55: John D. Rockefeller was a businessman who amassed one of the largest fortunes in history.

60: He controlled 90% of the oil in the country, and at the time of his death, he was worth

65: between $300 and $400 billion.

68: Today, the name “Rockefeller” is synonymous with wealth for good reason, and his legacy

75: has lived on long after his death.

77: Today on Biographics, we tell the story of how a seemingly ordinary boy grew up to be

81: the most powerful man in the United States.

85: Early Life and Career John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839

93: in Richford, New York.

94: His mother, Eliza Davidson, had a total of six children. Eliza Davidson

97: His father, William Avery Rockefeller, called himself a traveling “botanic physician”. William Avery Rockefeller

102: This may sound impressive, but this was actually just a fancy name for a snake oil salesman.

108: His father earned the nickname “Big Bill” for his larger-than-life personality. Big Bill

112: These types of salesmen knowingly sold fake products to people, promising that their so-called

116: elixirs could cure practically anything.

119: They were usually charismatic showmen who truly knew how to get people so excited about

124: a product to the point where they were practically begging to give their money away.

128: While Big Bill was traveling across the country, essentially stealing money from unsuspecting

132: victims, he would spend some time in a each town before catching the next train.

137: He started a double life with a woman named Nancy Brown, and had children with her. Nancy Brown

141: Despite being so good at his job, Big Bill always seemed to struggle with money, and

144: there never seemed to be enough to go around when he came back to visit Eliza and their

148: six children.

150: John D. Rockefeller was raised by his father to never trust anyone.

153: Big Bill opened his arms to catch John when he was still just a toddler, but when the

157: boy jumped, his father stepped back, and let him fall on the floor to teach this lesson.

163: Bill would also trick John and his brothers by making promises he never intended to keep,

167: just so he could get them to do extra chores.

169: Big Bill once said, “I cheat my boys every chance I get.

173: I want to make 'em sharp.”

174: John Rockefeller was the oldest son in his family, so he was the “man of the house”

178: when his father was gone.

180: As a child, he would help his mother raise turkeys in their backyard so that they could

183: sell the meat.

185: They did odd jobs for their neighbors, and for the most part, were forced to fend for

188: themselves without much help from his father.

190: At one point, Bill decided to come clean to both of his wives, and revealed that he was

195: splitting his free time between two households for years.

198: He suggested that they all move in together as one big happy family.

201: This was bigamy, of course, but it was not illegal in the United States at that time.

206: The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was passed in 1862 after polygamy became more prevalent 1862

211: among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Church of Jesus Christ

214: But the Rockefellers weren't a part of the LDS Church.

217: He truly must have been a smooth talker, though, because he somehow convinced both Eliza and

221: Nancy to agree to a Sister Wives situation.

225: The family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and they told their new neighbors that Nancy Brown Cleveland, Ohio

229: was their live-in housekeeper.

231: Rockefeller was disgusted by his father's behavior, and he swore that he would never

235: grow up to become that kind of man.

237: He decided to save his money, and never waste it on frivolous things.

240: He also became very devoutly religious in the Baptist church, and held himself to a

245: high moral standard.

247: This difficult family situation was most likely why he chose to start working as quickly as

252: possible, so he could move out and start an independent life away from his parents, and

256: his father's mistress.

258: He often said that his goal was to make $100,000 (the equivalent of almost $3 million dollars

263: today), and live to be 100 years old.

266: Rockefeller attended Cleveland Central High School. Cleveland Central High School

268: But he did not want to wait until after graduation to become a businessman.

271: So he dropped out of High School and took just one business and accounting class at

275: Folsom Mercantile College. Folsom Mercantile College

277: This was enough experience to get him a job as a assistant bookkeeper for local merchants

281: called Hewett & Tuttle on September 25th, 1855, when he was just 16 years old. September 25th, 1855

286: He gained a lot of valuable experience at this job, but the only trouble was that his

290: bosses only paid him 50 cents a day.

292: Even after inflation, that's still only $13.36, which was nowhere near enough to make

298: a full-time living.

299: Even though they weren't paying him much, Rockefeller was always extremely proud of

303: the day he got his first job.

305: He made September 25th into his own holiday called “job day”, and he celebrated the

310: anniversary every year for the rest of his life.

313: Luckily for Rockefeller, he had been friendly with the customers at Hewett & Tuttle.

317: This gave him a great reputation around town.

319: He was always paying close attention to how everything worked, and he eventually learned

323: all of the skills necessary to start his own business.

326: Since everyone in town knew him, he managed to get a $4,000 loan, which is worth over

330: $100,000 today.

332: This was more than enough to start trading in goods like hay, meat, and grain.

337: His business managed to earn $450,000 in the very first year.

342: He didn't get to keep that money for himself, of course, because a lot of that had to go

346: back into repaying the loan and business expenses.

348: But this was a great start to what would be a long and prosperous career in business.

353: John said, "God gave me money", and he did not apologize for it.

357: In 1861, the United States broke out into Civil War, and Rockefeller felt very strongly

362: about being an Abolitionist.

364: Rockefeller's younger brother Frank became wounded in battle very early in the war.

368: When John was drafted, he actually paid a professional soldier to go in his place.

371: That way, he was able to continue running his business and contribute to the war effort

375: at the same time.

377: He said, “I wanted to go in the army and do my part, but it was simply out of the question.

381: There was no one to take my place.

382: We were in a new business, and if I had not stayed it must have stopped—and with so

386: many dependent on it.”

387: Believe it or not, this was actually a common practice back then, at least for the men who

390: could afford to do so.

391: And by staying home, he was able to profit from selling supplies to the war effort.

396: Black Gold Today, the oil industry is concentrated in

403: the Middle East.

404: But for years, it was readily available in the United States.

407: In 1849, a man named Samuel Kier discovered crude oil on his property in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Samuel Kier

413: By the 1850's and 60's, word spread, which caused a huge boom known as the Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Oil Rush

418: Oil Rush.

419: Men were moving to Pennsylvania hoping to make it rich by setting up oil rigs and tapping

424: the ground for their liquid black gold.

427: At that time, people needed oil for their lamps to see at night.

431: The only alternative was to process oil from whale fat, but taking it from the ground was

435: obviously a much easier process.

438: However, the crude oil that is found in the ground still needs to be refined before it

443: was ready to be used by consumers.

444: Crude oil was being transported by train from Pennsylvania to various oil refineries around

449: the country.

450: John D. Rockefeller had the brilliant idea to take advantage of the rush by building

454: an oil refinery in Cleveland, Ohio.

456: He was 24 years old at this point, and he decided that instead of continuing to be a

461: merchant, he should devote all of his time and energy to growing his new oil business.

465: Rockefeller was still very frugal, so he tried to save money by cutting out the middleman

469: whenever possible.

470: Instead of buying wooden barrels from a third party company, he bought thousands of acres

474: of land so that his employees could cut down trees and make the barrels themselves.

480: In 1870, he met a man named Henry M. Flagler who was interested in investing in Rockefeller's Henry M. Flagler

485: business.

486: So, they incorporated The Standard Oil Company.

488: With Flagler's help, Rockefeller began to buy up all of the smaller oil refineries in

492: the Cleveland area so that he no longer had any competitors.

495: Whenever any refinery refused to sell their company to him, Rockefeller would begin selling

499: his oil at a loss, so that customers would flock to him, instead of the competition.

503: This would put the small companies out of business.

506: But he didn't stop there.

507: Standard Oil began to spread to other states, and soon enough, they were refining 90% of

513: America's oil.

514: He was now a millionaire.

515: At this point, the company was so huge, it was impossible for one man to oversee the

519: operations of the entire country.

521: So he decided to allow the former heads of the oil companies he purchased to become his

525: new board of trustees.

527: This created a super squad of the smartest oil experts in the country, and he made himself

532: the head of the so-called “trust.”

534: This sounds typical for large companies today who put a CEO as the figurehead.

539: But back then, this kind of empire was unheard of, and Rockefeller was setting the stage

543: for other American businesses as a leading example on how to acquire wealth and power.

549: The Battle Of The Railroads In the 1800's, railroads were helping to

557: aid America through the Industrial Revolution.

560: For the first time in history, large cargo could be shipped across the country at record

564: speeds.

565: By the 1860's, the two biggest businesses in the United States were the railroads, and

570: oil.

571: So it only made sense that Rockefeller wanted to be involved in both.

574: He was actually plotting to create a railroad trust, and do exactly what he had done with

579: the oil businesses.

580: He was already cooperating with the Vanderbilt family, and he was going after the owners Vanderbilt

584: of various railroads to purchase their stock and strike deals with the Presidents of each

590: one.

591: Rockefeller needed to be on good terms with railroads, because he needed them to transport

594: his barrels of oil by train.

596: Since he had such a massive quantity of product, he negotiated with the Pennsylvania Railroad Pennsylvania Railroad

601: to get a discounted rate on shipping.

603: At first, this was working out really well, and The Pennsylvania Railroad went on a spending

607: spree to expand the railroad.

609: Before long, the discount they gave Rockefeller was no longer enough to cover their costs,

613: and it would potentially bankrupt the company.

616: So they had to go back on their promise, and raise the price.

619: Instead of giving in, Rockefeller responded by laying his own underground pipelines, and

624: he reached out to work with other railroad companies.

627: Now, The Pennsylvania Railroad had lost its biggest client, and main source of income.

633: In 1877, The Pennsylvania Railroad started building their own oil refinery, so that they

637: could put their trains to good use.

639: After all, the oil industry was their bread and butter, whether it came from Rockefeller

643: or not.

644: Since Rockefeller felt entitled to control all of the oil, he was outraged.

648: He stormed in to speak to speak to the executives of the railroad, saying, “Why, it is nothing

653: less than piracy!”

655: To make matters worse, the railroad employees began to strike across the nation, because

659: they were not getting paid.

660: This became known as the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. Great Railroad Strike

664: They finally buckled under the pressure, and sold their oil refinery to Rockefeller for

668: $3.4 million. $3.4 Million

670: Ten years later, in 1887, the US Government would pass the Interstate Commerce Act, which Interstate Commerce Act

674: forced regulations on the prices charged by railroads.

677: This prevented those companies from gouging the price for transportation.

681: From an outsider's perspective, people did not see a railroad that broke a contract.

685: They saw Rockefeller as the villain, instead.

688: People believed that he had far too much power.

690: Everyone could see the writing on the wall- If Rockefeller wasn't stopped, he may take

694: over the railroad industry completely, and after that, there would be no stopping him

698: from taking more, and more, until there was nothing left for anyone else.

705: Public Outcry The general public strongly disapproved of

711: Rockefeller's tactics, and they believed that he was like a shark gobbling up small businesses.

716: It had already happened in the oil industry, and he was making moves in the railroad industry.

721: People were terrified that he would eventually be so rich and powerful, he just might take

725: over the world.

727: Newspapers bashed Standard Oil, and political cartoons featured Rockefeller on a regular

731: basis.

732: Even President Teddy Roosevelt was very vocal about being “Antitrust”, and promised Teddy Roosevelt

737: Americans that he was going to do something to stop it.

739: The state of Ohio planned to create new Antitrust laws specifically to stop Rockefeller and

744: Standard Oil from having a monopoly over the entire industry.

748: Since it was only a state law at that point, Rockefeller was able to reincorporate in New New Jersey (1882)

752: Jersey in 1882 before they even had a chance to sue him.

756: He opened his new headquarters on Broadway in New York City. Broadway, New York City

759: Reincorporating in another state did not protect him for long, because in the year 1890, US

764: Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, which made it illegal in every state. Sherman Antitrust Act

768: Two years later, the Supreme Court declared that Standard Oil was violating this new law.

773: So, how did Rockefeller deal with dissolving his monopoly?

777: Well...He didn't.

778: He figured out a legal loophole, of course.

780: The board of trustees divided up Standard Oil amongst themselves, and created smaller

784: companies so that- technically- they would no longer be considered a monopoly.

789: In 1899, these new companies were all brought back under the umbrella of Standard Oil.

794: These are called “subsidiaries”, which is when a small company is under the control

798: of a larger corporation.

799: Just a few examples of these smaller companies were BP, Exxon, Conocophillips, and Chevron.

804: They're all still around to this very day.

807: At that time, there was a group of writers and journalists called the “muckrakers”,

811: and they took it upon themselves to uncover corruption in American businesses.

814: One such journalist, Ida Tarbell, wrote a book in 1904 called The History of the Standard The History of the Standard Oil Company

819: Oil Company, where she went through the story of Rockefeller's ruthless rise to power.

823: She wrote, “Rockefeller and his associates did not build the Standard Oil Co. in the

828: boardrooms of Wall Street banks.

830: They fought their way to control by rebate and drawback, bribe and blackmail, espionage

836: and price cutting, by ruthless ... efficiency of organization.”

840: Tarbell is remembered for being one of the most successful investigative journalists

845: of her time, and many credit her and the other muckrakers with helping to dismantle the Rockefeller

849: monopoly.

850: But, of course, people in the general public did not realize that those new oil companies

854: were not due to small businesses making a comeback.

857: Rockefeller truly was still pulling the strings, and for him, a rose of another name was just

862: as sweet.

866: Personal Life Even though there is plenty of information

871: out there about the financial success of John D. Rockefeller, he was a fiercely private

876: person, and he tried his best to keep his family out of the newspapers.

879: What we do know is that when he was 25 years old in 1864, he married a woman named Laura

884: Spelman.

885: She was a devout Christian who worked as a school teacher, and they were very much in

888: love with one another.

889: He said of her, "Her judgment was always better than mine.

892: Without her keen advice, I would be a poor man."

895: He wrote her beautiful love letters when he had to travel for business.

899: He once wrote “What a blessing that I have such a good and true wife.

903: How much I would give for wings to reach you tonight.”

906: All of this romance lead to the creation of their children together; Elizabeth, Alice,

910: Alta, Edith, and John Jr. Sadly, Alice died during infancy.

915: Even though he was very busy, he always made time to be with his family.

918: He was a loving father and a devoted husband who never took them for granted.

921: All his life, Rockefeller had a very impressive mustache, but during the 1890s, he began suffering

926: from a condition called alopecia.

929: He began to lose all of the hair from his entire body, including his eyebrows.

933: At first, he tried to hide it by wearing toupees, but as he grew older, he decided to let people

938: see him in public after he had lost all of his hair.

941: In the 1990's, a biographer named Ron Chernow got permission from the Rockefeller family Ron Chernow

945: to write a biography.

947: He learned by speaking to his children and grandchildren that Rockefeller never spoke

950: much about his father, and he never allowed “Big Bill” to be apart of their lives.

955: They also never met his half-sisters, and they were never given any of the fortune,

959: because Rockefeller did not consider them to be apart of his real family.

963: After digging through a mountain of paperwork, Ron Chernow finally found William Avery Rockefeller's

968: grave in a small cemetery in Freeport, Illinois. Freeport, Illinois

971: He was buried under an alias called “Dr. William Levingston.”

975: It would seem that even in death, John D. Rockefeller wanted the memory of his father

979: to be forgotten.

982: Retirement, Philanthropy, and Legacy In 1897, John D. Rockefeller chose to retire

990: from his position at Standard Oil, and left the control of the business to his board of John D. Rockefeller Jr.

994: trustees and his son, John D. Rockefeller Jr.

997: In 1911, Standard Oil was sued once again for violating the Antitrust Act, and they

1002: were forced to split up into dozens of different corporate entities.

1005: But he decided to invest in all of these new companies, and ironically, it only made him

1009: more money on the stock market.

1011: Estimates of John D. Rockefeller Sr.'s true net worth vary anywhere from $300 to $400

1016: Billion dollars.

1017: To put that into perspective, the founder of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos is the current richest Jeff Bezos

1022: man in the world today, and yet he is only worth $100 Billion.

1027: It's probably not a coincidence that Bezos also practiced the same exact method that

1031: Rockefeller once did, by buying out smaller online bookstores during the expansion of

1035: Amazon.com.

1036: Now, most people try to vilify John D. Rockefeller, but he wasn't all bad.

1041: He believed in the Christian tradition of “tithing”, so he had been giving a portion

1045: of his income to charity since he was 16 years old.

1048: He gave $70 million towards the founding of the University of Chicago, and he also helped $70 Million

1052: to fund the Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, which was an all-black women's school. Atlanta, Georgia

1057: According to the New York Times, Rockefeller gave away $550 million in charitable donations $550 million

1062: to scientific research, education, and the Baptist church.

1066: Rockefeller became well known in his later life for the practice of giving dimes to adults

1070: and nickels to children wherever he went.

1073: He even gave dimes as a playful gesture to wealthy men, such as tire mogul Harvey Firestone. Harvey Firestone

1078: One of the best examples of his generosity also doubled as his legacy.

1082: In the year 1930, Americans were suffering after the Great Depression. 1930

1086: John D. Rockefeller was already in his 90's, so he decided to use a huge chunk of his fortune Rockefeller Center

1090: to build the Rockefeller Center in New York City.

1093: It was called a “city within a city”, because it had dining, shopping, apartments,

1097: and even a movie studio.

1098: The project created 40,000 new jobs during construction, and people were gainfully employed

1103: once all of the businesses inside of the Center were opened.

1106: The project was complete in 1933, and today, the Rockefeller Center has become an iconic 1933

1110: part of Manhattan, especially during Christmas time.

1113: Biographer Ron Chernow wrote of Rockefeller, “What makes him problematic—and why he

1117: continues to inspire ambivalent reactions—is that his good side was every bit as good as

1122: his bad side was bad.

1124: Seldom has history produced such a contradictory figure.”

1127: John D. Rockefeller died just one year after the completion of his center, in 1934.

1132: He often told people that his goal was to live to be 100 years old, but he didn't

1137: make it past 97.

1138: Perhaps the best way to summarize his life was a poem Rockefeller wrote himself, at age

1143: 86: I was early taught to work as well as play,

1147: My life has been one long, happy holiday; Full of work and full of play—

1151: I dropped the worry on the way— And God was good to me everyday.