"netted $4,400 (on nearly half a million dollars in business) and $17,000 worth of profit, respectively, and their profits soared with the outbreak of the Civil War when the Union Army called for massive amounts of food and supplies. When the Civil War was nearing a close and with the prospect of those war-time profits ending, Clark & Rockefeller looked toward the refining of crude oil. While his brother Frank fought in the Civil War, Rockefeller tended his business and hired substitute soldiers. He gave money to the Union cause, as did many rich Northerners who avoided combat. Rockefeller was"
"which enabled even greater coordination in production, scheduling, and pricing. John D. Rockefeller was a forceful driver of consolidation in the American oil industry. Beginning in 1865, he bought refineries, railroads, pipelines, and oilfields and ruthlessly eliminated competition to his Standard Oil. By 1879, he controlled 90% of oil refined in the US. Standard Oil used pipelines to directly connect the Pennsylvanian oilfields with the refineries in New Jersey, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, rather than loading and unloading railroad tank cars, which enabled huge gains in efficiency and profitability. Given the unprecedented scale of Standard Oil's network, the company developed"
"he devoted himself to establishing philanthropic organizations, and making direct contributions to many educational cultural and research institutions. His final and largest project was the Carnegie Corporation of New York, founded in 1911 with a $25 million endowment, later enlarged to $135 million. In all, Carnegie gave away 90% of his fortune. Other prominent American philanthropists of the early 20th century included John D. Rockefeller, Julius Rosenwald (1862–1932) and Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (1828–1918). Rockefeller (1839–1937) retired from business in the 1890s; he and his son John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874–1960) made large-scale national philanthropy systematic, especially with regard to"
"the promising young man was destined to become one of his major partners. Standard Oil was an oil refining conglomerate. Its successors continued to be among the world's biggest corporations over 140 years later. John D. Rockefeller, long regarded as the principal founder, was of a modest background and education. Born in New York in 1839, his family moved to Cleveland in 1855. His first job was as an assistant bookkeeper for a produce company. He delighted, as he later recalled, in ""all the methods and systems of the office"". He became particularly well-skilled at calculating transportation costs, a skill"
"examples cited in Johnston's book is that of J. D. Rockefeller deciding where to build his first major oil refinery. Instead of taking the easier, cheaper route from the oil fields to refine his petroleum in Pittsburgh, Rockefeller chose to build his refinery in Cleveland. Why? Because rail companies would be transporting his refined oil to market. Pittsburgh had just one major railroad, meaning it could dictate prices in negotiations, while Cleveland had three railroads that Rockefeller knew would compete for his business, potentially reducing his costs significantly. The leverage gained in these rail negotiations more than offset the additional"
"were to make $100,000 (equivalent to $ in dollars) and to live 100 years. In 1859, Rockefeller went into the produce commission business with a partner, Maurice B. Clark, and they raised $4,000 ($ in dollars) in capital. Clark initiated the idea of the partnership and offered $2,000 towards the goal. Rockefeller had only $800 saved up at the time and so borrowed $1,000 from his father, ""Big Bill"" Rockefeller, at 10 percent interest. Rockefeller went steadily ahead in business from there, making money each year of his career. In their first and second years of business, Clark & Rockefeller"
"He and all of the other stockholders received proportionate shares in each of the 34 companies. In the aftermath, Rockefeller's control over the oil industry was somewhat reduced but over the next 10 years, the breakup also proved immensely profitable for him. The companies' combined net worth rose fivefold and Rockefeller's personal wealth jumped to $900 million. In 1902, facing cash flow problems, John Cleveland Osgood turned to George Jay Gould, a principal stockholder of the Denver and Rio Grande, for a loan. Gould, via Frederick Taylor Gates, Rockefeller's financial adviser, brought John D. Rockefeller in to help finance the"
"William Rockefeller Sr. William Avery ""Big Bill"" Rockefeller Sr. (November 13, 1810 – May 11, 1906) was an American businessman, lumberman, and salesman who went by the alias of Dr. William Levingston. He worked as a lumberman and then a traveling salesman who identified himself as a ""botanic physician"" and sold elixirs. He was known to buy and sell horses, and was also known at one point to have bought a barge-load of salt in Syracuse. Land speculation was another type of his business, and the selling of elixirs served to keep him with cash and aided in his scouting"
"west, as well as one of the nation's most powerful corporations, at one point employing 7,050 individuals and controlling of coal land. The Colorado Fuel & Iron Company was purchased by John D. Rockefeller in 1902, and nine years later he turned over his controlling interest in the company to his son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who managed the company from his offices at 26 Broadway in New York. Mining was dangerous and difficult work. Colliers in Colorado were at constant risk for explosion, suffocation, and collapsing mine walls. In 1912, the death rate in Colorado's mines was 7.055 per"
"the time Rockefeller owned the railroad. This hurt the Monte Cristo investment. By 1894, Rockefeller had invested $1,797,000 in the railroad, and another $772,000 in mines, the concentrator, and smelter. To put this in context, America's richest man was worth $42 million at the time. All of these mining-related businesses were losing money. He dispatched Frederick T. Gates, a trusted advisor, to investigate and take action. This began a decade-long struggle to recoup the investment. The winter storms of 1897 that washed out the tracks ended rail service to the mining district for three years. The mines, the concentrator, and"
"in Woodstock, Ontario. Later he enrolled at McMaster University, a Baptist university, then located in Toronto, where he studied philosophy and finance, intending to enter the Baptist ministry. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in 1905 with a major in philosophy. After graduating from McMaster he moved to Cleveland and went to work for the East Ohio Gas Company. This was one of many businesses associated with John D. Rockefeller. After working with East Ohio Gas and Rockefeller for two years, he established his own business in 1907, developing gas utilities which at the time were relatively underdeveloped and"
"his ownership of the complex to his sons. The father collected the $57.5 million loan that Rockefeller Center Inc. owed him, then distributed it to his sons in the form of a tax break. Rockefeller Center eventually became the family's ""single largest repository"" of wealth. In 1950, Rockefeller Center Inc. paid the last installment of the $65 million mortgage owed to the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Three years later, the complex was making $5 million per year in profit, excluding the tax breaks. Rockefeller Center Inc. had started working on plans to expand the complex during World War II, even"
"Pipeline Company to operate pipeline transportation for Ohio Oil. In 1924, Donnell gained control of the Lincoln Oil Refining Company in Robinson, Illinois, giving Ohio Oil its own refining capacity. When he died in 1927, the assets of The Ohio Oil Company totalled $108 million, with $17 million net income. of oil or natural gas producing lands were owned or operated under lease by the company. According to ""Time Magazine"", before he died in 1927, Donnell was known as the last living man to call John D. Rockefeller simply ""John"". Others called Rockefeller ""Senior."" The James C. Donnell Memorial, Donnell"
"1866 and reentered the grain business as a commission merchant with the Harkness Grain Company. During this time he worked to pay back his stepbrother Stephen Harkness. Through this business, Flagler became acquainted with John D. Rockefeller, who worked as a commission agent with Hewitt and Tuttle for the Harkness Grain Company. By the mid-1860s, Cleveland had become the center of the oil refining industry in America and Rockefeller left the grain business to start his own oil refinery. Rockefeller worked in association with chemist and inventor Samuel Andrews. Needing capital for his new venture, Rockefeller approached Flagler in 1867."
"David Rockefeller David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American banker who was chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of third generation of the Rockefeller family and family patriarch from August 2004 until his death in March 2017. Rockefeller was the youngest child of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and a grandson of John D. Rockefeller and Laura Spelman Rockefeller. He was noted for his wide-ranging political connections and foreign travel, in which he met with many foreign leaders. His fortune was estimated at $3.3"
"and an oil-fueled economy. He borrowed heavily, reinvested profits, adapted rapidly to changing markets, and fielded observers to track the quickly expanding industry. In 1866, William Rockefeller Jr., John's brother, built another refinery in Cleveland and brought John into the partnership. In 1867, Henry M. Flagler became a partner, and the firm of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler was established. By 1868, with Rockefeller continuing practices of borrowing and reinvesting profits, controlling costs, and using refineries' waste, the company owned two Cleveland refineries and a marketing subsidiary in New York; it was the largest oil refinery in the world. Rockefeller, Andrews"
"oil, intending to cut a deal with John D. Rockefeller, but the latter kept him waiting too long so he walked out before Rockefeller arrived. Then they went into banking and when Jay Cooke's firm collapsed they got thousands of acres of undeveloped land in North Dakota as collateral. They set up wheat farming in the Red River Valley with dormitories for the workers; the town of Grandin, North Dakota, is named after John Livingston Grandin. Although raised in the Episcopal religion, Temple Grandin early on gave up on a belief in a personal deity or intention in favor of"
"the UK, where he bought the 50-store W.J. Harris nursery furniture chain, which he renamed Mothercare, and expanded it until it had over 400 stores. He sold his interest in Mothercare in 1981 and moved back to the United States. In 1982, he invested $28 million in Towner Petroleum and in 1998, he sold his investment for $1 billion. In 2001, his net worth was estimated at US$700 million. In 2002, he donated $20 million to complete a Neurogenetic Institute in Los Angeles. He is currently the co-owner of Zilkha Biomass Energy, which owns timberland and which makes pellet biofuel"
"to the total national GDP of $24 billion then. His wealth continued to grow significantly (in line with U.S. economic growth) after as the demand for gasoline soared, eventually reaching about $900 million on the eve of the First World War, including significant interests in banking, shipping, mining, railroads, and other industries. According to the New York Times obituary, ""it was estimated after Mr. Rockefeller retired from business that he had accumulated close to $1,500,000,000 out of the earnings of the Standard Oil trust and out of his other investments. This was probably the greatest amount of wealth that any"
"dumps with company-designed high-power magnetic separators to produce concentrate to sell and ship throughout the world. John D. Rockefeller had previously loaned money to his brother, Frank Rockefeller, and Frank's business associate, James Corrigan to buy into the Franklin Iron Mine Company, which operated in the Mesabi Range. By late 1896 or early 1897, John D. took Corrigan's shares due to failure to repay loans. Frank and Carrigan were forced to sell the company. The market for ore from the Mesabi range was almost non-existent at this time because American steel furnaces were not built to deal with its powdery"
"New York and Ohio. Standard Oil also had the highest capitalization, totaling $26,000,000 (U.S). The history of American oil refining begins with Henry Morrison Flagler, and his business associate and friend, John D. Rockefeller, as they built the biggest, most prosperous and monopolizing oil empire of their time: Standard Oil. Standard Oil had the same principal owners that Rockefeller, Andrews and Flagler had, give or take a few business associates: one of whom was Rockefeller's brother, William. Standard Oil monopolized quickly and took America by storm. Although Standard Oil was a partnership, Flagler was credited p as the brain behind"
"in the late 1800s, it developed an extremely wealthy upper class. Euclid Avenue became the preferred address for more than 300 of the wealthiest families in the United States. Euclid Avenue reached its zenith in the 1890s, but began a three-decade rapid decline thereafter as extensive retail development drove the upper class eastward. The early pressures placed on Euclid Avenue-dwellers led to the creation of the Forest Hill estate. In 1873, wealthy Clevelander John D. Rockefeller purchased east of his home at 424 Euclid Avenue. In June 1874, Rockefeller sold of this land to investors who wished to build a"
"the refining business, and in 1865 the partners decided to hold a private auction between the two, with Rockefeller being the successful bidder. The refining industry was intensely competitive, and by 1869 there was three times the capacity needed, a situation which lasted many years, with the number of refineries reaching 6000. In 1870 John D. Rockefeller, his brother William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, Oliver Burr Jennings and silent partner Stephen V. Harkness formed Standard Oil. John D. Rockefeller was the master planner and organizer of the systematic plan to form combinations with or acquire competitors and enter all phases of"
"in Freeport, Illinois. He was buried there in Oakland Cemetery. John D. Rockefeller never publicly acknowledged the truth about his father's life as a bigamist, and the cost for Bill's grave marker was paid by the second wife's estate. Hollywood and other media have been inspired by the idea of a roving rural con man. The film ""O Brother, Where Art Thou?"" includes a traveling Bible salesman, ""Big Dan"" Teague, that robs the protagonists after a meal. William Rockefeller Sr. William Avery ""Big Bill"" Rockefeller Sr. (November 13, 1810 – May 11, 1906) was an American businessman, lumberman, and salesman"
"advertising industry in his early teens. By 1970, he was president and chief executive of Kelly Nason, growing its billings from $14 million to $140 million by the time he left the position in 1978. He started a media buying service, called RJ Palmer, in 1979, which he sold in the 1990s but remained active in the business until two years before his death. After selling his interest in Kelly Nason, he bought land for his vineyard in 1983 in Aquebogue, in Suffolk County, New York, despite knowing almost nothing about the wine business. The winery he opened in 1986"
"B. Clark's two brothers. The commercial oil business was then in its infancy. Whale oil had become too expensive for the masses, and a cheaper, general-purpose lighting fuel was needed. While other refineries would keep the 60% of oil product that became kerosene, but dump the other 40% in rivers and massive sludge piles, Rockefeller remained as thrifty and efficient as ever, using the gasoline to fuel the refinery, and selling the rest as lubricating oil, petroleum jelly and paraffin wax, and other by-products. Tar was used for paving, naphtha shipped to gas plants. Likewise, Rockefeller's refineries hired their own"
"chief executive of Winrock Farms, Inc., which had been set up by his father, and had interests in various small businesses around the state: in retailing, automobiles, farming, and the resort industry. He was an active member of the National Federation of Independent Business. Rockefeller was ranked # 283 on the ""Forbes"" magazine list of the nation's wealthiest people in 2005, with a fortune the magazine estimated at $1.2 billion. As lieutenant governor, which was a part-time job, he forwarded his $34,673 state salary to charity. Rockefeller had announced his candidacy for governor and was expected to face the more"
"Rockwell International Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate in the latter half of the 20th century, involved in aircraft, the space industry, both defense-oriented and commercial electronics, automotive and truck components, printing presses, power tools, valves and meters, and industrial automation. Rockwell ultimately became a group of companies founded by Colonel Willard Rockwell. At its peak in the 1990s, Rockwell International was No. 27 on the Fortune 500 list, with assets of over $8 billion, sales of $27 billion and 115,000 employees. Boston-born Willard Rockwell (1888–1978) made his fortune with the invention and successful launch of a new"
"of New York, which became Mobil, now part of ExxonMobil; and Standard of Ohio, which became Sohio, now part of BP. Pennzoil and Chevron have remained separate companies. When Flagler envisioned successes in the oil industry, he and Rockefeller started building their fortune in refining oil in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland became very well known for oil refining, as, ""More and more crude oil was shipped from the oil regions to Cleveland for the refining process because of transportation facilities and the aggressiveness of the refiners there. It was due largely to the efforts of Henry M. Flagler and John D."
"Rockefeller, whose refineries used much of the sulfuric acid produced by Grasselli's plant. By 1901, local foundries of the Otis Iron & Steel Company and the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company merged with the newly established US Steel. One of US Steel's subsidiaries, American Steel & Wire, made Cleveland the ""wire capital"" of the United States. The neighborhood also saw the arrivals of companies such as LTV Steel and Republic Steel. Production peaked in the 1950s when Cleveland ranked third nationwide in steelmaking and fourth in processed metal products. Until sea changes in nationwide manufacturing trends of the 1970s and 80s,"
"very profitable. In 1876 the company paid a 10 percent dividend ($400,000) on stock worth $4,000,000. Many of Potts' oil tanker customers were independent refiners, and he became worried that his business would become subservient to Standard Oil. In 1877, Potts bought an oil refinery on Long Island and began to build one in Philadelphia. John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil visited with Thomas A. Scott, the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad to object having a competitor in the refining business, even though Scott knew that Standard Oil owned at least twice as many tank cars that the Empire Transportation"
"improved the financial situation for millions of Canadian workers. He lost his seat in the 1911 general election, which saw the Conservatives defeat his Liberals. After his defeat, King went on the lecture circuit on behalf of the Liberal Party. In June 1914 John D. Rockefeller Jr. hired him at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City, to head its new Department of Industrial Research. It paid $12,000 per year, compared to the meagre $2,500 per year the Liberal Party was paying. He worked for the Foundation until 1918, forming a close working association and friendship with Rockefeller, advising him"
"Kerosene replaced whale oil and candles for lighting homes. John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil Company and monopolized the oil industry, which mostly produced kerosene before the automobile created a demand for gasoline in the 20th century. According to historian Henry Adams the system of railroads needed: The impact can be examined through five aspects: shipping, finance, management, careers, and popular reaction. First they provided a highly efficient network for shipping freight and passengers across a large national market. The result was a transforming impact on most sectors of the economy including manufacturing, retail and wholesale, agriculture, and finance. The"