Rockefeller Biography - P#5

          John Davidson Rockefeller the oldest son of six children, born on July 8, 1839, in the sleepy hollow of Richford, New York. The second oldest of his siblings, John showed remarkable traits as a focused student and obedient son. His father a con-artist, who frequently went on lengthy trips, had many affairs.  John Rockefeller went into the business field and learned to be a bookkeeper. He quickly got into the business field with his first partner Maurice B. Clark. Rockefeller would pursue oil as a businessman, owning his own refinery and soon naming his company Standard Oil. His company became a monopoly which totally overwhelmed the oil industry. Late in Rockefeller’s life he devoted himself to philanthropy. While John D. Rockefeller died on May 23, 1937, his net worth over $650 billion dollars by today’s standard, still ranks as one of the wealthiest people that ever lived.

          John D. Rockefeller, from an early age demonstrated excellent study habits excelling in mathematics and debate club.  His mother, Eliza, a devout Baptist taught him to be fair, conscientious, thrifty, and a good work ethic. His father, William or “Bill”, a con-man, and infrequent in the family’s life, taught young John to always get the better part of a deal. “Bill used to cheat his own children out of a deal to teach them to always be sharper than the other person.” (“John”)  John D. Rockefeller moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio at the age of 16, where he got his first real office work as a bookkeeper for the produce company, Hewitt and Tuttle.  John learned all the parts of the business and in 1859, by age 20, purchased his own produce business with his partner Maurice Clark. By the end of his first year of business they had earned almost a half a million dollars.

          While John, by any measurement, found success at an early age, he continued to look beyond his current venture.  Seeing an opportunity in the early oil industry, since whale oil had become quite expensive, he purchased his first oil refinery in 1863 near Cleveland.  John Rockefeller never fought in the American Civil War as his brother Frank did, but “made large contributions to the Union to stay out of the army.” (“American”) By the end of the Civil War, John Rockefeller and his partners owned the largest refinery in the world by purchasing other smaller refineries in the Cleveland and New York areas. In 1870, Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Company of Ohio, the largest company to ship oil and kerosene in the United States. He attempted to control the railroads by offering rebates to ship his oil instead of his competitor’s oil. John D. Rockefeller found himself in trouble with the press, the public, and lawmakers. He backed off for a short period, only to come back and buy up the competition, improve the efficiency of his business, and again offering secret deals and discounts on oil shipments.

          By the 1880s, Rockefeller dominated 90% of the oil refineries in the U.S. His business developed all kinds of oil based products such as tar, paint, and even petroleum jelly. He had influence of much of the railroad industry as he owned tanker cars, “but also lead the oil industry in a new system of oil pipelines for the purpose of transporting.” (“American”) John D. Rockefeller an innovator in law as well, created the first trust, the Standard Oil Trust in 1882. John and eight other trustees ran 41 companies in the trust, and Standard Oil continued to grow each year until 1911, becoming the most feared and richest corporation in the world. In 1911, the Supreme Court flexed political muscle finding Standard Oil of New Jersey in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.  Deemed a monopoly by the Supreme Court’s decision, Standard Oil split into 34 new companies. However, John D. Rockefeller and his stockholders received stock in all 34 companies. John in particular still held 25% of the stocks and ten years later the profits of the 34 companies increase his wealth five times to almost a billion dollars.
            John D. Rockefeller considered himself retired at the age of 56 years old in 1895, and turned to philanthropy. John, raised a Baptist, always gave 10% of his earnings to his church from the time of his very first job. As his income increased, he became increasingly more generous with his giving. “His wife Laura Spelman and her family were passionate abolitionists before and during the Civil War, and in turn John D. Rockefeller gave large amounts of money to African American educational institutions such as colleges and universities.” (“John”) He founded the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission in 1909 that lead to the eradication of hookworm in the United States. John became one of the greatest benefactors of medical science the world has ever seen. He created the Rockefeller Foundation in 1913 which started many medical schools like the University of Chicago, John Hopkins, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Wellesley, Vassar, and even those in foreign countries like the Peking Union Medical College in China and the Central Philippine University. In total, during his lifetime, John D. Rockefeller donated more than $550 million dollars more than half of his entire wealth.

          All in all, John D. Rockefeller started from very humble beginnings, as poor as most during his early life with a less than desirable home life. However, his impact on American business, capitalism, the stock market, and our dominance in the world oil industry can all be traced back to John D. Rockefeller. His influence as a philanthropist set the example for many other wealthy men such as Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan, and even the wealthy of today such as Sam Walton (of Walmart) and Bill Gates (of Microsoft). His great work ethic, drive, and generosity should serve as an example to all of us.

John D. Rockefeller

The Rockefeller Foundation 1913, He donated $550 million dollars more than half of his entire wealth.

Bibliography

"American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series." PBS. PBS, 2012. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/rockefellers-john/>.

"John D. Rockefeller Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2014. <http://www.biography.com/people/john-d-rockefeller-20710159>.