The Rockefeller name is one so deeply entrenched in different spheres across the United States that it is perhaps unlike any other legacy the world’s largest economy has ever known. From the oil industry and banking to Wall Street, higher education, medical research and the arts, the Rockefeller's have had an unquestionable impact on the spheres in which they worked. The First Rockefeller: John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 - May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is widely considered the wealthiest American of all time, and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was born into a large family in upstate New York that moved several times before eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. Rockefeller became an assistant bookkeeper at age 16 and went into several business partnerships beginning at age 20, concentrating his business on oil refining. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870. He ran it until 1897, and remained its largest shareholder. Rockefeller's wealth soared as kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, and he became the richest person in the country, controlling 90% of all oil in the United States at his peak. Oil was used throughout the country as a light source until the introduction of electricity, and as a fuel after the invention of the automobile. Furthermore, Rockefeller gained enormous influence over the railroad industry which transported his oil around the country. Standard Oil was the first great business trust in the United States. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and, through corporate and technological innovations, was instrumental in both widely disseminating and drastically reducing the production cost of oil. His company and business practices came under criticism, particularly in the writings of author Ida Tarbell. The Supreme Court ruled in 1911 that Standard Oil must be dismantled for violation of federal antitrust laws. It was broken up into 34 separate entities, which included companies that became ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation, and others - some of which still have the highest level of revenue in the world. Individual pieces of the company were worth more than the whole, as shares of these doubled and tripled in value in their early years; consequently, Rockefeller became the country's first billionaire, with a fortune worth nearly 2% of the national economy. His peak net worth was estimated at US$418 billion (in 2019 dollars; inflation-adjusted) in 1913. The 409 billion figure assumes a 2% share of US GDP in 2016. His personal wealth, 900 million in 1913, more than 2% of US GDP of 39.1 billion that year was worth 21 billion dollars in 2016 adjusted for inflation (by 1937 the Rockefeller fortune was 1.4 billion or 1.5% of GDP of 92 billion). Considered the single wealthiest person to ever live. Rockefeller spent much of the last 40 years of his life in retirement at his estate in Westchester County, New York, defining the structure of modern philanthropy, along with other key industrialists such as steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. His fortune was mainly used to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy through the creation of foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education, and scientific research. His foundations pioneered the development of medical research and were instrumental in the near-eradication of hookworm and yellow fever in the United States. The Next In Line: After graduation, John Davison Rockefeller Jr. joined his father's business in October 1897, setting up operations in the newly formed family office at 26 Broadway where he became a director of Standard Oil. He later also became a director at J. P. Morgan's U.S. Steel company, which had been formed in 1901. Jr. resigned from both companies in 1910. In September 1913, the United Mine Workers of America declared a strike against the Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I) company in what would become the Colorado Coalfield War. Junior owned a controlling interest in CF&I (40% of its stock) and sat on the board as an absentee director. In April 1914, after a long period of industrial unrest, the Ludlow Massacre occurred at a tent camp occupied by striking miners. At least 20 men, women, and children died in the slaughter. This was followed by nine days of violence between miners and the Colorado National Guard. Although he did not order the attack that began this unrest, there are accounts to suggest Jr. was mostly to blame for the violence, with the awful working conditions, death ratio, and no paid dead work which included securing unstable ceilings, workers were forced into working in unsafe conditions just to make ends meet. In January 1915, Jr. was called to testify before the Commission on Industrial Relations. Many critics blamed Rockefeller for ordering the massacre. He was at the time being advised by William Lyon Mackenzie King and the pioneer public relations expert, Ivy Lee. Lee warned that the Rockefellers were losing public support and developed a strategy that Jr. followed to repair it. It was necessary for Jr. to overcome his shyness, go personally to Colorado to meet with the miners and their families, inspect the conditions of the homes and the factories, attend social events, and especially to listen closely to the grievances. This was novel advice, and attracted widespread media attention, which opened the way to resolve the conflict, and present a more humanized version of the Rockefeller's. Mackenzie King said Rockefeller's testimony was the turning point in Junior's life, restoring the reputation of the family name; it also heralded a new era of industrial relations in the country. During the Great Depression, he was involved in the financing, development, and construction of the Rockefeller Center, a vast office complex in midtown Manhattan, and as a result became one of the largest real estate holders in New York City. He was influential in attracting leading blue-chip corporations as tenants in the complex, including GE and its then affiliates RCA, NBC and RKO, as well as Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil), Associated Press, Time Inc, and branches of Chase National Bank (now JP Morgan Chase). In 1921, Junior received about 10% of the shares of the Equitable Trust Company from his father, making him the bank's largest shareholder. Subsequently, in 1930, Equitable merged with Chase National Bank, making Chase the largest bank in the world at the time. Although his stock-holding was reduced to about 4% following this merger, he was still the largest shareholder in what became known as "the Rockefeller bank." As late as the 1960's, the family still retained about 1% of the bank's shares, by which time his son David had become the bank's president. In the late 1920's, JD Rockefeller Jr. founded the Dunbar National Bank in Harlem. The financial institution was located within the Paul Laurence Dunbar Apartments at 2824 Eighth Avenue near 150th Street, servicing a primarily African-American clientele. It was unique among New York City financial institutions in that it employed African Americans as tellers, clerks and bookkeepers as well as in key management positions. However, the bank folded after only a few years of operation. Family Like No Other: While Abby Rockefeller pursued charitable work out of the public limelight, her five brothers each carved a reputation in their own right, weaving through the interconnected spheres of business, politics and philanthropy in a manner unlike that of any family in US history. The eldest of the brothers, John III, devoted his life to foreign affairs and philanthropy. Inspired by a trip around the world following his graduation, John III developed a deep interest in Asia that resulted in the creation of the Asia Society and the Council on Economic and Cultural Affairs. John III was also responsible for the Population Council, the first such organisation to bring issues of overpopulation to the fore, and the Lincoln Centre, now one of the world’s leading performing arts centre's. John III also founded and supported numerous NGOs before his untimely death in a car crash in 1978. Nelson was perhaps the most high profile of the siblings. Despite his father’s efforts to instill in him the values of restraint and modesty, Nelson always had grand plans and spoke about becoming president from childhood. After a stint at Chase Manhattan Bank, he went on to lead the development of the Rockefeller Centre through a tumultuous economic period, eventually serving as its president. Nelson then entered politics, transforming the New York skyline through the numerous construction projects he instigated while serving as Governor of New York for four terms between 1953 and 1973. He then served as Vice President of the US under President Gerald Ford between 1974 and 1977. Laurance also had a big impact on New York, but via Wall Street, as a pioneer in venture capitalism. During his decades on the New York Stock Exchange, Laurance invested in hundreds of start-ups that focused on electronics, aviation, computers and biotechnology. Laurance had a talent for sensing the next big thing, as can be seen in his early investments in Apple and Intel. He was also a keen environmentalist and was instrumental in establishing and expanding numerous national parks throughout the US, from Wyoming to Hawaii. Lessons in modesty worked for Winthrop, who was unwilling to merely waltz his way to the top based on his family name alone. Instead, he started his career as an apprentice working in his family’s oilfields. After the Second World War, Winthrop went into politics and became famous for the profound cultural and economic change he propelled in the state of Arkansas while serving as governor between 1967 and 1971. He introduced the state’s first minimum wage and the freedom of information law, and tightened insurance legislation, to name but a few examples. The youngest brother, David, was a powerful force on Wall Street, as well as an incredibly influential individual who traversed the highest echelons of society. After graduating from the London School of Economics, David went on to gain a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1940. David’s first job, which involved writing letters for the Mayor of New York, came to a grinding halt – like so many others – as a result of the Second World War. Choosing to forgo the use of his family name, David enlisted as a private, rising to the rank of captain during his service in the US Army. After the war, David joined the company in which he would stay for the entirety of his professional career: Chase Manhattan Bank. Given that his uncle Winthrop Aldrich was chairman of the bank and his father and grandfather were its largest shareholders, David was unsurprisingly deemed to be nothing more than a spoiled rich kid upon arrival. However, he soon proved his worth, while his habit of getting the public subway to work every day helped to chip away at the spoiled status. His hard work saw him make his own way to the top, becoming co-CEO in 1960 and sole CEO in 1969. During his time at the helm, David used his worldwide network to increase the bank’s foreign branches from 11 to 73, with Chase Bank becoming the first western bank to open branches in China and Russia, securing its position as a truly global institution. David was also responsible for re-energising the bank from within, creating HR, planning and marketing departments with the help of none other than the ‘father of management’, Peter Drucker. Though the 1970s proved difficult, David held the role of CEO until retiring in 1981. When David joined Chase Bank in 1946, it was a $4.8bn institution. By 1981, it was worth $76.2bn in assets. “Well, he was the banker of all bankers”, Cox commented. As a result of two vast mergers, the bank is today the biggest in the US. Changing The world: There are questions to be asked about how one man or family can possibly come to accumulate such incredible wealth as that of the Rockefeller's. There are aspects of John’s strategy that were aggressive and noncompetitive. However, this approach to making mergers and acquisitions is one that has since become a standard business practice. Through his willingness to do things differently, John laid the groundwork for an industry that is integral to the global economy, and an area of commerce that has spurred the development and innovation of countless others. At a time when oil was expensive and much of it was wasted, John made the production process far more efficient and cost effective, thereby making kerosene affordable for the masses – so much so that it soon overtook whale and coal oil (and even electricity for some time) as fuels, lighting up America street by street. John’s resourcefulness also prompted the development of some 300 oil by-products, ranging from paints and lubricating oils to anesthetics. In this respect, he changed the nature of doing business, establishing efficiency as the baseline. “He didn’t come from the establishment. He was in very many ways - I suppose this makes the story rather heroic - a self-made man. - Professor Michael Cox, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics.
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