John Rockefeller about himself. John Rockefeller. Richest man in history

John Davison Rockefeller, photo

John Rockefeller is the richest and most successful person in human history.

His fortune was $318.3 billion (at 2007 dollar exchange rates). He was 74 years old and at the peak of his wealth, with a fortune of 1.53% of the American economy, America's first billionaire.

« I never knew who I would be in this life, but I always knew that I was born for something more“- this is what John Davison Rockefeller said, according to the recollections of his beloved grandson David.

As a young man, John Davison Rockefeller ( John Davison Rockefeller abbreviated as DDR) said that he has 2 dreams in life: the first is to earn $100,000, and the second is to live to be 100 years old. He was 2 years and 2 months short of goal 2, but he made his first dream come true with tremendous success.

John with his son

Rockefeller was born into a poor family

Full name: John Davidson Rockefeller Sr. ( he later had a son with the same name) was born on July 8, 1839 in New York State, USA, and died in 1937, having lived ninety-eight (98) years.

His father, William Avery "Big Bill" Rockefeller was a lazy man who spent most of his time thinking about how to avoid physical labor. John's mother Louise (Eliza), a self-employed farmer, was a very devout Baptist, and was often in poverty because her husband was constantly away for long periods of time and she constantly had to save on everything. However, thanks to the influence of his mother Louise and the devout Baptist John D., he grew up to be quite a hardworking guy.

• His mother was a terribly devout Baptist, so from childhood she instilled in John the idea that he needed to work hard and constantly save.
• The Rockefellers moved to the New World in the 18th century and gradually moved north to Michigan. Things are piled into a creaking ox-cart, Rockefeller's grandfather holds the reins, his wife and children trail behind, swallowing road dust. They stopped in Richford, New York, where John Rockefeller would be born in 1839.
• He became a “devil” as a child. His dry, skin-covered face, eyes devoid of shine and thin pale lips greatly frightened those around him. In fact, he was quite sensitive and emotional, he just seemed to hide all his feelings in the farthest pocket of his soul. Few people knew what John really was like.

In young age

Education

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.

Starting a business and how you got rich

Business was part of John's family upbringing. As a child, he would buy a pound of candy, divide it into small piles, and sell it to his sisters for a small markup. And at the age of seven he raised turkeys and sold them to his neighbors. He lent the $50 he earned from this to a neighboring farmer at 7% per annum.

In 1853, the Rockefeller family moved to Cleveland. Since John Rockefeller was one of the eldest children in the family, at the age of 16 he went looking for work.

John began his career in 1855 at the age of 16 as an accountant at the Cleveland trading firm Gevit & Tettl with a salary of first $5 and then $25 a week.

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, like Morgan, was of military age when the Civil War broke out in the United States. And both bought their way out of military service for $300 (in the North of the country this was a common practice for those with means).

Having gained what he considered to be sufficient experience and saving $800, John left the company in 1858 to open a partnership called Clark & ​​Rockefeller, a small grocery firm typical of the era of small business.

In the early 1860s, Rockefeller went out of business and organized new company- Rockefeller & Andrews, focusing on oil refining and kerosene trading, and continued to grow.

Then several more firms joined it, and in 1870 they founded the Standard Oil Company, with a capital of $1 million, which, with the help of successful business decisions and some predatory and illegal actions, became a giant monopoly.

At its height, Standard Oil had about 90% of the refined petroleum (kerosene) market in the United States (in the beginning, Standard Oil's products were not particularly interesting oil industry, the gasoline produced by those refineries was dumped in rivers because it was considered worthless).

In 1910, 55 years after Rockefeller made his first $5, he became the world's first dollar billionaire. “Through perseverance, anything - right or wrong, good or bad - will be achieved,” said Rockefeller.

In 1911 Supreme Court declared Standard Oil a monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Standard Oil Company was divided.

The corporation was divided into 30 small companies with different boards and directors, in which John Rockefeller retained controlling interests. By this time, John Rockefeller had long since retired from the management of the company, but still had a huge percentage of the shares. He received at least $3 million annually from this business.

Oil prices are the secret to success

Since crude oil is essentially worthless without distillation, hundreds of refineries have sprung up at the other end of the pipeline (and this is true. Under Henry Ford there were 240 automakers, of which three remain - Ford, Chrysler and General Motors).

In Cleveland, Rockefeller's Standard Oil was just one of 26 refineries struggling to survive in a very shaky, single-supplier market.

In the 1960s, the price of crude oil fluctuated from 13 dollars per barrel to 10 cents. In fact, Rockefeller was not the first to appreciate the economic potential of the new industry, since the resulting kerosene could heat houses and light the streets of rapidly growing American cities.

The cheaper it cost the refiner to deliver oil from the field to the refinery and from the refinery to the market and consumer, the greater the margin with which he could play.

Rockefeller did both with success.

In early 1872, having entered into a union called the South Import Company, Rockefeller entered into a pact with three railroad companies (Pennsylvania, New York Central and Erie): they received the lion's share all oil transportation.

In exchange, Standard Oil was given preferential railroad rates while its refining competitors were crushed with punitive prices. In addition to his enormous price advantages, Rockefeller received detailed information about competitors' shipments from the shippers and carriers union (South Improvement Company), which greatly helped in undermining their prices.

Time to work is the secret to success

Rockefeller knows that God blesses the righteous, and turns his life into a constant feat - he comes to work at 6.30 in the morning, and leaves so late that he has to promise himself to finish his accounting no later than ten in the evening.

John's favorite game

Daily practice of his favorite game - golf - provided the necessary stay at fresh air and the sun. He did not forget about indoor games, reading and other beneficial activities.

A successful marriage is the secret of success

The above fully applies to Rockefeller’s wife. Before marrying a young promising businessman, Laura Celestina Spelman, who can hardly be called a beauty, was school teacher and was distinguished by exceptional piety. They met during Rockefeller's short student days, but got married only 9 years later. The girl attracted John's attention with her piety, practicality of mind and the fact that she reminded him of his mother. According to Rockefeller himself, without Laura’s advice, he would have “remained poor.”

State of the Rockefeller clan at the end of the 19th century

In addition to the oil business, which brought in $3 million annually, the businessman owned 16 railway and 6 steel companies, 9 real estate firms, 6 shipping companies, 9 banks and 3 orange groves.

« I believe that the purpose of any person on earth is to honestly take for himself everything he can, and just as honestly give everything he can.“- this is how John formulated his life credo.

At age 16, Rockefeller began working as an accountant and philanthropist.

Rockefeller was always a philanthropist; he gave 10% of his income from his very first salary to charity. As his wealth grew, so did his contributions to charity.

« Grandfather was not interested in purchasing Scottish or French castles; he was disgusted by the thought of buying art or yachts", says David Rockefeller.

In 1908, John wrote and published a book called "Memoirs", which outlined Rockefeller's 12 Golden Rules.

When John Davison started, his fortune was in the thousands of dollars, and all the money went into business. Now that he had hundreds of millions, it was time for charitable charity.

Fifty thousand letters came to Rockefeller a month asking for help; whenever possible, he answered them and sent checks to people.

• He helped found the University of Chicago with $35 million, established scholarships, paid pensions - all this was paid for by the consumer, whom Rockefeller forced to pay for kerosene and gasoline as much as Standard Oil needed.
• In 1901, he founded the New York Institute for Medical Research (from 1965 - Rockefeller University), in 1903 - the Council for Universal Education, in 1913 - the Rockefeller Foundation, in 1918 - the Laura Spelman Foundation (in honor of his wife - helping children and social sciences).
• The total amount of his philanthropic donations amounted to more than $700 million.
• Half of America dreamed of extracting more money from John Davison Rockefeller. The other half was ready to lynch him. Rockefeller was getting old. The passions seething around him got on his nerve.

In all the places where the aged Rockefeller appeared, he handed out handfuls of five- and ten-cent coins from his pockets to everyone around him. And he always took a supply of them with him.

John gave birth to four daughters and one son - John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874, died on May 11, 1960 during a winter vacation in Arizona), who continued his father's work ( the youngest had six children, and his five sons, representing the third generation of the Rockefeller dynasty, also became famous in the fields of business, finance and philanthropy).

John Sr. died in 1937 at the age of 98, with a fortune of US$1.4 billion (1937 par) or 1.54% of US GDP, but before his death he gave away half of his accumulated wealth, founding a philanthropic organization that continues to give money for charity, to this day.

John Davison Rockefeller Sr.:

John Davison Rockefeller is the richest man in the world in the history of mankind.

The future billionaire was born on July 8, 1839 in Richford, New York. Both parents, William Avery Rockefeller and Louise Selianto, were members of the Baptist Church. The family raised six children, of whom John was the second oldest. William worked as a traveling salesman and from childhood instilled in his children the ability to trade. To do this, his father paid John to do household chores. During periods when William was away, his mother, who did not work anywhere and was only involved in housework, had to save, and Louise instilled this ability in her offspring.

The world's first billionaire John Rockefeller

Little John is already with early age He showed commercial savvy - he sold sweets to his sisters, which he bought in bulk. And at the age of 7, the boy joined his neighbors on a farm, where he earned his first money by picking potatoes and raising turkeys. From the very first days of his working life, Rockefeller kept a ledger where he carefully entered income and expenses.

Young John gave the impression of a quiet, thoughtful boy to those around him. The lean and unemotional child thought for a long time and was in no hurry to make a decision. But in fact, John was a very sensitive boy, and he was experiencing loss sister, who died as an infant. After the girl's death, John lay prone on the grass away from home for 12 hours.

Rockefeller did not like to study at school, although teachers noted the boy’s tenacious memory and ability to think logically. During his student years, John started a moneylending business. Rockefeller realized that by lending small amounts at low interest rates, he could make money easily. The boy did not want to become a slave to money and work for a salary day and night; John decided to make money his own slaves and make it work for himself. After graduating from school, John became a student at a commercial college, so the young businessman took a three-month accounting course, where he learned the necessary basics of managing money.

Business

In 1855, John got his first and only hired job at Hewitt & Tuttle in the accounting department. The young man started with a salary of $17, but after a few months the young man received a raise to $25. A year later, Rockefeller was appointed manager of the company. John began to receive a salary 20 times more than the accounting salary. But the ambitious young man was not satisfied with this amount, since the previous manager was paid much more and, without working even a year, John quits to start his own business.

In order to become a partner of a businessman from Great Britain, Rockefeller had to borrow $1,200 from his own father at 10% per annum. Having collected the necessary $2,000, Rockefeller became a partner and owner of shares in the company Clark and Rochester. The company traded agricultural products. Rockefeller quickly won the trust of his partners with his business acumen, intuition and sincerity. The young man began managing the financial affairs of the enterprise.

In the second half of the 19th century, development began in America new sphere market - the oil refining business, since kerosene lamps have become popular in everyday life. John Davison Rockefeller invites practicing chemist Samuel Andrews to cooperate and makes the scientist a partner in the new company Andrews and Clark. Clark's previous partner did not want to participate in such a business, and John had to buy out a stake in the company and take over the management of the business.

At the age of 31, Rockefeller created the company Standard Oil, which was engaged in the full cycle of kerosene production, from oil production to sales. finished products. A peculiarity of doing business was that John did not pay employees in cash. The businessman gave out incentives with shares of the enterprise. This approach allowed employees to work with greater responsibility, since now their well-being directly depended on the success of the company.

Rockefeller's business development proceeded at a rapid pace. Due to entrepreneurship and the ability to negotiate with influential people John achieved reduced prices for freight transportation by rail for his own company. Compared to its competitors, Standard Oil's petroleum products were transported 2-3 times cheaper. Rockefeller thus forced other oil companies to sell production to Standard Oil. Thus, the enterprising businessman turned into a monopolist.

In 1890, the anti-monopoly law of Senator Sherman was passed in the United States, which was directed against the activities of the Standard Oil company. Over the course of 20 years, Rockefeller was forced to split production into 34 controlled enterprises. In each of them, John secured the right to own a controlling stake. This division of business had a positive effect on the tycoon’s capital; Rockefeller increased his own income many times over.

State

John Rockefeller's annual income from the activities of Standard Oil was $3 million. At the time of his death, according to experts, the oil tycoon's fortune was $1.4 billion. The company owned 70% of all world oil fields. In terms of the current dollar exchange rate, this is $318 billion or 1.5% of the GDP of the United States. Rockefeller owned 16 railroad companies, 6 steel mills, and 6 shipping companies. The businessman owned 9 banks and 9 real estate companies.

At the end of his life, Rockefeller surrounded himself with luxury, but did not advertise this to society. The tycoon's family owned orange groves, villas and mansions, and a land plot of 273 hectares. John Rockefeller's favorite game was golf, so the billionaire had a playing field at his disposal for his personal use. The tycoon explained his own well-being by discipline and maintaining 12 golden rules of life, which John developed in his youth.

Charity

John Rockefeller attended a Protestant church from childhood and, as an exemplary Christian, from the very first earnings he began to donate tithes to the needs of the parish he visited. The oilman did not change his own habit until the end of his life. The tycoon donated $100 million. In addition to donating to the church, Rockefeller did a lot of charity work. John listed sums of money University of Chicago, New York Institute for Medical Research, of which John was the founder. At the beginning of the 20th century, Rockefeller created the Council for Universal Education and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Tycoon John Rockefeller in 1885

The oil tycoon wrote a number of biographical books, the first of which was the 1909 publication “Memoirs of People and Events.” In 1910, Rockefeller’s book “How I Made $500,000,000” about the history of enrichment was published. In 1913, the entrepreneur wrote the book “Memoirs”, in which he outlined everything Interesting Facts own biography.

Personal life

At the age of 25, John Rockefeller married teacher Laura Celestia Spelman from a wealthy family. The girl attracted the groom with her piety. Young people were united mutual feeling love for each other and views on life and family well-being. Both were extremely economical and unpretentious in their desires.

The Rockefeller family had 4 daughters and the only heir was the son John D. Rockefeller Jr., who continued his father’s work. Even when Rockefeller purchased the Cleveland oil refinery, the family continued to live in rented housing and did not have servants. As the oil magnate himself wrote, John owes his commercial success to his wife.

After the death of his wife, John Rockefeller lived for a long time. The oilman fell in love with female company and gradually got used to wearing expensive suits. Rockefeller's favorite headdress was a straw hat, in which the elderly entrepreneur often posed for photographs.

John raised his children in an original way. Each child had a ledger in which monetary rewards and expenses were recorded. In the Rockefeller house there was a certain system of rewarding children for their work. John rewarded his daughters and son for their refusal of any benefits. For example, for a day without candy, a child was entitled to a sum of money.

John D. Rockefeller Jr. increased the fortunes of the family corporation many times over. And five grandchildren, the most famous of whom were Nelson, Winthrop and, participated in political and economic life USA until the beginning of the 21st century.

Death

John Rockefeller had two dreams in life that did not come true: to live to be 100 years old and earn $100 thousand. But death overtook the entrepreneur at the age of 97, and his fortune amounted to $192 billion. John Rockefeller died on May 23, 1937 from heart attack in Florida.

Quotes

Famous oil tycoon quotes:

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.

Rockefeller's 12 rules

1. Work less for people. The more you work for yourself, the faster you become poor. The word "work" has the root "slave".
2. The right way to save money is to take a step towards success. Buy products where it is cheaper or in bulk, prepare a list of what you need in advance, purchase products according to the list.
3. If you are poor, start doing business. If you don’t have a penny at all, then you should open a business right now, without delaying for a minute.
4. The path to success, the road to great wealth, passes through passive income.
5. Dream of earning at least $50,000 a month, and possibly more.
6. Money comes to you through other people. Communication and goodwill make people rich. An unsociable person rarely becomes rich.
7. A poor environment, unsuccessful people drag you along with you into poverty and failure. You need to surround yourself with winners and optimists.
8. Don’t come up with an excuse for the possibility of postponing the first step towards achieving your goal - there is none.
9. Study the biographies and thoughts of the world's richest people who have achieved success. The life story of a successful person will help fulfill everyone’s desires - that’s the meaning of this quote.
10. Dreams are the most important thing in your life. The main thing is to dream and believe that dreams will come true. A person begins to die when he stops dreaming.
11. Help people not for money, but from the bottom of your heart. Donate 10% of profits to charity. That is, every person should help those in need. This is evidenced by the success story of John Rockefeller.
12. Create a business system and enjoy your earned money. The meaning of this quote is that a person should work in order to live happily, and not stupidly accumulate wealth.

John Rockefeller remembered his father as a teacher who literally coached him to get rich. The father often bargained with his son and explained to him the principles of trade and business; from an early age, John was trained in buying and selling something.

Due to the frequent absence of the head of the family, the housekeeping and raising of children was left to Eliza Davison, the wife of William Rockefeller. John's mother was a Baptist who taught her son to be hardworking, disciplined and frugal. From this we can conclude that it was the upbringing of John Rockefeller that played important role in his life, he inherited all his qualities from his parents.

So, at the age of seven, the young entrepreneur began his activities. John raised turkeys for sale, worked part-time for neighbors and took on any paid work, bought candy and sold it at a premium to his sisters. Later, he gave the $50 he earned from turkeys to a neighbor at seven percent per annum. All my commercial activities John wrote in the ledger. At the age of thirteen, John went to school; it was difficult for the young man to study, because in order to perform well, he had to spend a lot of time and effort on lessons. After graduating from school, Rockefeller entered college, where he studied accounting and commerce. After some time, John realized that the knowledge gained and the thirst for activity would bring more benefits than wiping his pants in college, so he left his studies.

Rockefeller's early career after graduation

At the age of sixteen, John went to look for work, as he was one of the eldest children in the family. Six weeks of searching and young Rockefeller gets a job as an assistant accountant at the real estate and shipping company Hewitt & Tuttle. The young man quickly established himself as a competent professional, which is why he was appointed manager immediately after the previous employee left this position. But this was the first last work hired by John, because he left the company after his salary was set at $600, although the previous manager received $2,000. This prompted the future billionaire to leave his job.

It was at this time that the English entrepreneur John Morris was looking for a partner capable of investing two thousand dollars in a joint business. Then John, who left his job, had only eight hundred dollars saved up, so he borrows the amount he needs from his father at ten percent per annum. On April 27, 1857, Rockefeller became a junior partner in the Clark and Rochester company, which supplied hay, grain, meat and other products. During these years the civil war began, federal authorities it was necessary to supply the army with food. Starting capital The company where John worked did not have enough supplies to carry out large supplies, so a loan was required. And John Rockefeller received it despite the fact that the company was young. It’s just that young John managed to impress the director of the bank, which is why he gave a loan to two entrepreneurs.

In 1864, John Rockefeller married a teacher whom he met as a student. Laura Celestina was a pious woman with a practical mind, and her advice, as John claimed, helped him greatly in life.

In the late 1850s and early 1860s, kerosene lamps became widespread, therefore, the demand for kerosene itself and for the raw material for its production - oil - increased. At this time, John met Samuel Andrews, a chemist who worked on oil refining and was confident in kerosene as good means lighting. Rockefeller quickly involved his business partner Clark in the business, and the Andrews and Clark oil refining company appeared. The Flats oil refinery was established in Cleveland, and oil and its products were transported by rail.

Wealth and fame

In 1870, Rockefeller created the Standard Oil company, which would soon bring him wealth and fame, but for now he had to work hard. At that time, the entire oil business was a chaotic machine, John understood that if order was not restored, there would be no profit. And commercial success in general. This is where the future billionaire began, the beginning was made by the company’s charter, and the decision was made to refuse wages. Instead, bonuses in the form of shares were introduced, Rockefeller thought that this would increase productivity, because employees would consider themselves part of the company, and their final income will depend on the success of the business.

And the business took off, and John began buying up other oil companies. Even if it was one small enterprise at a time, which were not very expensive, John increased the size of Standard Oil. This did not please the competitors, who understood that at this rate a very strong monopolist would appear on the market. Also, thanks to a successful policy with railroad companies, Rockefeller was able to make a profit even from oil transportation. Standard Oil paid ten cents to transport a barrel of oil, while its competitors paid thirty-five cents. As a result, all companies competing with Standard Oil were doomed to either merge with the future monopolist or go bankrupt. Most of competitors chose to merge in exchange for a share of shares. By 1880, Rockefeller had 95% of all oil production in America at his disposal; later Standard Oil became a monopolist in the oil market, raised prices and became the most large company in the world.

Ten years later, a law against monopolies was passed in the United States, so Rockefeller had to break Standard Oil into 34 small companies, in which a controlling stake was retained and capital was increased. Most of the major oil companies such as Mobil and Exxon originated from Standard Oil.

The monopoly company brought Rockefeller three million dollars annually, and John also owned sixteen railroad and six steel companies, real estate firms, shipping companies, banks and even orange groves. Rockefeller had a villa and land plot huge size, houses in two states and even a personal golf course.

Rockefeller Charity

Being a devout man, John Rockefeller from an early age paid the church a tenth of his income, in 1905 this share increased to one hundred million. And since 1897, John has slowly handed over the leadership of his company to trusted people and immersed himself in charity. Since these years, the Rockefeller name has also been associated with charity, and John himself is considered one of the greatest philanthropists in the United States. Thus, with the help of charity, the University of Chicago, the Rockefeller Medical Institute, the Universal Education Council and the Rockefeller Foundation were built and opened. By the end of his life, John had given away nearly half a billion dollars to charity. With his help, the UN headquarters was built in New York. Last time John Rockefeller's fortune was recalculated to the equivalent of 2007, then it amounted to $318 billion, while the richest person for that year was Bill Gates with a fortune of $50 billion.

In 1935, John Rockefeller turned 96 years old; at that time, according to statistics, about one person in a hundred thousand lived to see this age. On this occasion Insurance Company wrote John a check for three million, because he was the first person in the history of this company to live to that age.

Another little dream of John was to live a century, alas, he was three years short. On May 23, 1937, John died of a heart attack at age 97. And even though after him there was only one son left in the family, five grandchildren continued the work of the Rockefeller family, preserving the tradition of philanthropy and participation in politics.

John Rockefeller (1839-1937) - American entrepreneur and multimillionaire, a person whose name has become a symbol of wealth.
He was hardworking, purposeful and pious, for which his partners nicknamed him “the deacon.”

The workers' wives frightened their children with them: “Don't cry, otherwise Rockefeller will take you away!” The paradox was that the richest man in the world was most proud of his impeccable morals.

John Davison Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 in New York State. His upbringing was mainly done by his mother, an ardent Baptist. “She and the priest instilled in me from a young age that I had to work and save,” Rockefeller later recalled. Doing “business” was part of family upbringing. Also in early childhood John would buy a pound of candy, divide it into small piles, and sell it at a markup to his own sisters. At the age of seven, he sold the turkeys he raised to his neighbors, and lent the $50 he earned to his 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 as if the child was constantly struggling with some insoluble problem. The impression was deceptive - the boy was distinguished by a tenacious memory, a death grip and unshakable calm: while playing checkers, he tormented his partners, thinking about each move for half an hour. The stern face of John Davison Rockefeller, covered with dry skin, and his eyes, devoid of a boyish shine, truly frightened those around him.

Few people knew the other, human side of his nature. Peculiar to people John Davison Rockefeller hid his feelings in the farthest pocket and buttoned it up. Meanwhile, he was a sensitive boy: when his sister died, John ran into the backyard, threw himself on the ground and lay there all day. And having matured, Rockefeller did not become such a monster as he was portrayed: he once asked about a classmate whom he once liked (he just liked him - he was a highly moral young man); Upon learning that she was widowed and in poverty, the owner of Standard Oil immediately granted her a pension. It is almost impossible to judge what he really was like: Rockefeller subordinated all thoughts, all feelings, all desires to one great goal - to get rich.

Rockefeller never finished 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 at the trading company Hewitt and Tuttle. At first he was paid $17 a month, and then $25. When receiving them, John felt a sense of guilt, finding the reward excessively inflated. In order not to waste a single cent, the thrifty Rockefeller bought a small ledger from his first salary, where he recorded all his expenses, and carefully kept it all his life. But this was his first and last hired job. At the age of 18, John Rockefeller became a junior partner of businessman Maurice Clark.

The American Civil War of 1861-1865 helped the new company get on its feet. The warring armies paid generously for necessities, and their partners supplied them with flour, pork and salt. Towards the end of the war, oil deposits were discovered in Pennsylvania, near Cleveland, and the city found itself at the center of an oil rush. By 1864, Clark and Rockefeller were already deep into 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 partner’s share 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 production and oil refining enterprises into a single powerful oil trust. Competitors could not resist him, Rockefeller gave them a choice: unite with him or go bankrupt. If beliefs did not work, the dirtiest methods were used. For example, Standard Oil reduced prices on a competitor’s local market, forcing it to operate at a loss. Or Rockefeller sought to cut off oil supplies to recalcitrant refiners. For this, shell companies were used that were actually part of the Standard Oil group. Many refiners had no idea that the local rivals who were pressuring them were actually part of Rockefeller's growing empire.

For the success of such operations they were kept in the strictest confidence. Standard Oil agents exchanged encrypted dispatches with the parent company. Even visitors to Standard Oil management were not supposed to see each other. The company used an extensive system of industrial espionage to collect information about competitors and market conditions. Standard Oil's files included records of virtually every oil buyer in the country, the usage of every barrel sold by independent dealers, and even records of where every grocer from the Isle of Man to California bought kerosene.

By 1879, the “war of conquest” was virtually over. Standard Oil controlled 90% of US oil refining capacity. Rockefeller himself greeted this victory dispassionately - as an obvious inevitability.

In 1890, the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed to combat monopolies. Until 1911, Rockefeller and his partners managed to circumvent this law, but then Standard Oil was divided into thirty-four companies (virtually all of today's large American oil companies trace their history back to Standard Oil).

Personal life

Rockefeller was married to Laura Celestina Spelman, whom he met while still a student. A devout teacher like her husband, Laura Spelman also had a practical mind. Rockefeller once remarked: “Without her advice, I would have remained a poor man.”
Biographers write that Rockefeller did his best to teach his children to work, modesty and unpretentiousness. John created a unique layout for the house market economy: He appointed daughter Laura as “director” and ordered the children to keep detailed accounting books. 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 candy. Each of the children had their own garden bed, where the work of removing weeds also had its price. But for being late for breakfast, the little Rockefellers were fined.

Rockefeller fortune

In 1917, John Davison Rockefeller's personal fortune was estimated at between $900 million and $1 billion, which was 2.5% of the then United States GDP. In modern terms, Rockefeller owned approximately $150 billion. He remains the richest man in the world to this day. 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. Standard Oil's holdings 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. Standard Oil's share of world oil trade exceeded 70%.

Rockefeller's donations during his life exceeded $500 million. Of this, about $80 million was received by the University of Chicago, and at least $100 million by the Baptist Church. John Rockefeller also created and financed the New York Institute for Medical Research, the Council for Universal Education and the Rockefeller Foundation.

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, combined almost all human vices: he was a horse thief, a sharper, a swindler, a bigamist, and a notorious atheist. His acquaintance with future wife It began when he showed up 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 the complete opposite- a deeply religious woman, a thrifty housewife, by some miracle she managed to make ends meet and kept her 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 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 qualitative assessment, then 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 powers. 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 of an engagement ring for his bride, which cost $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 of the 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.” 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 exposé 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 had a hard time nervous breakdown, leading to hair loss, including 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 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 the Rockefeller Charitable Foundation, 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 orders 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 rowing champion. 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 company ExxonMobil, the heir to Standard Oil, as well as one of the largest US banks, Chase Manhattan Bank. The Rockefellers have a significant influence on the political life of the country, 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.