John Davison Rockefeller

Born: 1839 | Died: 1937

Entrepreneur

John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York, second of six children to William Avery Rockefeller and Eliza Davison. Genealogists trace his line back to Neuwied in the Platinate region in western Germany, where his family was known as Rockenfeller in the 18th century. Rockefeller revolutionized the oil industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy.

In 1870, Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company and ran it until he retired in the late 1890s. He kept his stock and as gasoline grew in importance, his wealth soared and he became the world's richest man and first billionaire. Rockefeller is often regarded as the richest person in history.

Standard Oil was convicted in Federal Court of monopolistic practices and broken up in 1911. Rockefeller spent the last forty years of his life in retirement. His fortune was used to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy with foundations that had and continues to have a major impact on medicine, education, and scientific research.

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