John Davison Rockefeller is difficult to capture under one denominator. On the one hand, he was the smart, tough businessman who built an oil empire that was unprecedented. At the same time, he was very committed to society and, as the richest man in the world, he is also the greatest benefactor of the twentieth century.
Start as an assistant bookkeeper
John is not particularly intelligent, but he does have a sense of numbers. That’s what the elementary school teacher wrote about John Davison Rockefeller (born July 8, 1839). The first statement was probably incorrect, the second certainly was. Well-mannered and eager to learn, he took his first steps up the social ladder after school. At the age of 16 he was an assistant accountant, two years later he had his own company, with which he distributed food. From the beginning, he donated part of his salary to charity.
Life as an oilman
At that time, around 1860, oil was about to become the new gold. Rockefeller immediately realized that the big money was not in drilling for oil, but in distilling the crude oil. Rockefeller took a stake in an oil refinery in Cleveland in 1863. From there his importance in the oil industry grew steadily. In 1870, the Standard Oil Company was founded, a company that sold oil worldwide, with Rockefeller as director.
Pipelines
Rockefeller looked for new ways, he was the first to transport oil over great distances via pipelines. Little by little, playing railroad companies against each other, Rockefeller managed to gain control of the entire oil production of the United States. It was not until 1911 that the US Supreme Court condemned Standard Oil’s monopolism and ordered its division into six companies. Esso (now Exxon), Mobil, BP and Chevron, among others, emerged from this, while newcomers such as Gulf and Texaco now also got a chance for a piece of the cake.
Bloodthirsty hyena
Making money was extremely important to Rockefeller. The fact that there were casualties along the way was not a major concern. For many, the American businessman is the figurehead of capitalism. The Rockefeller family was once denounced in the early twentieth century as bloodthirsty hyenas who rolled themselves in the stinking honey of philanthropy just to harm the country.
Richest man in the world
Oil made Rockefeller the richest man in the world. Compared to other times and other wealth, no one has ever been so rich. In 2006, Bill Gates owned 0.66% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States, in his year of death (1937) Rockefeller had 1.4 billion dollars, which was 2.54% of the GDP of the US meant.
Living as a philanthropist
Like Bill Gates, Rockefeller, despite his brutal business instincts, also thought about the society around him. Few wealthy entrepreneurs will have given away as much of their money as Rockefeller. In this sense he is even seen as the modern founder of ancient Greek philanthropy. Rockefeller founded the University of Chicago in 1892 and the Rockefeller Foundation in 1913. This foundation mainly focused on medical care and research, for example the first donation went to the American Red Cross. Countless medical students have received a scholarship from the Foundation to properly prepare for their profession. Finally, a lot of money went to the church (Rockefeller was a deeply religious Baptist).
Laura Spelman and John D. junior
John D. Rockefeller’s generosity turned out to be a family trait. Rockefeller married Laura Spelman (d. 1915) in 1864, and had four daughters and one son, John D. Junior (1874-1960). During her life, Spelman committed herself to education for black women in the southern United States through, among other things, the Spelman College. John D. junior was active as a financier in the art and museum world and donated land on the East River in New York to the United Nations in 1947. That organization had their headquarters built there. Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979), son of John D. junior and grandson of John D., was vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977, under Gerald Ford.
Two ambitions
From his days as a schoolboy, John D. Rockefeller pursued two ambitions: to earn a hundred thousand dollars in his lifetime and to live to be a hundred years old. The first worked with ease, the second almost. Rockefeller died in 1937, aged 97 years and ten months.