Born July 8, 1839

Richford, New York

Died May 23, 1937

Ormond Beach, Florida

American businessman, philanthropist

"I know of nothing more despicable and pathetic than a man who devotes all the hours of the waking day to the making of money for money's sake."

John D. Rockefeller built his fortune in the oil business from the ground up. His phenomenally successful Standard Oil Company dominated the oil industry for nearly forty years and became one of the first big trusts (monopolies) in the United States. The federal government, under President Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919; see entry), attacked the Standard Oil Trust in court, and succeeded in forcing it to split into separate companies in order to stimulate competition.

When Rockefeller died just six weeks short of his ninety-eighth birthday, he was thought to have amassed a personal...