John D. Rockefeller - Biography

by John D. Rockefeller

Learn about the life of John D. Rockefeller. John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was born into a large family in upstate New York that moved several times before eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. He became an assistant bookkeeper at age 16 and went into several business partnerships beginning at age 20, concentrating his business on oil refining. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870. He ran it until 1897 and remained its largest shareholder. Rockefeller's wealth soared as kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, and he became the richest person in the country, controlling 90% of all oil in the United States at his peak.[a] Oil was used throughout the country as a light source until the introduction of electricity, and as a fuel after the invention of the automobile. Furthermore, Rockefeller gained enormous influence over the railroad industry which transported his oil around the country. Standard Oil was the first great business trust in the United States. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and, through corporate and technological innovations, was instrumental in both widely disseminating and drastically reducing the production cost of oil. His company and business practices came under criticism, particularly in the writings of author Ida Tarbell. The Supreme Court ruled in 1911 that Standard Oil must be dismantled for violation of federal antitrust laws. It was broken up into 34 separate entities, which included companies that became ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation, and others—some of which still have the highest level of revenue in the world. In the end it turned out that the individual segments of the company were worth more than the entire company was when it was one entity...

2 pages, Perfect Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

John Davison Rockefeller Sr. was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was, in 1870, one of the founders of the Standard Oil Company, which became the first great U.S. business trust. He was the driving force of this business until his retirement in 1897, and became the richest man in the world.

Rockefeller Sr. was also a very important philanthropist, founder of both the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University and funder of the Central Philippine University in the Philippines. Beside this he was responsable for the creation of foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education and scientific research.

He was the father of John Davison Rockefeller Jr.