Robber Barons Research Paper

When it comes to the phrase “sharing is caring”, not too many business leaders followed it. Ironically, there were a few stingy industrialists who happened to have a generous heart. John D. Rockefeller, J.P.Morgan, and Andrew Carnegie are a few examples of individuals known for “money-hogging” in the 19th century. Although a couple of these robber barons started off as people who did not give back to their community, they managed to become captains of industry in the end. What are robber barons and captains of industry? A robber baron is an industrialist who does not give back to the community. They would have done anything to get more money, even if it meant that others would be negatively affected. Their smart and crooked practices consisted

J.P. Morgan was one of the most wealthiest financiers of his time. He was born into the banking business which led him to open his own banking company in 1871 (J.P.Morgan & Co).This powerful banker took lacking businesses into his own hands, bringing on the term Morganization. It is a word that is used to describe the process of business leaders making money from failing businesses. J.P.Morgan had gained so much wealth, that he was asked to lend the U.S. government after the great depression of 1895.

During the prime of his success, he brought on a lot of attention. Most of the industries in the U.S. were under his belt. By this time, he was the supreme of two major businesses--the railroad and steel industry. The steel industry in particular was the main monopoly he took on. The U.S. government finally stopped Morgan in 1911. Fortunately, this wasn’t the last people heard of Morgan. Morgan actually donated money to different organizations at the ending of his career. One of his most famous donations was when he funded Harvard

He spent the last part of his life giving away millions of dollars. He donated funds to build more than 3,000 public libraries and he funded the Tuskegee and Carnegie Institutes. In his book, The Gospel of Wealth, he described the importance of charitable giving for the public good. These actions instantly changed Andrew Carnegie from a robber baron to a captain of industry.

In the present day, there are captains of industry who donate to plenty of charities. Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. She has given away millions of dollars to her top three charities--The Angel Network, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, and The Oprah Winfrey Operating Foundation. Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, is an American business magnate, philanthropist, investor, and computer programmer. According to CNBC, Bill Gates was the top giver last year with a donation of $1.5 billion to a