John D. Rockefeller became one of the richest men in history due to his dedication and awareness. He had grown up in an unstable family, they rarely had enough money, and both his parents had an emotional turbulence that made his younger years quite difficult. His father never stayed home, when he did, he abused his family and behaved despicably, when he travelled on some trip unknown to the family, it is said he spent his time cheating. John Rockefeller became an anxiously aware person due to his childhood and unlike his father he became known for his reliability and credibility. He finished high school and began to learn bookkeeping, an important and commonly learned skill for those who wished to become rich. He kept the books for a merchant …show more content…
He went to school and hoped to become an engineer, going as far as to learn algorithms to achieve his goals. He wanted to have a good education, striving to do well and fully understand the things he was taught. Motivated to learn, mostly so that later in life he wouldn’t be taken advantage of by those with superior intellects. He also preferred to stay away from aggression and wanted to have an education that could help him solve problems while avoiding injury. He got his start from a wealthy tanner, Zadock Pratt, at the age of 20 and he opened his own tannery, naming it Gouldsboro. Unfortunately, in a very short amount of time it became clear that the company would collapse. He got into quite a bit of trouble with the economic state of his company and it ended in a riot, he lived but did move on from the tannery. After this failed company, he began to purchase older railroad tracks to repair and extend them. He would take these newly lengthened and mended tracks and sell them as connecting lines to railroad companies for a profit. He left behind a long trail of failed companies and broke business partners but he remained untouched by his seeming disasters. It may have seemed to friends and possible partners that he was unsuccessful but in reality, he dominated many of the possible businesses of the