John Davison Rockefeller, was born on July 8, 1839, he was the son of William Avery Rockefeller and Eliza Davison Rockefeller. John was born in Richford, New York, near Ithaca(World Book Encyclopedia, 1987). When he was fourteen years old, his father packed up their family and moved them to Cleveland. This would be the start of a promising life for John D. Rockefeller.
Rockefeller graduated from Cleveland Central High School, where had few friends. His mournful countenance won him the nickname "The Deacon". He formed a lasting friendship with one man, Mark Hanna. Mr. Hanna became a political fixer for the soon to become Standard Oil Company. John graduated in 1855, delegating on whether to attend college or not, he chose to go into business instead of attending college. With great expectations roaming through his mind, John pondered for many weeks trying to decide where the "perfect" job would be that would help fulfill his lofty expectations. "I went to the railroads, to the banks, to the wholesale merchants, " he recalled later. "I did not go to any small establishments....I wanted something big."(Colllier and Horowitz, pg. 12)
On September 26 he was hired as a clerk accountant by Hewitt and Tuttle, commission merchants and produce shippers dealing in grain and other commodities. This day became the beginning of a very prominent career for John D. Rockefeller. Discipline, order, and a close reckoning of debits and credits would be the code of his life. In 1958, John quit working for Hewitt and Tuttle. He began his own business with an acquaintance named Maurice Clark. Together they started their own commission merchant business.(Collier and Horowitz, 13)
In their first year of existence, the firm of Clark & Rockefeller netted a tidy profit of $4,000 on a gross business of $450,000. In just one year later, the profit rose to $17,000. Rockefeller had an instinct for good business, little did they not that greater fortune was ahead.(The Collier and Horowitz, 14)
When John first heard the news that oil had been springing up all of the United States, he did not pay much attention to the whole scenario. Until, refineries sprung up in Cleveland, just blocks away from Clark & Rockefeller. With his natural instinct in business, Rockefeller knew that the real money would be made not at the pumps, but at the middle stages of hauling and refining the oil.
Clark and Rockefeller began to see things differently in early 1865. With this dissension, they decided to auction off the company. During this time, Rockefeller was the highest bidder and received the company himself. After buying out Clark, Rockefeller formed his new company Rockefeller and Andrews, on the crest of the oil boom. At this time, the word "millionaire" was first mentioned. During this period, Rockefeller developed the now famous Standard Oil Company. Rockefeller has been called the "Napoleon of the Business World".
Rockefeller was constantly looking for ways to save money. Rockefeller would hire and buy all of the materials that he would need to do the jobs that he had in mind. Rockefeller and Andrews soon became the largest refiners in Cleveland. In 1870, they reorganized with Rockefeller's brother William, and Henry Flagler, the son of a Presbyterian minister. They renamed the their enterprise Standard Oil.(Burton W. Folsom, pg. 89)
The cause leading to the formation of this firm was the desire to unite the skills of each individual in order to carry on a business of greater magnitude with the economy and efficiency in place of the smaller businesses that each had before. Standard Oil began to interest others, with a capital of $1,000,000. In merely two years, Standard Oil increased capital to $2,500,000 in 1872, and in 1874 to $3,500,000. Rockefeller described the success of the business to the consistent policy of making the volume of its business large through the merit and cheapness of its products.(Rockefeller, pg. 86).
For 111 years, the business that has been variously known as the Standard Oil Trust, Standard Oil Co., Esso, and now Exxon has survived wars, expropriations, brutalizing competition, and even discrimination by the U.S. Supreme Courts. This corporation grew from a refinery in Cleveland to a global behemoth that sells petroleum in more than 100 countries through subusidiaries and affiliates that make up a "United Nations of oil". At one time in the mid-70's the recorded a gross profit of $2.4 billion after taxes. This was the largest of any industrial company. Rockefellr, the founder of this mega-money maker, has produced the largest publicly held corporation, in Exxon. As of Fortune 1973, Exxon was the largest corportation passing General Motors. The annual sales was estimated to be some $35.8 billion.(Allen, pg. 26)
In Standard Oil, Rockefeller arguably built the most successful business in American history. Rockefeller had to delegate a great deal of responsibility, and he always gave credit and sometimes large bonuses for work well done. Paying higher than market wages was his motto. He felt that this would cut down the effects of labor unrest and strikes. He came to know the oil business inside and out, and won the respect of his workers. Rockefeller would retire with a net worth of $900 million, which made him the wealthiest man in American History.
Collier, Peter, and , Horowitz, David. The Rockefellers. Holt, Rinehart, and Winsten of Canada, 1976.
Folsom, Burton W., The Myth of the Robber Barons. Young America's Foundation: Herndon, Virginia, 1991.
Rockefeller, John D., Random Reminiscences of Men and Events. Life Press: Garden City, New York, 1909.
The World Book Encyclopedia, John Davison Rockefeller. World Book, Inc., 1987.
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