(photo credit)
John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937)
Occupation: IndustrialistSource of wealth: Oil refining
Assets: $900 million
Claim to fame: Capitalist, robber baron, philanthropist
Rockefeller was born on a farm in upstate New York, and as a boy, he demonstrated an early interest in capitalism, supposedly buying candy in bulk, dividing it into small portions and selling it to his siblings. As a young man, he became interested in the oil boom in nearby Titusville, Pa., but rather than join the cutthroat drillers, he moved into refining, where there were fewer competitors. By 1870 his Standard Oil Co. had gobbled up competitors in the region or price-squeezed them to death. Rockefeller gradually absorbed other competitors, and by the 1880s, his company controlled 95% of the country's refineries. But in 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which led to the breakup of Standard Oil after the turn of the century. Rockefeller's net worth peaked at about $900 million in 1913, or almost $15 billion in today's dollars. Rockefeller's net worth amounted to a staggering 2.5% of gross domestic product at the time, notes Ron Chernow, author of "Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller." Unlike other robber barons of the era, Rockefeller didn't flaunt his wealth, although he owned large estates in New York, Florida, Maine, New Jersey and Ohio. His philanthropy totaled more than $500 million ($8.3 billion in today's dollars) and included the founding of the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now Rockefeller University) in New York.
