John Davison Rockefeller: From Rags to Riches “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great”, John D. Rockefeller. John D. Rockefeller accomplished more than anyone of his era could. Rockefeller began his life at the bottom, but rose to the top of the social and economic later later in his life. He pioneered the idea of the now illegal monopoly, and the American business model. Although Rockefeller is particularly remembered for his ruthless tactics in his oil monopoly, he contributed an immense fortune to various charity foundations. John Davison Rockefeller was born on the eighth of July, 1839 in Richford, New York. Rockefeller was the oldest child of William A. Rockefeller, a snake-oil salesmen, and Eliza Davidson. Rockefeller’s …show more content…
The Standard Oil Trust had an infamous reputation in the country, which increased the inhabitants hostility towards it (Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 1999). The Ohio Supreme Court held that the Standard Oil Trust was a monopoly, which is illegal in that state and forced it to disband. Ohio’s Supreme Court’s ruling for Standard Oil forced Rockefeller to disperse the empire, however the top members of his company were still the leaders of the splitting companies. Rockefeller, however, could not escape the United State Supreme Court, according to the Sherman Antitrust Act, an act where trusts were found to be illegal, Standard Oil was forced to split and placed under new ownership of the smaller …show more content…
Rockefeller, he had other business outside the oil industry. Rockefeller helped create the Mesabi iron ore range in Minnesota and with the creation Rockefeller’s boats that transferred iron ore controlled Great Lake shipping. All the iron ore on Rockefeller’s hands, he in turn teamed up with the steel giant, Andrew Carnegie in 1896 (Encyclopedia, 2004). Within the team alliance, Carnegie agreed not to touch the railroad transportation in turn for Rockefeller not entering the steel industry.In the end, Rockefeller sold the iron ore range to Carnegie which made Rockefeller’s yearly profit reach the $200 million mark, which was his