The Success Story of John Davidson Rockefeller. John Davison Rockefeller - the first ever billionaire and the richest man in the world
John Rockefeller (1839-1937) - American entrepreneur and multimillionaire, a man whose name has become a symbol of wealth.
He was hardworking, purposeful and pious, for which the partners nicknamed him "deacon".
The wives of the workers scared their children: “Don’t cry, otherwise Rockefeller will take you!” The paradox was that the richest man in the world was most proud of his impeccable morality.
John Davison Rockefeller was born July 8, 1839 in New York State. His upbringing was mainly carried out by his mother, an ardent Baptist. “She and the priest inspired me from an early age that I had to work and save,” Rockefeller later recalled. Doing business was part of the family upbringing. Also in early childhood John bought a pound of candy, divided it into small piles, and sold it at a premium to his own sisters. At the age of seven, he sold the turkeys he had grown to his neighbors, and he lent the $50 he earned from this to a neighbor at 7% per annum.
“He was a very quiet boy,” one of the townspeople recalled many years later, “he was always thinking.” From the outside, John looked distracted: it seemed that the child was constantly struggling with some insoluble problem. The impression was deceptive - the boy was distinguished by a tenacious memory, a stranglehold and unshakable calmness: playing checkers, he harassed his partners, thinking about each move for half an hour. The stern, dry-skinned face of John Davison Rockefeller and his boyish eyes devoid of luster really frightened those around him.
Few knew the other, human side of his nature. John Davison Rockefeller hid the feelings inherent in people in the farthest pocket and fastened it with all buttons. Meanwhile, he was a sensitive boy: when his sister died, John ran into the backyard, threw himself on the ground, and lay like that all day. Yes, and having matured, Rockefeller did not become such a monster as he was portrayed: once he asked about a classmate whom he once liked (he just liked - he was a highly moral young man); upon learning that she was a widow and in poverty, the owner of Standard Oil immediately granted her a pension. It is almost impossible to judge what he really was: Rockefeller subordinated all thoughts, all feelings, all desires to one great goal - to get rich without fail
Rockefeller never graduated from high school. At 16, with a three-month accounting course under his belt, he began looking for work in Cleveland, where his family then lived. After six weeks of searching, he got a job as an assistant accountant in the trading company "Hewitt and Tuttle" (Hewitt and Tuttle). At first he was paid $17 a month, and then $25. When receiving them, John felt guilty, finding the reward excessively high. In order not to waste a single cent, the thrifty Rockefeller bought a small ledger from his first salary, where he wrote down all his expenses, and carefully kept it all his life. But this was his first latest work for hire. At the age of 18, John D. Rockefeller became the junior partner of businessman Maurice Clark.
The American Civil War of 1861-1865 helped get the new company on its feet. The warring armies paid generously for the necessary things, and partners supplied them with flour, pork and salt. By the end of the war in Pennsylvania, near Cleveland, oil was discovered, and the city was at the center of an oil rush. By 1864, Clark and Rockefeller were already in full swing with Pennsylvania oil. A year later, Rockefeller decided to focus only on oil business However, Clark was against it. Then, for $72,500, John bought his share from a partner and plunged headlong into oil.
In 1870 he created Standard Oil. Together with his friend and business partner Henry Flagler, he began to gather disparate oil producing and refining enterprises into a single powerful oil trust. Competitors could not resist him, Rockefeller put them before a choice: to unite with him, or ruin. If beliefs did not work, the most dirty methods. For example, Standard Oil reduced prices in the local market of a competitor, forcing him to work at a loss. Or Rockefeller sought to stop the supply of oil to recalcitrant refiners. For this, front companies were used, which in reality were part of the Standard Oil group. Unbeknownst to many refiners, the local rivals putting pressure on them were actually part of the growing Rockefeller empire.
For the success of such operations, they were kept in the strictest confidence. Agents of Standard Oil exchanged ciphered dispatches with the parent company. Even the visitors to Standard Oil's management weren't supposed to see each other. The company used an extensive system of industrial espionage to gather information about competitors and market conditions. Standard Oil's filing cabinet contained data on virtually every oil buyer in the country, the usage of every barrel sold by independent dealers, and even where every grocer from the Isle of Man to California buys kerosene.
By 1879, the "war of conquest" was actually over. Standard Oil controlled 90% of US refining capacity. Rockefeller himself met this victory dispassionately - as an obvious inevitability.
In 1890, the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed to crack down on monopolies. Until 1911, Rockefeller and his partners managed to get around this law, but then Standard Oil was divided into thirty-four companies (virtually all of today's major American oil companies trace their history back to Standard Oil).
Personal life
Rockefeller was married to Laura Celestine Spelman, whom he met while still a student. Pious, like her husband, teacher Laura Spelman, however, had a practical mindset. Rockefeller once remarked: "Without her advice, I would have remained a poor man."
Biographers write that Rockefeller did his best to teach children to work, modesty and unpretentiousness. John created a kind of layout at home market economy: He appointed his daughter Laura as a “director” and told the children to keep detailed ledgers. Each child received a few cents for killing a fly, for sharpening a pencil, for an hour of music lessons, for a day of abstaining from sweets. Each of the children had his own garden bed, where the labor of cleaning the weeds also had its price. But for being late for breakfast, the little Rockefellers were fined.
Rockefeller fortune
In 1917, the personal fortune of John Davison Rockefeller was estimated at between $900 million and $1 billion, which was 2.5% of the then GDP of the United States. In the modern equivalent, Rockefeller owned approximately $150 billion. Until now, he remains richest man in the world. By the end of his life, Rockefeller, in addition to shares in each of Standard Oil's 32 subsidiaries, owned 16 railroad and six steel companies, nine banks, six shipping companies, nine real estate firms, and three orange groves. The possessions of Standard Oil in 1903 included about 400 enterprises, 90 thousand miles of pipelines, 10 thousand railroad tanks, 60 ocean tankers, 150 river steamers. The company transported and processed more than 80% of the oil produced in the United States. The share of Standard Oil in world oil trade exceeded 70%.
Rockefeller's donations during his life exceeded $500 million. Of these, about $80 million was received by the University of Chicago, at least $100 million - by the Baptist Church. John Rockefeller also created and funded the New York Institute for Medical Research, the Council for General Education and the Rockefeller Foundation.
John Rockefeller is a kind of icon for Americans. He calculated several decades in advance the value of oil, which at first was used only for economic needs. The world's first billionaire who went to church every Sunday and led healthy lifestyle life. His wealth has not yet been able to "surpass" any businessman or person of royal blood.
Childhood and youth
The name of John Rockefeller has become a symbol of a man who made himself. His biography is not the story of an individual, but of the American oil industry.
The future billionaire was born into a family of farmers. His father William was a lumberjack, but since such work could not feed big family(John was the second of six children), then his father often earned money by wandering around America. Despite the rather modest earnings, William knew how to save money and was able to raise money for a small plot of land and start his own farm.
Daddy's money management laws, apparently, were also passed on to little John: at the age of seven, he began to grow turkeys to sell, as well as earn extra money in the neighbors' gardens. And already from the first solid salary I bought myself a real account book - to record expenses.
At the age of thirteen, John became a creditor for the first time: at 7.5%, he lent fifty dollars to a neighbor. Then he went to school. As he later recalled: study was sometimes difficult, so he additionally studied at home. And when he entered college, where they taught the basics of commerce and accounting, he generally came to the conclusion that three months in accounting courses would be more useful to him than years of study, and left.
The only job and the first factory
In 1853, the entire Rockefeller family moved to Cleveland, where John very quickly found his first job. He already knows accounting, so he is taken as an assistant accountant to a certain Hewitt & Tuttle company, which deals with marine cargo and real estate. Very soon he becomes an accountant there, and when the company manager retires, John is taken in his place. But instead of the $2,000 that his predecessor was paid, he is offered only $600. And John leaves. Thus ended the story of his first and only hired job.
After his dismissal, he meets a certain John Morison Clark, who is looking for a partner for a joint business. The only problem: you need to have 2 thousand dollars. John had only 800, so he borrows the rest from his father at 10% per annum - John became a junior partner in a company that sold hay, meat and grain, Clark and Rochester.
In the 50-60s of the 19th century, kerosene lamps became popular, the raw material for which was oil. John Rockefeller and his chemist friend Samuel Andrews decide that oil refining is more than a promising business. Therefore, already in 1859, two friends, together with Clark's company, founded the Andrews and Clark company, which began processing oil and delivering it by rail. In Cleveland, the company began building Flats, an oil refinery.
Monopolist and billionaire
In 1870, the story of the legendary Standard Oil company begins, and Rockefeller begins to look for oil production sites. He also created a kind of statute for his workers. To intensify their actions, at first he did not even pay a salary, but simply handed out shares to them. Rockefeller believed that they would work better this way, because they owned part of the company.
The business began to flourish, so John decided to expand: he bought oil refineries one by one. Therefore, after 10 years, Rockefeller owned 95% of the entire oil business in America. Many Americans didn't like it. They were even more infuriated by John's ability to negotiate: after small negotiations, he paid only 10 cents per barrel for the transportation of oil, and his competitors - all 35. In addition, the monopoly in business made it possible to raise oil prices - incomes increased significantly.
In addition to oil refineries, John Rockefeller also owned railroad, steel and steamship companies, banks, real estate firms, and orange groves.
He had villas, his own golf course, houses in several states of America. But at the same time, his contemporaries noted that Rockefeller never boasted of what he had earned, he lived modestly and taught his children the same. His wife at one time forbade her husband to buy a bicycle for each of the four children. “Buy one so they learn to share,” she said.
Philanthropist and philanthropist
Since John Rockefeller himself was from a believing family, and so was his wife Laura, they donated a lot of money to help others.
While still a little boy, he gave a tenth of the money he earned to the needs of the Baptist Church. Adult Rockefeller did not change his habits, only the amount has changed - in 1905 it was already about $ 100 million annually.
In 1892, Rockefeller founded the University of Chicago, nine years later - medical institute Rockefeller name. In 1902, he initiated a meeting of the General Educational Council, and in 1913 he created the Rockefeller Foundation.
He really wanted to live to be 100 years old, but died at 97 from a heart attack.
* The UN headquarters was built in New York only because it was John Rockefeller who donated $ 6 million for these needs.
* Rockefeller's son built the most famous skyscraper in the world, the Empire State Building.
* The asteroid (904) discovered in 1918, Rockefelia, was named after John Rockefeller.
* John and his wife lived together for over sixty years. In memory of her, Rockefeller created the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Foundation. He works to our time, deals with issues of children's education and fights racial discrimination.
It would be very strange if the name of such a person as John Davison Rockefeller, who is known, first of all, for becoming the first person in the history of the planet Earth, whose fortune exceeded one billion dollars, was absent in the “Success Story” rubric.
It is very remarkable that the story of his success began in a small provincial town in North America and this man owes his success solely to his talent and perseverance.
John was born in Richford, New York, to a Protestant family. His father, William Avery Rockefeller, was first a lumberjack, and then became a traveling salesman who supplied the inhabitants of the surrounding area with miraculous elixirs and potions. Dad was rarely at home, he devoted a lot of time to trade, alcohol and riotous women. But in his memoirs, John speaks of his parent as good father, who in his spare time devoted a lot of time to his son and, in particular, taught him to trade. William, as they would say now, arranged for his son a kind of training by buying and selling various services of his son. Subsequently, John highly appreciated these lessons. And from communication with his father, he made a firm conviction that alcohol and tobacco are a vice, and this is very bad. And looking at how his mother suffers from the frequent betrayals of her husband, he decided as a child that he would never do this.
Neighbors considered John's father a very strange person who did not want to work, but simply a quitter. However, William managed to save some money and buy land plot and invest some money in various enterprises. He willingly shared with his son his knowledge of the principles of doing business and the fundamental criteria for success.
John's mother, Eliza Davison, ran everything household(there were six children in the family. John is the second child in the family), she was very sensitive to religion and meekly accepted the hardships of life: regular lack of money (the husband was often absent from home, which required austerity) and her husband's betrayal.
Subsequently, John said that he began to engage in commerce from early childhood. Many consider it disgusting that the future millionaire bought sweets in a shop, and then sold them individually to his sisters. Preying on your relatives is disgusting?! It all depends on what angle you look at it from. Do you also think the boy's actions are terrible? Then try to answer the following questions:
- Are sweets an essential item?
- did the girls have money (they also bought sweets from John) and what prevented them from buying sweets in the store themselves?
- sweets in the shop were sold not by the piece, but by weight. The girls spent less money buying one piece of candy than if they bought these sweets in a shop, which means they thought they were getting a good deal. If both parties believe that they have received the expected benefit, then what is immoral?
So even in early childhood, not from books, but from his own practical experience, John understood what the laws of surplus value are and how they work. I think it's very important for a future success story to understand how money works.
At the age of seven, he began to breed and feed turkeys for sale, helped his neighbors (not free of charge) dig potatoes.
And what is remarkable is that he recorded all the results of his commercial activities in a notebook. A stingy boy? Business is not possible without accounting and planning. Little John knew what is a revelation for many of today's businessmen - success is not possible without consideration and planning.
Everything that he managed to earn, the boy kept in a porcelain piggy bank, which allowed him to start lending at the age of thirteen - it was at this age that he issued his first loan to a farmer he knew. Fifty dollars at 7.5 percent per annum. Expensive? But the farmer took it, which means he considered that it was profitable for him. Money should not just lie - they should work and make a profit. This is one of the rules for success. Money has to work.
If you want a success story, don't go to school
In the same year, when he issued the first loan in his life, he went to school for the first time. Many years later, recalling this period of his life, John wrote that it was very difficult for him to study, and completing the lessons required simply titanic work. But the boy had a goal and he successfully completed school, and went to college with the goal of learning the basics accounting and commerce. But, as often happens with people who are not ordinary, he quickly realized that education does not bring him closer to success, but turns him into a diligent employee who will work for other people all his life.
He is completing a three-month accounting course and is looking for a job.
Just at this time, the Rockefeller family moved to Cleveland. John has been looking for a job for a month and a half and eventually becomes an accounting assistant in a small real estate and shipping company. Hardworking and punctual, he attracts the attention of the owners of the enterprise and when Chief Accountant leaves the company, the owners offer Rockefeller to take this place. But, the predecessor received 2,000 dollars a year, and John is offered only 600. And he leaves the company. If you do not appreciate your work, then others will not appreciate it. This is another rule for success - appreciate your work and do not let others devalue it. If you do not do this, then you will not have success or a success story. It was the first and last job when John worked "for his uncle".
It so happened that it was at this time that an English businessman, John Maurice Clark, was looking for a partner with a capital of at least $ 2,000 to create and conduct a joint business. The young Rockefeller, at that time, had a gold reserve of $ 800. The missing amount had to be borrowed from daddy Rockefeller at 10% (!!! Remember the interest that John announced to a familiar farmer) per annum.
And April 27 happens historical event John Davison Rockefeller becomes junior partner in Clark and Rochester. The newly created company trades in hay, pork, grain ... Trades in everything that they buy.
And then something happens that can be called a gift of fate - the American Civil War begins. I understand your indignation - how can you call war a gift?! But, I will remind you that we are talking about a success story. For the business of a young company, the beginning of the war opened up great opportunities: war requires not only blood and lives, it takes everything. And hay, and pork, and cartridges ... Everything.
For such a business, the company's capital was clearly not enough, and John persuades the bank manager to issue an unsecured loan. How did it happen? History and young Rockefeller do not expand on the motives that pushed the hand and pen of the head of the bank. There is an opinion that Rockefeller was so sincere and convincing that the bank manager could not resist. Have you ever received a loan from a bank? Have you ever seen a sentimental bank manager? Or maybe people worked as bank managers in those distant times?!
As a junior companion and businessman, John D. Rockefeller decided to marry Laura Celestine Spelman, a simple teacher he had met during his student days. Like all women of that time, Laura was overly pious and at the same time unusually practical. Many years later, Rockefeller said that if it were not for the advice of my wife, then I would have remained a poor man. Was it true? Of course it was! Laura may not have understood business, but a like-minded wife is not just the secret to success. This is a rocket that will carry any normal man to the very pinnacle of success and to several lines in history, if not civilization, then business for sure.
Where did the success stories start?
The world was entering the age of oil. Kerosene lamps were already burning and the great minds of the world were developing their internal combustion engines. Civilization slowly but surely marched towards the twentieth century - the century of motors.
It was during this period that John met the chemist Samuel Andrews, who was fascinated by the problems of oil refining and was confident in the huge prospects of the emerging industry. In those days, the conversation was only about the possibilities of kerosene lighting of rooms and streets. A huge number of people, cities and towns ... A huge market that no one has yet controlled.
At this time, a message appeared in the press about a "fresh" oil field, which was discovered by Edwin Drake. The offer was risky, but very tempting. Rockefeller teamed up with Andrews, and then both of them, already as partners, turned to Clark. As a result, the oil refinery "Andrews and Clark" was established, with the aim of building an oil refinery, which the partners called "Flats". It was decided to transport oil by railway.
For the Rockefeller success story, oil and railroads are key words. And it's not that oil was transported by rail. There are 12 golden rules on how to achieve success from the first billionaire. I present to your attention rule number 13, about which the author did not like to expand.
In the new company, Rockefeller led the search for oil fields. The work is hard and not always rewarding. During this period, John thought about the fact that a huge number of small enterprises are scattered around the country that are engaged in oil production and its processing. Terrible chaos in the market. But if all these small enterprises are united under one sign and roof ... It was with this idea that John Rockefeller came to his partners. This is historical fact.
And now the main recipe in the success story from John Rockefeller - read carefully!
Under the laws of the time, corporations were not allowed to own property outside the state where the company was registered. And this was a big problem - potential investors are not interested in investing small amounts of money in a huge number of objects. The object of investment becomes much more attractive if the property can be combined.
And Rockefeller figured out how to get around the laws. The business plan (if you can call it that) of the future company was prepared very carefully: they even thought out such a question that employees should not have been paid in cash, they were given shares - this, according to Rockefeller, should have made them work more and more productively.
The following historical fact testifies to the thoroughness of the plan: barrels were required to transport oil. Barrels could be bought for $2.50, but the companions opened their own production, which allowed them to get the same barrels for $1. For a small enterprise, the price of a barrel was not significant. However, the partners planned a business in which hundreds of thousands of barrels were needed.
The next point of the plan was the organization of transportation of oil and refined products. Rockefeller carefully studied all the transport companies operating in the region, their competitive advantages and weaknesses. A separate plan was drawn up, which involved the creation conflict situations among transport workers and using the consequences of these conflicts for their own purposes. Rockefeller created problems for transport workers, and then helped solve them.
Even before Standard Oil was formed, the implementation of this plan reduced the cost of transporting one barrel of oil from $2.40 to $1.65. This "small" advantage, multiplied by tens of thousands of barrels, was the key to the very big success of the future supercompany.
A number of secret agreements between the Rockefeller company and transport workers appeared: low price for Rockefeller and a high price for any other company. Under such conditions, competitors had no chance of success. Employees of competing oil producing and oil refining companies were bribed.
In 1870, the Standard Oil Company was incorporated with authorized capital at 1 million dollars. And in this new company, the share of John Rockefeller was 27%. And from that moment between oil producers and refiners began real war, behind the scenes of which Standard Oil was hiding, which organized this war.
As mentioned above, in those days, oil was transported in wooden barrels on open railway platforms. The oil evaporated and the buyer received only a part of the shipped cargo - the most valuable volatile oil fractions evaporated.
The Rockefeller group secretly owned the transport company Union Tanker Car Company, and the transport company had a patent for pressurized metal tank cars (oil is still transported in such tanks at the present time). Transport company allocated such wagons to Standard Oil's competitors, and John Rockefeller tracked competitors' deliveries, their volumes and consumers. And as soon as a competitor began to invest in the development of his business, received loans and expanded the sales market, the command followed - do not allocate wagons. Competitors were going bankrupt, and Standard Oil was buying up bankrupts at a meager price. Rockefeller used this business expansion tactic for many years. Competitors could not even imagine who organized their bankruptcy and who is the real owner of the transport company.
Just because of collusion between Standard Oil and transport workers, the state treasury lost more than fifty million dollars annually. The independent oil companies that remained afloat turned to the state administration with a proposal to build a pipeline. The state authorities supported the idea and construction began in 1878. The pipe could destroy the monopoly that Rockefeller had created for so many years.
Standard Oil's response to the decision to build the Riverside pipeline was the recruitment of gangs who attacked the builders and blew up the already assembled sections of the highway. The oil pipeline was still completed. In response, the Rockefeller company built four such pipelines and announced a meager price for pumping oil. A rival pipeline went bankrupt and was bought out, again at a rock bottom price, by Standard Oil. It is clear that as soon as the competitor was eliminated, the prices for transporting oil increased significantly.
Why were the authorities silent? He did not remain silent. A Pennsylvania grand jury returned an indictment against Rockefeller and Flagler for organizing gang attacks. A demand was sent to New York for the arrest of John Rockefeller. However, for unknown reasons (ha-ha), this judicial act was not executed.
Success in all its splendor
This is where the real success began. Rockefeller negotiated with transport workers across the country and bought up small oil producing and oil refining companies. The competitors had little choice: go bankrupt or transfer property to the Rockefeller empire for a share of the shares. Thus, by 1880, more than 95% of all oil production and refining in North America. Having become a monopolist, Rockefeller raised the price of oil.
And ten years later, the Sherman Anti-Monopoly Act required Standard Oil to be broken up into a number of small and independent companies. Rockefeller complied: 34 small businesses were created. And in each of these enterprises, John Rockefeller had a controlling stake. Virtually every modern American oil company has a success story that begins with Standard Oil. To be more precise: their stories are the success story of John Davison Rockefeller.
Prior to the separation, Standard Oil, annually, brought to its main owner more than three million dollars. And in addition to Standard Oil, John Rockefeller owned 16 railway transport companies, 6 metallurgical enterprises, 6 shipping companies, a dozen firms that traded in real estate, a group of banks (9 units) and many other properties, such as orange groves and huge land plots.
What else can be said about John Rockefeller and his success story?
He was a very religious man (?) and from his very childhood he gave ten percent of his income annually to the Baptist Church. In 1905, 10 percent amounted to one hundred million dollars.
He lived long life and died at the age of 97 (and dreamed of living to 100). He began (gradually) to move away from business management as early as 1897 and concentrated all his efforts on charity: the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller Medical Institute were built with his money, etc., etc., etc.
Before he died, he gave away more than $500 million for charitable purposes. But this was not the whole fortune: the son inherited about 460 million.
In 2007 Forbes magazine attempted to estimate Rockefeller's wealth in modern terms. It turned out 318 billion. Bill Gates topped the list that year with just $50 billion.
And finally, 12 golden rules for success from John Davison Rockefeller.
Success stories always make you think about how a person managed to achieve this very success, in what ways and by what means. If you have read this post fully and carefully, you may well have felt some disappointment: a Christian entrepreneur, high moral principles and collusion, bandits, tax evasion on an especially large scale. And it's all one person - John Davison Rockefeller. To decide who he was, as always, is up to you. One big life, like any big story, is made up of small stories. Can these stories be considered success stories or should they be bashfully silent? To each his own. There was just such a person and this person lived. And these are no longer success stories - this is a historical fact.
Almost similar stories but such different fates. You can look at the path to success or. And think...
Rockefeller. Biography of John Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller
John Rockefeller still considered the richest man in US history. If we compare the dollar of that time and today, then Warren Buffett, with all due respect to him, was not even close to the most famous oil tycoon in history.
Many people adored Rockefeller because he, being pious person He spent a fair amount of his income on charity.
Really helping 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. Regardless of the situation. This is exactly the kind of person who could get rich during the oil boom in the United States, which then could only be compared with the gold rush or today's boom in Internet startups ...
You could instantly make a fortune, and just as quickly lose it.
The Clerk Who Became a Billionaire
The wealth of John D. Rockefeller is legendary. So, in 1917, his fortune was 2.5% of the total US gross domestic product. Rockefeller could easily finance the entire state, while not being on the verge of ruin. For comparison, a few numbers:
The entire US federal budget in 1917 was $715 million;
Rockefeller's fortune in the same year is estimated at between $900 and $1 billion;
Beginning of work
And it all started with a job as a clerk. John Rockefeller was born in New York in 1839. True, he did not manage to live in this city for a long time, since the family quickly moved to Pennsylvania. I must say that this was a key moment for the future of Rockefeller, since the land of Pennsylvania turned out to be extremely rich in oil deposits. If we talk about the Rockefeller family, then the mother was a fairly pious woman, and the father was rather a woman-obsessed reveler who rarely appeared at home. All this contributed to the fact that young John was imbued with faith in God and religious values from childhood (due 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.
Since John Rockefeller was the eldest child in the family, at the age of 16 he went to look for work. By that time, he was already quite good at mathematics, and even completed a three-month accounting course in Cleveland. However, finding a job was not easy. 6 weeks of searching were wasted. Until John was finally hired as an assistant accountant by Hewitt and Tuttle. It is worth noting that it was such a time that for the first three months Rockefeller studied rather than worked. Those. did everything for free.
However, studying brought Rockefeller real pleasure. He started his working day at 6:30 am and ended after 10 pm. Studying at Hewitt and Tuttle gave a lot to the future oil tycoon. John Rockefeller, in general, quickly enough was able to establish himself as a competent professional. And as soon as the manager of the HaT company left his post, John was immediately appointed to his place. True, at the same time he was given a salary of 600 dollars. This greatly offended Rockefeller, as his predecessor received 2000. John left the company. As it turned out, not in vain.
Rockefeller was only 19 years old, but he already had some start-up capital earned over 3 years of work. In addition, he borrowed some money from his selfish father. This was done in order to organize small business with partners. The business consisted in the sale of flour, grain, pork and other products. It was 1858. Further in the history of John Rockefeller there is a small gap. It is not known for certain how his affairs were from the age of 20 to 31. Commerce, most likely, did not become his business. Be that as it may, the real money was supposed to bring him oil.
However, let's think about what oil was at that time? It was something new that was used to produce industrial kerosene (the idea of the Lukasevich brothers from Russia). In addition, people realized that kerosene could be used to produce light. This was key factor. Notice that there hasn't even been talk of gasoline yet. This is the middle of the 19th century.
In 1865, John Rockefeller meets a chemist (name unknown), who tells him about kerosene. This is how the Standard Oil Company was founded. Rockefeller started looking for oil. At the beginning of his career, the future millionaire noticed that the entire oil business is 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 in his work, it would be possible to think about some kind of commercial success. This is what he did with his partner. To begin with, a company charter was created. In order to motivate employees, Rockefeller at first decided to abandon wages I reward 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.
The business began to generate income, and Rockefeller began to slowly buy others oil companies. One by one, small businesses that couldn't cost too much. This strategy did not sit well with many Americans. In the press, Rockefeller was even called nothing more than a pirate. John's path to success was overshadowed not only by attacks from the press, but also by criticism from many citizens. And sometimes spreading frank rumors. They say that Rockefeller himself 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, 80% 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 10 years, the famous Sherman law against monopolies will be released. Rockefeller will respond by splitting Standard Oil into 34 small companies (in all he will 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 the current major oil companies have gone from Standard Oil. For example, this can be said about such giants as Mobile, Exxon, Chevron and others.
The secret of success
Meanwhile, at the beginning of the 20th century, electricity becomes the factor that, as it seemed to many, could destroy the entire oil business. But no. This did not happen, thanks to the advent of cars. Divine gift?
Rockefeller's success is largely due to his family. Religious values seriously helped John in the oil business, where a real mess ruled: prostitution right at the workplace, robbery, theft, mine explosions due to oversight and much more. In addition, John, in search of benefits for his company, was able to pit others against each other. So, he was able to conclude a profitable transport deal, pitting several railway companies against each other, and representatives water transport. Thanks to this, Standard Oil was able to transport barrels of oil 1.5 times cheaper than its competitors.
Finally, John married quite successfully. His wife was the teacher Laura Spelman, according to Rockefeller, who had a practical mindset. Rockefeller would later remark that if it weren't for her, he might never have become rich.
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 been paying more and more attention to charity, transferring business management to reliable partners.
During this time, he will do a lot for the country. Moreover, we are talking not only about helping those in need. Rockefeller will pay church tithes all his life. 10% of your monthly income. In addition, he will build the University of Chicago, Spelman College, Rockefeller University, the Museum of Modern Art, the monasteries and the Rockefeller Foundation, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.
In 1917, John Rockefeller will hand over all his affairs to his eldest son. And 20 years later, the oil tycoon will die. The truth won't die charitable foundation, which still exists, bringing benefits to people.
Among other things, Rockefeller was remembered enough wise quotes, which today are filled with various textbooks on business. Here are some of them:
“Charity is only good if it helps you gain independence.”
"Your well-being depends on your own decisions"
"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 this skill than for anything else in the world.”
“The first and foremost prerequisite for success in business is patience.”
The name Rockefeller has long been synonymous with wealth. It was the representative of this dynasty who became the first dollar billionaire in history. Where did the Rockefellers come from?
lumberjack's son
John Davison Rockefeller was born in 1838 in Richford near New York, the second of six children of William Avery Rockefeller and Eliza Davison. The head of the family first worked as a lumberjack, then started selling herbal medicines.
John had to earn a living from the age of seven. He dug potatoes from neighbors and fed turkeys for sale. Having barely learned to read and write, the boy started notebook in which he recorded all his income and expenses.
At age 16, Johnny went to college in Cleveland, majoring in Fundamentals of Commerce. But soon he dropped out and went to a three-month accounting course. After graduation, he was hired as an assistant accountant by Hewitt & Tuttle, a real estate and shipping company. John quickly rose to be the manager of a firm with a salary of $600. But one fine day, the young man found out that the company paid his predecessor $ 2,000. He immediately left the company and vowed to never work for hire again.
How to become a billionaire
In 1857, John became junior partner in the firm of John Morris Clark and Rochester. To do this, he had to borrow money from his own father at 10% per annum. The company traded in grain, meat and other food products. Since the beginning civil war she took up the supply of the army and prospered.
When the first kerosene lamps appeared, John realized that the oil from which kerosene is made would quickly increase in price. He invested in the extraction and processing of black gold and did not lose. Together with the chemist Samuel Andrews, who agreed to take over the technical side of the matter, they created the firm "Andrews and Clark", engaged in the construction of the Flats oil refinery in Cleveland. In 1870, it became the famous Standard Oil Company.
Rockefeller paid his employees not in cash, but in shares of the enterprise, thus motivating them to work successfully, which very soon had a positive effect on income. He also began to buy small firms one at a time, in order to eventually concentrate the entire oil business in his hands.
By 1880, the Rockefeller Company owned 95% of all US oil production. However, in 1911, due to the Sherman Antitrust Act, Standard Oil had to be divided into 34 small companies. But for the owners, this made little difference. A controlling stake in all firms still belonged to John, and capital even began to grow faster.
The Rockefellers were not only involved in oil - they owned 16 railroad and 6 steel companies, 9 real estate agencies, 6 shipping companies, 9 banks and 3 orange groves. Although the family tried not to flaunt their wealth, the public constantly discussed the size of their land and luxurious villas.
John Davison Rockefeller dreamed of living to be 100 years old. But he did not succeed - he died of a heart attack in May 1937. At that time, his fortune was 1.4 billion dollars.
Rockefeller heirs
Unfortunately, John had only one son, a full namesake of his father, who continued his work. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. received $460 million from his father's will. Most He donated his inheritance to charity. In particular, he built a complex of buildings in New York for the future headquarters of the UN - it cost him $ 9 million. John's six children inherited $240 million from him.
Rockefeller Jr.'s daughter Abby and son John became major philanthropists who founded many foundations and organizations, including the Institute of Pacific Relations. Nelson Rockefeller served as vice president of the United States from 1974-1977, and his brother Winthrop was at one time governor of Arkansas.
Until recently, the oldest member of the Rockefeller clan was David Rockefeller, last son John Davison Rockefeller, Jr., born in New York in 1915 and died on March 20, 2017. In the past, he chaired the Council for international relations and was president of The Chase Manhattan Bank until 1981.
Today, the Rockefeller fortune is estimated, according to unverified data, at 300 billion dollars.
This family is considered one of the most influential in the world.