John Davison Rockefeller. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company. And he also had become one of the world’s wealthiest men and also a major philanthropist. He had entered the oil business in 1863 by investing in a refinery in Cleveland, Ohio. He finally established Standard Oil in 1870, which controlled 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipelines by 1870. Many critics had accused “Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices, such as predatory pricing and colluding with railroads to eliminate his competitors, in order to gain a monopoly in the industry.” (History) Standard Oil had been ordered to dismantle, in 1911, when the U.S. Supreme Court found it in violation of anti-trust laws. But, throughout his life, John D. Rockefeller had donated more than 500 million dollars for different philanthropic cases. While many might not know his history, …show more content…
John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839, in Richford, New York. He was the son of a traveling salesman. Diligent even during his childhood, Rockefeller would earn money by doing jobs for neighbors, raising turkeys or even selling candy. In 1853, his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he attended high school and then temporarily studied bookkeeping at a commercial college. At the age of 16, in 1855, he had found work at a Cleveland commission firm as an office clerk. He had “considered September 26, the day he started the position and entered the world, so significant that as an adult, he commemorated this ‘job day’ with an annual celebration.” (History) By the age of 20, Rockefeller set out on his own with a business partner, since he did exceptionally well at his job, and they worked as