Industrial Revolution Biographies | Andrew Carnegie Biography

Born November 25, 1835

Dunfermline, Scotland

Died August 11, 1919

Lenox, Massachusetts

Scottish-born American industrialist
and philanthropist

"I would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar."

Andrew Carnegie's name is synonymous with the steel industry. Starting from poverty, he built an enormous fortune by utilizing a new process for making steel and creating the largest steel-manufacturing company in the United States at precisely the time the world was turning from iron to steel to build railroads, skyscrapers, machine tools, and automobiles.

Carnegie was the son of a poor Scottish weaver. After immigrating to the United States with his family, he began a swift, steady rise to overwhelming business success, living out the ultimate rags-to-riches story. Carnegie held varied and diverse jobs in his career: he...