A dream is one of the most important factors in achieving goals. Someone from childhood is obsessed with the dream of flying – and after mastering all the skills of a pilot, he becomes an astronaut and flies to the limits of what is possible today. Someone aims for perfect health – and defeats diseases that science considers incurable. Someone strives for the perfection of the intellect – and leaves far behind even the most polished mind of Sherlock Holmes, making incredible discoveries.
He just didn’t give up on his dream.
Childhood: are entrepreneurs not born?
The father of the Rockefeller family was a completely ordinary farmer, and his family was not rich – but with many children. And there was never enough money. Therefore, son John, who was born in the summer of 1839, by his fact of being born, caused a change in the direction of the family and made his father think about his own business. Rockefeller Sr. became a traveling salesman and the first business coach of the future billionaire – his father’s lessons became the foundation of John’s commercial thinking.
And he was not slow to apply them in all areas of his life from the age of five. He resold the candy at a small markup. He raised several turkeys and earned 50 dollars from their sale, which he provided to a neighbor – but not just like that, but on a loan at interest. He accounted for and recorded every expense or profit, and this habit remained with him until the end of his life.
The main character traits of the young John Rockefeller were calmness, slowness, tenacious intellect and diamond hardness in achieving what was planned. He made a shocking impression on those around him: a thin face, on which there were no emotions, thin lips and a steel impassive look that not everyone could withstand.
However, many noted that the harsh appearance was a screen that hid kindness and sensitivity. Much later, already wealthy, John learned about the fate of a classmate with whom life had been more than harsh. And he allocated his own funds to ensure that a widowed woman who is on the verge of poverty receives a stable pension.
Youth: where to go to study?
John Davidson Rockefeller went to get an education at the age of 13, which was not surprising for a poor family in the middle of the 19th century. But he did not stay there for a long time, so he could not boast of diplomas of graduation from school, college, and even more so from the university. The only educational institution that he attended in all good faith and successfully completed was a three-month accounting course.
The lack of formal education did not prevent 16-year-old John from finding a job as a clerk in the Cleveland company Hewitt and Tuttle, and a sharpened mind and entrepreneurial thinking allowed him to grow to the position of an accountant in a couple of years. However, this work was the first and last for Rockefeller, because it did not allow him to fully express himself. And 18-year-old John left a fairly profitable and promising place in order to become an entrepreneur himself.
Business start: the art of seizing opportunities
Rockefeller delved into the intricacies of business, becoming a partner of the businessman Maurice Clark. And I used every opportunity that I saw. The partner company sold grain and meat, was engaged in hay and the supply of a wide variety of goods.
An understanding of how food markets worked became a major advantage with the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861: the army needed food, and Rockefeller and Clark could provide it. And the joint business quickly went up the hill.
Then oil was found near Cleveland, and Rockefeller did not miss this chance. And he was engaged not only in production – because crude oil could end sooner or later, but the plant built by the partners for its distillation was consistently profitable. So stable that already in 1865, Rockefeller bought Clark’s share in the joint business for $ 72,000 and became its full and sole owner.
Oil market: the new king
Rockefeller’s new goal was to create a trust, and he began to buy out oil production and processing firms, using any means – from negotiations to unfair competition with the help of shell companies, interception of raw materials and industrial espionage. As a result, everyone who was not a member of the Rockefeller Trust inevitably went bankrupt. By 1879, the ever-growing trust controlled nine-tenths of the American oil market.
Having brought the level of control to 95%, Rockefeller began a policy of raising prices – and the resulting dividends were gigantic. However, the total capture of the market did not work out – in 1890, an antitrust law was passed, which made such a capture impossible.
Mountains of Gold: how big did Rockefeller’s fortune turn out to be?
Rockefeller did everything to try to get around the antitrust law and keep his trust – and successfully did this for another twenty years. But in 1911, the Standard Oil empire was still divided into 34 companies, in each of which John had a mandatory share in the business.
Oil was far from Rockefeller’s only source of income: he was successful in the banking business, his enterprises provided logistics services, and agricultural companies had been steadily profitable for decades. Having reached old age, the billionaire in 1897 transferred control of his enterprises to partners and switched to other causes and charity.
How much did the one who is today considered the standard of infinite well-being earned. It should be noted – very, very much: in 1917, the value of his personal fortune in terms of modern money was about 150 billion dollars. And it should be noted that such an achievement is considered unsurpassed so far.
Charity: what many do not know about John D. Rockefeller
Everyone knows that Rockefeller was prohibitively rich. Fewer people know that he was also impressively generous.
By the end of his life, the total amount of his charitable donations reached $ 500 million – a peak no one else conquered either. Moreover, Rockefeller’s life principle became the rule not to praise his good deeds and do them quietly.
Among the charitable projects was the constant allocation of 10% of his own income to the Baptist community, of which his father was a member. Considering how large the revenues were, it is not surprising that at least one hundred million dollars were transferred to the church in 1905 alone.
With Rockefeller’s money, the University of Chicago was founded, on which at least 80 million were spent. Without the billionaire, neither the New York Medical Institute, nor the Museum of Modern Art, nor the Charitable Foundation would have appeared. Rockefeller even founded several monasteries.
