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The Richest Man In History: Rockefeller is Born

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The Richest Man In History: Rockefeller is Born

When John D. Rockefeller was a young boy, he said that his two greatest ambitions were to make $100,000 and to live to be 100 years old. He died on May 23, 1937, just 26 months shy of his 100th birthday and with a net worth of $1.4 billion.

Over a forty-year career that was mired in controversy, Rockefeller made a name for himself in America’s budding oil industry. He built Standard Oil into the largest company in the world and eventually also became the richest man in the world. Adjusting for inflation, some experts suggest that Rockefeller was the richest human being ever to have lived.

Born November 13, 1810 in Richford, New York, John Davison Rockefeller was the second of six children to parents William and Eliza. William was a traveling salesman in the business of selling such suspect things as cancer cures. While he was away, it was left to Eliza to take care of the home. The family moved around, first to Moravia and later, Owego, where Rockefeller attended Owego Academy.

In 1853, the family moved to Strongsville, Ohio, where Rockefeller went to Central High School. At 19, he became a deacon at the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church and a trustee at 21. In 1855, Rockefeller dropped out of high school to take a business course at Folsom Mercantile College. A six-month course, Rockefeller had completed it in just three.

After searching for six weeks, Rockefeller found his first job as an apprentice bookkeeper at Hewitt & Tuttle, a commission merchant and produce shipping company. He started off earning 50 cents per day, a salary that would gradually increase over the next two years due to his increasing responsibilities and improving performance. In 1859, Rockefeller felt that he was no longer making the amount of money he deserved and so he left Hewitt & Tuttle. With a partner, Maurice Clark, Rockefeller decided to create his own produce commission company.

That year, Cleveland-based Clark & Rockefeller was launched and it became an instant success. It wasn’t long before their new company had accumulated enough capital to be able to invest in other businesses. Along with chemist Samuel Andrews, Clark & Rockefeller invested in an oil refinery. Rockefeller was confident in the bright future of the oil business and over the next five years delved wholeheartedly into making his company a success.

So confident was Rockefeller in the oil business that in 1865, he decided to sell his share of Clark & Rockefeller to his partner. Far from giving up, Rockefeller wanted to branch out on his own. He used the proceeds from the sale of his shares to invest in another refinery, which soon became Rockefeller & Andrews. Two years later, they bought out the refinery that had been started by Rockefeller’s brother, William. They also joined with Henry Flagler in creating Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler.

By 1868, this new partnership had become the largest petroleum refiner in the world. Recognizing their potential, the Rockefeller brothers, Andrews, Flagler and another silent partner began absorbing their competition. Together, in 1870, the five businessmen launched Standard Oil. With Rockefeller as its new president, the company would soon find itself at the forefront of a booming industry, achieving unprecedented success.





The Richest Man In History Rockefeller is Born

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The Richest Man In History: Rockefeller is Born
  When John D. Rockefeller was a young boy, he said that his two greatest ambitions were to make $100,000 and to live to be 100 years old. He died on May 23, 1937, just 26 months shy of his 100th birthday and with a n...
Lesson #3: Be Ambitious
  “The road to happiness lies in two simple principles,” said Rockefeller. “Find what interests you and that you can do well, and put your whole soul into it – every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you ...
Lesson #5: Obey Your Conscience
  “God gave me my money,” said Rockefeller. “I believe the power to make money is a gift from God to be developed and used to the best of our ability for the good of mankind.”
High-Octane Success: How Rockefeller Reached New Heights
  When Rockefeller was 86 years old, he wrote the following: I was early taught to work as well as play, My life has been one long, happy holiday; Full of work and full of play- I dropped the worry on the way- ...
Lesson #2: Strike Out A New Path
  “If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success,” said Rockefeller.

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John Rockefeller Video - John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. (July 8, 1839 - May 23, 1937) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy. Rockefeller had always believed since he was a child that his purpose in life was to make as much money as possible, and then use it wisely to improve the lot of mankind. In 1870, Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company and ran it until he retired in the late 1890s.
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