness and stinginess, in his coldness and prudence. But his wife Laura Spelman was able to outdo him. They understood each other perfectly, and she gave him a lot of thoughtful, reasonable advice during his work in business. Modern researchers all say that Spelman was such a perfect character match for Rockefeller that it was amazing. They were able to live without spills for more than sixty years.
At school they called him the deacon, on Wall Street - the devil, in his family he was a caring husband and a wonderful father. His name became a household name, like the name of the legendary king Croesus, and became a proverb. But the symbol of unheard-of wealth of the new industrial age, John Davison Rockefeller, never worshiped the Golden Calf. He believed only in God and oil.
Lord God and dollars
His father, William Avery Rockefeller, was almost everything human vices: He was a horse thief, a sharper, a swindler, a bigamist, and a notorious atheist. His acquaintance with his future wife began with the fact that he appeared in her hometown of Richford, New York, pretending to be deaf and mute so that it would be more convenient for him to collect information for his machinations. Bill immediately spent everything he earned and won. Eliza, his wife, was his complete opposite - a deeply religious woman, a thrifty housewife, by some miracle she managed to make ends meet and kept the family afloat. It would seem that this union was bound to break up sooner or later. However, Bill, like any extraordinary swindler, had such a crushing charm that Eliza pulled and pulled the family burden: not only in the name of Christian humility, but also because she loved her good-for-nothing husband.
In such a strange family, on July 8, 1839, John Davison Rockefeller, the world's first billionaire, was born. It is quite clear that the basic qualities necessary for a future career were instilled in him by his mother. However, the father also made his contribution to the upbringing of his son, although he spent very little time with his family, disappearing for a long time and suddenly falling out of the blue, jingling with three coins that had fallen into the lining. Firstly, Bill instilled in his children (John had three more sisters) ingenuity and taught resourcefulness. Secondly, he served as a negative example for his son. For all my long life John Rockefeller never smoked a cigarette, never gambled, never drank a single glass of whiskey, never even a cup of coffee, and never attended a dance or theater.
Even if he did something that was not entirely consistent with American laws, then all the same, in his opinion, these were moral actions. After all, he earned money not for himself, not to gratify his flesh, but in the name of God. It was precisely this kind of morality that existed among the Puritans, who made America America in the century before last. And the logic here is simple: selfless work is dear to God. But since labor as such is difficult to quantify and qualitatively evaluate, its measure is dollars. The more dollars a person has, the more God loves him. And not only loves him, but also helps him in every possible way. Rockefeller believed in this so sacredly that once at a meeting, when the fate of the trust hung in the balance, when asked what would happen now, he stated with conviction: “The Lord will take care!” And he really did.
In Rockefeller, two completely different things seemed to coexist. different people, which manifested itself in childhood. The first - the one that later terrified the entire business world of America - was devoid of basic human emotions. His face, like that of a lizard, tightly covered in skin, expressed nothing. One of his school teachers gave the following description: “This boy, Rockefeller, is strange. And the student is good and obedient, but somehow insensitive. I'm not sure he's a warm-blooded creature." From the age of seven, this “creature” sold candy to the sisters at speculative prices and gave money to schoolmates at interest.
The other “half” of Rockefeller was completely human: he loved his wife and children, surrounded them with affection and care. Passions and deep, tender feelings raged under the skin of the lizard, sometimes breaking out.
Oil standard
At the age of 16, Rockefeller, having dropped out of school, got a job as an assistant accountant at the Hewitt and Tuttle trading company, where he was paid $17 a month, later increasing this amount to $25, since the young man had superhuman performance and supernatural mathematical abilities. From his very first salary, Rockefeller bought himself a ledger, where, with a sad sigh, he wrote down his every expense. He kept track of expenses and income throughout his life. His largest personal expense was the purchase wedding ring for the bride, costing $118.
Saving on everything (he learned this from his mother), Rockefeller saved up $800 in 4 years and, together with Maurice Clark, opened his own company trading agricultural products. Soon the Civil War broke out in the United States; the armies of the opposing sides needed a lot of provisions and fodder. Rockefeller and Clark established supplies of goods necessary for victory... to both southerners and northerners. Which, as Rockefeller believed, was nothing reprehensible, since business does not exist for politics, but politics exists for business: a self-respecting corporation must operate stably in any political situation. Rockefeller always followed this principle. Having become a billionaire, he financed the election campaigns of both Democrats and Republicans equally, and also bought up officials clothed with power, regardless of their political orientation.
At the end Civil War Oil was discovered in Pennsylvania. Rockefeller quickly responded to this by inviting Clark to reorient the business. He categorically refused, and Rockefeller, having bought his share from his partner for $72,500, erected his first oil derrick. He drove kerosene, but not in the same way as everyone else did, but on a scientific basis, having bought a patent for a pittance from a certain engineer. effective method oil purification.
At that time, chaos reigned in the US oil market, reminiscent of the California Gold Rush. Two years later, Rockefeller’s company, which consisted of five oil refineries, was already generating $2 million a year. But this made him only one of many oil industrialists. And he wanted to be the main and only one. And Rockefeller began to crush the industry under himself, acting here cunningly, and sometimes treacherously and shamelessly. So in 1870, when the tycoon was only 30 years old, the famous Standard Oil Co. arose.
Shark of capitalism
The absorption of the “small fish,” depending on the persistence of competitors being forced out of the market, was carried out in several stages. At first, oil refinery owners were culturally asked to sell their business. At the same time, a choice was offered - either for cash or for Standard Oil shares. The most insightful took shares and subsequently became wealthy people. They began to twist the arms of those who were unyielding, using an extensive arsenal of forceful influences: they set dumping prices on competitors’ local markets, cut off the supply of raw materials to processors, started litigation, and made secret conspiracies with consumers and transport workers. For this purpose, many front companies were created that were secretly part of Standard Oil. Even elements of industrial espionage were used.
In 1871, Rockefeller carried out an operation of fantastic scale and daring, concluding a secret deal with the management railways for the transportation of Standard Oil kerosene at tariffs three times lower than for all players in the oil market. This war of conquest ended by 1880.
As a result, Standard Oil captured 90% of the US oil market. In 1882 it became the Standard Oil Trust, the first trust in US history, which included 37 companies with a total capital of $70 million, managed by a committee of nine people headed by Rockefeller.
The point, of course, is not only his aggressiveness and unscrupulousness. Rockefeller always relied on innovation and therefore crushed his competitors. He was the first to use cheap metal barrels instead of wooden ones when transporting kerosene. They were replaced by railway tank cars. And eventually Standard Oil began building pipelines. Rockefeller was the first in history to take out large loans to modernize and expand production, which greatly frightened his partners. However, the risk paid off, bringing the company huge profits through quick financial maneuvers.
Sprut-2
In the 90s came new stage struggle. But not with competitors, but with the state, which accused the trust of violating the law on free trade. Rockefeller, like an experienced chess player, outwardly absolutely dispassionate, made retaliatory moves: filed counterclaims, filed appeals, made diversionary maneuvers and lightning-quickly stung an opponent who was obviously stronger than him. Without blinking an eye, he paid a huge fine of $29 million. And in the end, in 1892, he accepted the dismemberment of the trust into 38 parts, since he still had control over each of them. Soon he created a new oil octopus - Standard Oil of New Jersey, which owned controlling blocks of shares that were previously part of the trust of companies.
And again a battle broke out with the state, which at that moment was represented by President Theodore Roosevelt, who called Rockefeller “the most dangerous criminal in the United States.” The trial, with varying success, lasted from 1904 to 1911 and ended with a new division of the company. For Rockefeller it was a moral blow, but not a financial one. Having retained stakes, albeit not controlling ones, in each company spun off from the trust, he continued to grow rich. And in 1913, his fortune reached a billion dollars, which was equal to 3% of US GDP. By modern standards, this is over $150 billion. There was no one richer in the world than him. As, however, not now.
There is no prophet in his own country
Rockefeller met all the vicissitudes associated with successes and failures in business almost indifferently, without showing his feelings in any way. But what concerned the moral sphere, where he considered his reputation impeccable, sometimes drove him crazy. At the end of the century, when one of the trust's young managers wrote an alarming letter to his patron in which he spoke about how fiercely Americans hated Standard Oil, Rockefeller did not believe him. After all, he is not a politician, not public figure, he always lived private life and was involved in charity work - is he capable of evoking such feelings?
At the beginning of the twentieth century, literally the entire American press attacked the corporation and its head with furious revealing articles; newspapers were full of angry letters from ordinary Americans. This was a terrible blow for Rockefeller. Compounding the misery was the fact that trust employees were helping journalists investigate Standard Oil's unsavory practices. No one, literally no one understood his good intentions to create an ideal industrial and financial machine! Rockefeller suffered a severe nervous breakdown that resulted in hair loss, including his eyebrows and eyelashes. He was scary. The workers' wives, pointing their fingers at the newspaper photo, frightened the children: "If you don't obey, Rockefeller will take you away!"
Inheritance and legacy
Having retired, he began a new fight, in which no one had yet managed to win. He defied death by announcing that he intended to celebrate his centenary. His daily routine included preventive procedures, dosed physical exercise, medical examinations, diet... He didn’t have enough to win - John Davison Rockefeller died of a heart attack on May 23, 1937, a little more than two years short of reaching the target.
Money was not an end in itself for Rockefeller. Stingy with regard to everything related to his personal expenses, he was a generous benefactor. He donated half of the billion he earned to the Baptist Church and the University of Chicago, donated to the founding of the New York Institute for Medical Research, and invested in charitable foundation Rockefeller, whose financial assets now amount to $3.8 billion.
The father of the family, Rockefeller, instilling hard work and frugality in his children, established strict market rules at home. For each killed fly he paid 2 cents, for a caught mouse - 10, for an hour of diligent music playing - 5, etc., etc. There was also a scale of fines - for being late for breakfast, an unlearned lesson, a broken plate... Rockefeller handed over his business to the capable hands of his son, John Davison Rockefeller Jr.
The large Rockefeller family included senators, bank presidents, state governors, one US vice president and one Olympic champion in rowing. Now the Rockefeller clan, which avoids publicity in every possible way, numbers more than two hundred people. His total fortune is $6.5 billion. The core of the empire is the oil industry. ExxonMobil company, heir to Standard Oil, as well as one of the largest US banks, Chase Manhattan Bank. The Rockefellers have a significant influence on political life countries, but they do it extremely secretly and as delicately as possible. And America remembers their great great-grandfather and, unlike America at the beginning of the twentieth century, pays tribute to him good deeds, which are carried out in his name in accordance with his will to this day.
POSSIBLE TAKEAWAYS:
From his very first salary, Rockefeller bought himself a ledger, where, with a sad sigh, he wrote down his every expense. He kept track of expenses and income throughout his life. His largest personal expense was the purchase of an engagement ring for his bride, which cost $118.
Standard Oil captured 90% of the US oil market. In 1882 it became the Standard Oil Trust, the first trust in US history, which included 37 companies with a total capital of $70 million, managed by a committee of nine people headed by Rockefeller.
Rockefeller was the first in history to take out large loans to modernize and expand production, which greatly frightened his partners. However, the risk paid off, bringing the company huge profits through quick financial maneuvers.
He donated half of the billion he earned to the Baptist Church and the University of Chicago, donated to the founding of the New York Institute for Medical Research, and invested in the Rockefeller Charitable Foundation, whose financial assets now amount to $3.8 billion.
John Davison Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 in New York. When he was very young, the family moved to Pennsylvania. John D.'s mother raised him in the fear of God and in strict Baptist laws.
The father was an entrepreneur. Not always successful, but able to combine frequent risk with accumulation. There is an opinion that the ostentatious chic and egocentrism of the parent forced John Davison to avoid such an image in every possible way and strive for. Often the family lived in debt, which made John D. ashamed of his father (again according to some researchers). But there is also evidence from the future billionaire himself, which suggests that his father played a decisive positive role in John’s life:
He often bargained with me and bought various services from me. He taught me how to buy and sell. My father was just training me to get rich!
Rockefeller Sr. did not like physical labor and tried to earn money with his mind.
The father told his son about his business, explained the principles, and although he himself was not the most successful in business, his son managed to learn a lot from an early age. For example, judging by further career young man, he learned that morality and justice in business are very relative concepts, and if there is a goal, then much can be sacrificed for the sake of it.
Studying at school was difficult for him, but hard work covered all the shortcomings.
Growing up in a religious family (according to ) made John Davison a teetotaler who avoided gambling and dancing. Being the eldest child, he had to become the family breadwinner in his youth. The first job that John D. got was as an accounting assistant (before that, the boy worked part-time by feeding turkeys and working on a farm).
To get this job, John dropped out of college and took a three-month accounting course. This was his only paid job.
Having borrowed money from his father (at 10%), Rockefeller became a junior partner in an agricultural company, which he led to the business of refining oil into kerosene (which was becoming a very popular means for lighting lamps).
Creation of Standard Oil
John D.'s silence inspired the government to legalize the monopoly issue and dismember the Rockefeller empire. Despite this, John Davison's financial assets only increased from this: having divided Standard Oil into 34 small companies at the request of the authorities, he retained a controlling stake in all of them. Interestingly, most of the modern ones are descended from these 34 pieces of Standard Oil, such as ExxonMobil, .
Theodore Roosevelt launched a whole series trials against Standard Oil, which he relied on, which was allowed, in Rockefeller style, to buy up metallurgical plants to create a monopoly for United States Steel.
Richest man
To this day, John D. is considered the richest man on the planet and the most generous philanthropist (he paid for medical research; Chicago and Rockefeller universities were founded with his money). Back in 1917, Rockefeller's capital was 20% more than the annual US budget. No businessman has ever achieved such heights. He sponsored the construction of the UN headquarters in New York, which determined the enormous influence of the United States on this organization.
D. Rockefeller died at the age of 97. His family (clan) is still considered one of the most influential in the world.