Biography

The Rockefellers were a German immigrant family. At school, John D Rockefeller was considered a loner. He felt the class differences between rich and poor from an early age. While he was still at school he worked as a dishwasher and bell boy for his pocket money. He kept his wages carefully. He kept track of every penny, not because it was necessary, he simply enjoyed it. Money, he later said, was "frozen life." He finished high school at the age of 16 and began training as an accountant in Cleveland. He was popular and valued by management as an extremely correct and reliable employee. A circumstance that earned him numerous promotions. Rockefeller lived strictly according to the Jewish faith and was more than modest. When he completed his training with flying colors in 1859, all his employer's efforts to dissuade him from becoming self-employed were in vain. In 1859, at the age of 19, Rockefeller founded the small brokerage firm Clark & Rockefeller Co. with his friend Maurice Clark.

In addition to their marketing activities, they also received contracts for oil drilling in Pennsylvania. This new business area quickly proved to be extremely lucrative and helped the young company gain considerable capital. In 1862, Clark and Rockefeller made Samuel Andrews the new partner in the company. The reason was not the capital he brought with him, but rather important patents for refining crude oil into gasoline. The three of them founded Andrews, Clark & Co. This strategic acquaintance was one of the most important steps in Rockefeller's success story. In 1865 there were disputes among the shareholders over corporate management issues. The now five shareholders agreed to sell the company to the highest bidder. Rockefeller became the sole owner of the company with the then huge sum of US$750,000. He made Andrews his partner again and founded the Andrews & Rockefeller Co. Rockefeller married Laura Celestia Spelman (1839-1915), known as "Cettie", on September 8, 1864. Together they became parents to five children; including the youngest, John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874-1960), also known as John D. Rockefeller II. In 1866, the company bought two oil refineries in Cleveland.

Thanks to the patents it had available, it was the only refinery capable of producing the purest gasoline as well as heating oil and petroleum. Competitors who did not meet this standard had little chance of survival other than refining Rockefeller's oil. From 1870 the company operated under the name Standard Oil Co. After just two years, the competition was on the rocks. Rockefeller was well on his way to achieving a monopoly on global oil refining. Fearing that his power would be recognized, he bought the three largest refineries in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia through third-party companies without the knowledge of the public and the authorities. These in turn bought all of the Standard Oil Co.'s competitors. At the end of the 1870s, Rockefeller refined 90% of American oil production. A little later he had a monopoly position in this sector of the economy. To control the gigantic empire, Rockefeller distributed power among nine trustees and 40 shareholders within the Standard Oil Trust Co.

In many other economic sectors, large "trusts" emerged, each of which always intended to monopolize an industry. In the mid-1880s, it became clear to the public what company John D. Rockefeller had created. Increasing industrialization suggested that Standard Oil Trust could become more powerful than the U.S. government if Rockefeller were the only one refining American oil. This also increased the pressure from politicians to take action against Rockefeller. The state of Ohio therefore passed the "Sherman Antitrust Act" against the Standard Oil Trust in 1890 (the antitrust laws of the USA from 1890), which was intended to result in the breakup of the company. Rockefeller then moved his administration to New Jersey. There was a different case law here, which allowed him to continue working in a company form that had hardly changed. Only the name was changed to "Standard Oil Company of New Jersey." It was not until 1899 that the legal ruling of 1890 was implemented. Standard Oil was split into 38 independent companies.

In 1901 he founded the "Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research" which was later renamed "Rockefeller University". From 1911 onwards, Rockefeller withdrew from the company's top management, but retained full decision-making power over Standard Oil, which was represented by its numerous whose investments had become a corporate construct that was almost impossible to understand. In 1914, the "Ludlow Massacre" of Colorado occurred. To restore his public image, Rockefeller distributed generous donations in various areas. Rockefeller founded foundations, social institutions and founded the "Rockefeller Foundation" which still exists today. Rockefeller withdrew from public life until his death. His son John D. Rockefeller II completed the construction of the "Rockefeller Center" in New York in 1930.

John Davidson Rockefeller died at his disposal in Ormond, Florida on May 23, 1937 at the age of 97.

The actual value of his company could never be accurately assessed due to the numerous investments and connections. Today it is estimated that his fortune at the time of his death was approximately US$1 billion. This made Rockefeller, taking into account the US$ exchange rate and inflation, the richest person who ever lived. Today the Standard Oil company operates under the name "Exxon" and operates its gas stations around the world under the trademark "Esso".
- IMDb mini biography by: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth

John Davison Rockefeller is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is widely considered the wealthiest American of all time, and the richest person in modern history.

Rockefeller was born into a large family in upstate New York that moved several times before eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. Rockefeller became an assistant bookkeeper at age 16 and went into several business partnerships beginning at age 20, concentrating his business on oil refining. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870. He ran it until 1897, and remained its largest shareholder.

Rockefeller's wealth soared as kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, and he became the richest person in the country, controlling 90% of all oil in the United States at his peak. Oil was used throughout the country as a light source until the introduction of electricity, and as a fuel after the invention of the automobile. Furthermore, Rockefeller gained enormous influence over the railroad industry which transported his oil around the country. Standard Oil was the first great business trust in the United States. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and, through corporate and technological innovations, was instrumental in both widely disseminating and drastically reducing the production cost of oil.

Rockefeller became the country's first billionaire, with a fortune worth nearly 2% of the national economy. His peak net worth was estimated at US$409 billion (in 2024 dollars; inflation-adjusted) in 1913. The 409 billion figure assumes a 2% share of US GDP in 2016.

Rockefeller spent much of the last 40 years of his life in retirement at his estate in Westchester County, New York, defining the structure of modern philanthropy, along with other key industrialists such as steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. His fortune was mainly used to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy through the creation of foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education, and scientific research. His foundations pioneered the development of medical research and were instrumental in the near-eradication of hookworm and yellow fever in the United States. Rockefeller was the founder of the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University and funded the establishment of Central Philippine University in the Philippines.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tango Papa