John D. Rockefeller was born in 1839 in upstate New York. His father was a traveling salesman and con man who sold questionable medicines and was often gone for months. His mother was a devout, frugal woman who raised the children largely on her own. From his mother, John learned discipline, thrift, and faith. From his father, he learned boldness and how to drive a hard bargain.
At 16, he landed a job as an assistant bookkeeper at a Cleveland produce firm. He recorded every penny he earned and spent in a small ledger and gave to his church from his very first paycheck. A few years later, he started his own commission business, and in 1863 he invested in an oil refinery just as the new oil industry was taking off.
Rockefeller brought order to a chaotic, boom-and-bust business. He obsessed over efficiency, made his own barrels, negotiated secret discounts from railroads, and bought out rival refineries one after another. In 1870, he formed Standard Oil. Within a decade, it controlled about 90% of America’s oil refining, making him the richest man in the country. His methods were ruthless, and journalist Ida Tarbell’s investigation helped lead to Standard Oil’s breakup by the Supreme Court in 1911.
In the second half of his life, Rockefeller turned his discipline to giving. He funded the University of Chicago, founded what is now Rockefeller University, and created the Rockefeller Foundation, which helped fight diseases around the world. He died in 1937 at age 97. His life is told in Ron Chernow’s biography Titan.
John D. Rockefeller’s story is covered on Deeply Driven in “Titan of Titans.”
Source Book
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
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