John D. Rockefeller

John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. ( born July 8, 1839 in Richford, New York, † May 23, 1937 in Ormond Beach, Florida) was an American entrepreneur and is regarded as one of the richest people in the modern era.

Rockefeller was a founder of an oil refinery, from 1870, the Standard Oil Company emerged. One of his business partners was there Henry M. Flagler.

• 2.1 The beginnings
• 2.2 Origin of the Standard Oil Company
• 2.3 Unbundling of Standard Oil Company

Family and origin

John Davison Rockefeller in 1839 as the second of six children and the eldest son of William Avery Rockefeller ( 1810-1906 ) and Eliza Davison ( 1813-1889 ) - hence his middle name Davison - born. Contrary to many circulating rumors that his family had French roots, genealogists were able to prove to the German origin of the Rockefellers and they trace back to the early 17th century. Then in 1723 emigrated Johann Peter Rogge Feller from Altwied - baptized on September 27, 1682 in the Evangelical Church of Rengsdorf - with three children from Bonefeld (at that time the parish Rengsdorf, County of Wied belonging and today: the district of Neuwied, Rhineland -Palatinate ) in the United States and settled in German Town, Pennsylvania, down.

The name fields of rye / rye Feller / Rockenfeller refers to the - now deserted - Rockenfeld place in the circle Neuwied ( rock fields = " field originating from rock "). Even today there are many residents in the district of Neuwied with the family name Rockenfeller.

The " family secret "

The father, who was traveling as ' herbal doctor " over land, although he had no medical degree, left his family, probably around 1855, but remained with Eliza until her death married. He took the name of William Levingston and married as a bigamist in Norwich, Ontario (Canada), Margaret L. Allen, born in 1835. This marriage remained childless. From another woman named Nancy Brown he had, even in the time of his lawful marriage, two daughters ( Clorinda and Cornelia Rockefeller ). The tomb was paid out of the estate of the second wife.

At the height of Rockefeller's power as a monopolist, there were the first rumors that the family is an " embarrassing secret " hats. Joseph Pulitzer praised a reward of eight thousand dollars for information about " Doc Rockefeller " out of which one only knew that he was under a false name alive. But the journalists could not make him identify before his death, and two years later the story was published.

Marriage and children

John Davison Rockefeller was married on September 8, 1864 Laura Celestia Spelman ( 1839-1915 ), called " Cettie ", the daughter of a wealthy businessman from Cleveland, Ohio. The couple had five children together, one of which, Alice, died in infancy:

• Elizabeth " Bessie " Rockefeller (1866-1906)
• Alta Rockefeller (1871-1962)
• Alice Rockefeller (1869-1870)
• Edith Rockefeller (1872-1932)
• John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874-1960), also known as John D. Rockefeller II

As Cettie died in 1915, Rockefeller took very with. He said: " My judgment was always better than mine. She was an unusually intelligent woman. Without their astute advice I would now be a poor man. "

Rockefeller moved into 1913 resulting in six years of construction feudal family country house " Kykuit " in Tarrytown (New York), which was designed by the architects Chester Holmes Aldrich and William Adams Delano. Since 1893, the family Rockerfeller possessed large estates in the Hudson Valley. Kykuit consists of a four storey country villa in the neoclassical style with two basement levels with connecting channels and service tunnel. The representative interiors were designed by Ogden Codman and are equipped with a collection of Chinese and European ceramics, fine furniture and art from the 20th century. Surrounded by a large park is Kykuit grounds with sculptures. Today Kykuit can be viewed by the public.

The grave

Cettie and John D. Rockefeller found their last resting place in the Lakeview Cemetery in Cetties hometown of Cleveland. The then built as a tomb obelisk of Vermont marble at the time was said to be the largest from a single piece of stone carved monument worldwide.

Entrepreneurial activity

The beginnings

After the parents had moved to Cleveland, the sixteen got on 28 September 1855 job as an apprentice with the shipping company Hewitt & Tuttle, soon he was employed as an assistant accountant. After fourteen weeks of work he got on the very narrow salary of fifty dollars. When Rockefeller was eighteen years old, the bookkeeper by Hewitt & Tuttle, who earned two thousand U.S. dollars a year, was dismissed, and Rockefeller took over this place.

On April 1, 1858 Rockefeller accepted an offer of the young Englishman Maurice B. Clark, and was now with Morris Clark and George W. Gardner a partner in a brokerage and agency business in Cleveland ( Ohio). In the same year the big oil business in the United States began, and Rockefeller was active in this industry. He found in Samuel Andrews a good chemist who improved the processing of crude oil for Rockefeller in such a way that it has been recovered almost completely. He made his new operation at his own drums and was his own forwarding agent and Fuhrmann; thus he was superior to most of its competitors.

Emergence of the Standard Oil Company

Within the first three years in which he had led the oil business, he continued to work with Clark, he paid off later. So he took over the company and made a partaker Andrews. During this time, Rockefeller also got to Henry Morrison Flagler know, who would become his best friend and loyal companion. Rockefeller took Flagler as a partner in his business, and the company was called from 1867 Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler. On January 10, 1870 arose from this company the Standard Oil Company, with John Davison Rockefeller, his brother William Rockefeller, Henry Morrison Flagler, Samuel Andrews and Stephen V. Harkness as founding shareholders.

In January 1872, several companies in the oil industry concluded from the region under Rockefeller's guidance to a Trust, the South Improvement Company, together. His goal was to get through agreements with the railways in Cleveland favorable freight rates for crude oil from Pennsylvania. A few months later, these agreements to the public, after which Rockefeller was politically, legally and attacked by other companies and had to set aside part of its operations came. Nevertheless, Rockefeller bought in the following years more and more companies and systems in the oil industry, with his company docked a network of subsidiaries to circumvent legal restrictions on ownership of companies in other states. 1882 the headquarters were moved to New York and parts of companies empire united legally. The anti -trust laws that are more politicians in the states on the way, and which were adopted by Congress in 1890, were directed primarily against Rockefeller's economic activities. In a more than 20 -year legal slugfest Standard Oil was able to avert the destruction first.

Rockefeller owned iron mines on Lake Superior, and large Erztransportschiffe, but these later sold to U.S. Steel. He retired in 1897 from active business life back, but retained his title as president of his company until 1911.

Unbundling of the Standard Oil Company

The Standard Oil Company was indicted on 18 November 1906 by the Government of the United States in Missouri under President Theodore Roosevelt on the basis of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. In addition to the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey even 65 which is controlled by Standard Oil Company were accused as well as the entire management level, among others, John and William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler and Oliver Payne. The drawn-out process over several years finally ended on May 5, 1911 in the destruction of the Standard Oil Company in 34 companies, whereupon the shareholder value fell through the floor. Rockefeller realized, however, that this would recover, and bought the shares of his company on. He earned at the onset of bull now conservatively estimated at two hundred million dollars, because the increasing popularity of the automobile and the First World War drove up the demand for oil in previously unimaginable dimensions.

Rockefeller is one of the richest men in history. Its assets totaled approximately $ 900 million in 1913. Considering only the inflation, these are $ 900 million in 1913 worth $ 19.6 billion today. Considering however, that people were poorer at the time and the market in which he earned his money, was much smaller, so he was then compared with the population as rich as in 2008, someone at 192 billion dollars. However, the business magazine Forbes calculated total assets of about 300 billion dollars. He financed out of its assets numerous charitable projects - not least at the instigation of his son John D. Rockefeller Jr.

The philanthropist

Together with Andrew Carnegie Rockefeller applies as the greatest American philanthropist ever. In order to meet the flood of requests gentleman, Rockefeller was of the Baptist pastor Frederick Taylor Gates advised that 1888 was secretary of the American Baptist Education Society ( ABES ). About this company financed Rockefeller 1890, the founding of the University of Chicago. Gates and other philanthropists at the beginning of the 19th century could devote themselves tasks that have been neglected by the government, such as education, science, health care and agriculture. So Gates Rockefeller drew interest on the medicine, which was still a relatively new field. He should set up a research facility and give men with ideas, imagination and courage the means to conduct scientific research in infectious diseases.

1901, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research was founded in 1903 and the General Education Board, in the rose the ABES. Meanwhile, John Davison Rockefeller Jr. had found a job. Gates told Andrew Carnegie's fears that an extraordinarily rich heritage reduces the initiative and effort that it is the participation of the heirs to the social and economic processes that make a society strongly undermines. He warned Rockefeller: " your wealth piled up, piles up like an avalanche. You must keep up with it! You must distribute it faster than it grows! If you do not do it, it is you and your children and grandchildren crush. " 1913, the Rockefeller Foundation was established, which is now distributed the funds, as for example in 1927 two million U.S. dollars for the Rockefeller Museum of Archaeology in Jerusalem.

As a devout Baptist Rockefeller supported many institutions of the Baptists. Among other things, it enabled the construction of the Seminary of the German Baptists in Hamburg.

Trivia

An American citizen has been sentenced at the time of court for libel because he had accused his neighbors that he was working in his shop with the methods of the Standard Oil Company.

Belonged to the Rockefeller companies and partly still include ExxonMobil and the Chase Manhattan Bank.

Rockefeller Center in New York is named after his son John D. Rockefeller Jr., who played the leading role in the financing of the construction project.

One of his grandson, Nelson A. Rockefeller, under Gerald Ford was U.S. Vice President.

Film

• As hard as steel to the Atlantic. Documentation and docudrama, Germany, 2008, 44 min, written and directed by Christian Heynen, Production: Engstfeld Film GmbH, ZDF, arte, series: Terra X, Summary by ZDF with online video " John D. Rockefeller and his Standard Oil Company had a very powerful influence. Taking on such a power that was for Benson and his partner like David against Goliath. A little No one wants so get in touch with an overpowering and financially strong opponents such as Rockefeller. "