John D. Rockefeller Biography
John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He was a co-founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry, and along with other key contemporary industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie, defined the structure of modern philanthropy. In 1870, he co-founded Standard Oil Company and actively ran it until he officially retired in 1897.
Rockefeller founded Standard Oil as an Ohio partnership with his brother William along with Henry Flagler, Jabez A. Bostwick, chemist Samuel Andrews, and a silent partner, Stephen V. Harkness. As kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, Rockefeller's wealth soared and he became the world's richest man and the first American worth more than a billion dollars, controlling 90% of all oil in the United States at his peak. Adjusting for inflation, his fortune upon his death in 1937 stood at $336 billion, accounting for more than 1.5% of the national economy, making him the richest person in history. Source: Wikipedia
Biography Snapshot
- Name:
- John D. Rockefeller
- Nationality:
- United States of America
- Profession:
- Businessperson
- Date of Birth:
- July 8, 1839
- Astrological Sign:
- Cancer
- Date of Death:
- May 23, 1937
- Age at Death:
- 97
- Cause of Death:
- Arteriosclerosis
Marriages
John D. Rockefeller Timeline
Cite this page
APA Style
John D. Rockefeller. (2023). The HistoryHop.com website. Retrieved 1:32am UTC, Sep 23, 2023, from www.historyhop.com/famous-people/john-d-rockefeller/bio.
Harvard Style
John D. Rockefeller. [Internet]. 2023. The HistoryHop.com website. Available from: www.historyhop.com/famous-people/john-d-rockefeller/bio [Accessed 23 Sep 2023].
MLA Style
"John D. Rockefeller." Bio. The HistoryHop.com website, 2023. Web. 23 Sep 2023.
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