John Rockefeller: American Business Mogul Essay

John D. Rockefeller and his Standard Oil Company were widely admired and just as widely despised.

The company thrived immediately from the beginning so they started buying out their competitors. The company made very quick moves, so they eventually controlled most of the refineries in Cleveland. Then, they started to make deals with railroads to ship their oil and they started purchasing terminals and pipelines to handle the transportation of their oil. The Standard Oil Company started to buy their own plots of land for drilling and for lumber. By doing this, they started owning every part of the oil business. Standard then started buying out other competitors on the east and west coast. Through this, they established a monopoly, and controlled around 90% of the United States’ oil

At the mere age of 16 he went to work for a firm of farm-produce shippers. A couple of years later, he went into that business for himself. In 1862, he went into business with Samuel Andrews, the inventor of an inexpensive process for the refinement of crude petroleum. By 1870 the company had been superseded then in 1870 Rockefeller and his brother William and several associates took over the business. By the 1880’s the company was one of the largest and richest manufacturing concerns in the world. Rockefeller main concern wasn’t always business he married Laura Celestia Spelman in 1864. They had three daughters Bessie, Edith, and Alta and one son John D. Rockefeller, Jr. In 1862 Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Trust. This, the first corporate trust, was declared an illegal monopoly and ordered dissolved by the Ohio Supreme Court in 1892. Rockefeller retired as president in 1911. Also in 1911 the company was broken into separate corporations by an antitrust decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. At the peak of Rockefeller’s personal fortune was estimated at almost 1 billion dollars. Rockefeller founded the University of Chicago in 1892. Rockefeller died at the age of 97 on May 23, 1937, in Ormond, Florida. He was buried in Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio.

The Rockefellers feared the temptations of wealth, yet a visitor once described their estate as the kind of place God would have built if only he'd had the money. They amassed a fortune that outraged a Democratic nation, then gave it all away reshaping America. They were the closest thing the country had to a royal family, but the Rockefellers shunned the public eye. For decades, the Rockefeller name was despised in America, associated with John D. Rockefeller Sr.'s feared monopoly, Standard Oil. By the end of his life, Rockefeller had given away half of his fortune. But even his vast philanthropy could not erase the memory of his predatory

A "robber baron" was someone who employed any means necessary to enrich themselves at the expense of their competitors. Did John D. Rockefeller fall into that category or was he one of the "captains of industry", whose shrewd and innovative leadership brought order out of industrial chaos and generated great fortunes that enriched the public welfare through the workings of various philanthropic agencies that these leaders established? In the early 1860s Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, who came to epitomize both the success and excess of corporate capitalism. His company was based in northwestern Pennsylvania.

"In the spring of 1855 Rockefeller spent 10 weeks at Folsom 's commercial college -- a "chain college" -- where he learned single - and double - entry book keeping, penmanship, commercial history, mercantile customs, banking, and exchange" (WGBH Educational

The Rockefellers feared the temptations of wealth, yet a visitor once described their estate as the kind of place God would have built if only he’d had the money. They amassed a fortune that outraged a Democratic nation, then gave it all away reshaping America. They were the closest thing the country had to a royal family, but the Rockefellers shunned the public eye. For decades, the Rockefeller name was despised in America, associated with John D. Rockefeller Sr.’s feared monopoly, Standard Oil. By the end of his life, Rockefeller had given away half of his fortune. But even his vast philanthropy could not erase the memory of his predatory business practices. Who was Rockefeller? Was he a ruthless businessman who only wanted to

John D. Rockefeller started the first Standard oil-refining company in 1870. He started in the oil business in 1863, investing in a oil company in Cleveland,Ohio. John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839, in Richmond, New York. Growing up, John would sell candy and other things to make money. At the age of 14, John and his family would move to Cleveland, Ohio.

Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were two of the Captains of Industry because of their innovations and philanthropy. John D. Rockefeller was a huge philanthropist because he donated a plethora of money to different colleges, and organizations. He donated 75 million dollars to the University of Chicago. He also founded Rockefeller Institute of Medicine ( Rockefeller University), and donated 50 million dollars to that Institute. He also donated to the Rockefeller foundation, which received 235 million dollars.

John D Rockefeller was one of the first major businessmen in America. He was the wealthiest person in the United States at the time, and had a big influence on everyday lives of Americans with his oil refineries. John D Rockefeller’s business was captain of industry because he progressed creation of businesses and created jobs, gave money to many different organizations and causes, and used his own business tactics to complete an oil monopoly of the oil business.

John D Rockefeller was one of the richest men in history with a net worth exceeding three hundred billion dollars. This massive wealth was because of his monopoly over the oil industry called Standard Oil. This company used the excess junk left from the good oil to make kerosene to fuel lamps, lights, cars, excreta. Rockefeller is what we call a “Robber Baron”, this means someone who is greedy and selfish for power, and wealth. In the 1900s these people were hated to the point of the government suing them for breaking Antitrust Acts and forcing Rockefeller to take down his monopoly over the oil industry.

Rockefeller began his career at a Cleveland commission firm and a few years later, Rockefeller and a partner started their own commission firm. After the first oil well was drilled, Rockefeller and several partners invested in the Cleveland refinery. Rockefeller then borrowed money and bought out some of the partners taking control of the refinery. The refinery became the largest in Cleveland. Rockefeller found new partners and started the Standard Oil Company of Ohio.

The Standard Oil Trust of Ohio was and American oil producing, refining, and transporting company. It was founded in 1863 by John D. Rockefeller and lasted until 1911. During 1868, Rockefeller expanded the oil company to become the largest oil refining company in the world. In 1870, the company was renamed Standard Oil Company. After it was renamed, Rockefeller purchased most of the oil companies that were currently in business to make one large company.

Rockefeller retired in 1896 and devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy. He put the same drive for improvement and efficiency that built Standard Oil towards charitable works. The laudable way in which he dispersed his fortune caused a crisis of conscience in a nation that had grown up hating him for the way that he built it. He gave away hundreds of millions during his declining years and, with his son's help, set up the Rockefeller Foundation to carry on his work after he

John Davison Rockefeller was born July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937 he was born in upstate New York into a large upper class family. John’s father was a con man and his mother a deeply religious mother the family moved around a lot while John was pretty young they before eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Rockefeller started working at the age of 16 as an assistant bookkeeper he then went into a business partnership with Maurice B. Clark and his two brothers. Eventually Rockefeller bought Clark and his brothers share of the company at $72,500.