Running head: JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER 1 John D. Rockefeller: How John D. Rockefeller Gained His Riches, From Childhood to Old Age Hunter X. Smith Pioneer Jr Sr. High School JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER 3 How John D. Rockefeller Gained His Riches, From Childhood to Old Age John D. Rockefeller worked tirelessly to build his wealth, many people saw him as ruthless; however he donated large amounts of money afterward. John did a lot of work to bring Standard Oil into the world. He started with nothing but grew into the largest oil company of his time. Even up to today Standard Oil is largely known. Once John retired he donated tons of money to all kinds of educational resources. …show more content…
ROCKEFELLER 5 John D. Rockefeller was careful about his company. He refrained from taking unnecessary risks (Biography.com Editors, 2016). John seized an opportunity in the oil business in the early 1860s (Biograpy.com Editors, 2016). Rising oil production in western Pennsylvania made Rockefeller decide to locate his company near Cleveland (Biography.com Editors, 2016). In 1863, John opened his first oil refinery (Biography.com Editors, 2016). John D. Rockefeller bought out many companies to establish his monopoly. He had to borrow money to buy out some of his partners (History.com Staff, 2010). In 1870, John formed the Standard Oil Company with his brother and a few other people (History.com Staff, 2010). Standard Oil gained a monopoly by buying rival refineries (History.com Staff, 2010). John was the president and largest shareholder (History.com Staff, 2010). Standard Oil began marketing its products around the world (History.com Staff, …show more content…
Rockefeller gained enormous wealth. Many people saw him as a symbol of corporate greed (History.com Staff, 2010). Muckraking journalists, reform politicians, and others criticized the method John used to build his empire (History.com Staff, 2010). The New York Times even reported about his methods in 1937 (History.com Staff, 2010). Standard Oil was accused of pushing out other companies to give itself a monopoly (History.com Staff, 2010). John was a very Christian man. He passed this onto his children with Christian discipline (Hamen, 2011). Throughout John’s life he didn’t drink alcohol, smoke, gamble, or play cards because he saw them as sinful (Hamen, 2011). The children were expected to be on time for meals and their morning prayers (Hamen, 2011). Every Sunday they attended church prayer meetings and Sunday school (Hamen, 2011). If the children had any spare time they were allowed to read only from the Bible (Hamen, 2011). Rockefeller donated a vast amount of money. He retired from Standard Oil in the mid-1840s (History.com Staff, 2010). Rockefeller was inspired by Andrew