John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil
John Davison
Rockefeller was born into a poor family on July 8, 1839. His father did not provide well for the family
and the young Rockefeller was forced to help with its support. At the age of 16, was hired as a
grocery store accountant and began to learn the value of hard work.
He founded Standard
Oil in 1870 and eventually built one of the largest companies in the
world. At that time, there was no
electricity and people burned kerosene lamps for light. Much of the oil on the market was unstable
and, after multiple fires and deaths, many people were afraid to use it. Rockefeller spent time and money on making lamp
oil “stable” and standardizing it. Thus the name Standard Oil - consumers knew
exactly what they bought.
He shipped the
new oil via Cornelius Van der Bilt’s railroad to New York, but soon was able to
cut costs and the middle man by building his own pipelines. He went on to
destroy, buy out, and take over his competitors. At the end of the 1800’s, he had a virtual
monopoly. The US Government wanted to
break up Standard, but Rockefeller was an astute businessman and always managed
to stay one step ahead of the government.
The Sherman
Antitrust Act in 1911 broke Standard Oil into 34 smaller independent companies. However, after many years of mergers and acquisitions,
the original company is almost back together doing business as Exxon-Mobile.
Another lasting legacy of Standard Oil is its former New York headquarters at
26th Broadway. He constructed this grandiose signature building during
the 1920’s (1920-1928) just before the big stock market crash of 1929.
Other fun
tidbits:
On a trip to
Yellowstone National Park, Rockefeller took his sons to a diner. His sons left early, leaving him along at the
table. The waitress came over and
inquired, “Mr. Rockefeller, your sons always tip me a dollar, but you only tip
ten cents, ” to which Rockefeller
replied, “They have a rich old man. I don’t.”
It is said
that Rockefeller had fulfilled his two biggest life’s ambitions - make $100,000
and live to be 100. He died at age 97 and made well over his financial goal.
