Founder john D Rockefeller (1839- 1937) first worked in a dry goods store in Cleveland, Ohio, with a weekly salary of $5. Later, he founded Standard Oil Company, which was actually the beginning of American oil industry.
19 10 year, when john D Rockefeller found that his wealth had reached nearly 10 billion dollars, he began to think about how to use it. Because he was not interested in buying French manors or castles in Scotland, nor did he bother to buy works of art, yachts or medieval suits and all the things that the rich talked about, he invested a large part of his income in coal mines, railways, insurance companies, banks and various types of production enterprises, the most famous of which was iron ore business.
If john rockefeller were still alive, he would be worth about $305.3 billion today-according to Forbes' list of billionaires in 2008, Warren Buffett, the richest man in the world at that time, was worth $46 billion.
Today, the legacy of the old Rockefeller still dominates the world oil industry, and he himself can be called the personification symbol of the ubiquitous and omnipotent western oil industry.
More than six generations of wealthy families
There is an old saying in China that "wealth cannot exceed three generations", but the Rockefeller family has developed to the sixth generation in 2 1 century, and it is still in its heyday, and it is "rich" all over the world.
More than a century later, the Rockefeller family is still writing a glorious history. John D Rockefeller's descendants don't hide in their rooms all day, but plan how to keep their wealth and prevent money from falling into other people's pockets. Instead, they actively participate in culture, health and charity, and with a rich sense of guilt, spend a lot of money to establish various funds, invest in universities and hospitals, and let the whole society share their wealth.
In today's America, it is almost impossible to completely avoid the influence of this family. It is no exaggeration to say that the development history of the Rockefeller family in the past 150 years is an accurate epitome of the whole American history, and it has become an outstanding representative of the American national spirit and influenced people all over the world.
The first generation of family business
Rockefeller: The First Billionaire on Earth
Except for john D Rockefeller, most of the early wealthy Americans succeeded by accident. He is not versatile, but he is unusually calm, shrewd and far-sighted. With unique courage and means, he built his huge oil empire from scratch step by step. In his long life, people have different opinions about him. Some people think that he is just an ambitious mercenary entrepreneur, while others praise him as a generous philanthropist. In any case, as the first billionaire and oil tycoon in American history, he controlled the entire American oil resources for quite some time, created the trust enterprise system, and occupied an important position in the history of American capitalist economic development.
Genetic commercial gene
1839 On July 8th, john rockefeller was born in Yangjia, a small town on the Hudson River in new york. His parents are completely different in personality: his mother is a devout Christian, who converts to the Bible in every word and deed, and is frugal and strict in family education; But my father is a practical playboy. He is confident, adventurous, sociable, willful and self-centered. As the eldest son, Rockefeller learned the pragmatic way of doing business from his father and the advantages of being meticulous, frugal and trustworthy from his mother, which had a great impact on his future success.
His father is William, known as "Big Bill". He is a lumberjack, a horse dealer and a witch doctor on the tramp, selling the so-called panacea of "seeing miraculous effects and curing all diseases". Besides, he also sells land, furs and salt. selling groceries is a knowledgeable man who can do almost anything.
The father went out to do business for several months, and the education of the children at home was mainly borne by the mother. However, the father who comes home occasionally is as ambitious as his mother. As long as he has time, he teaches John how to write business letters, how to pay accurately and quickly, and how to keep accounts clearly. He is well aware of the reality of society and the ruthlessness of the world, so he often takes some special ways to educate children and make them strong and smart before entering the society.
However, John did not accept everything that flowed in his father's blood. He didn't have his father's playboy nature at all, but inherited his mother's virtue of thrift. He regarded this belief as "business training" and adhered to the principle of "frugality is scarcity" all his life. From this, he also came to his own conclusion: "Only numbers count."
The biggest decision of my life.
After graduating from high school, john D Rockefeller became an accountant in a grain company. Three years later, Rockefeller, who was only 65,438+09 years old, borrowed $65,438+0,000 from his father at an annual interest rate of 65,438+00%, and added $800 saved by himself to set up a company dealing in cereals and meat with Clark. This is Rockefeller's first company.
At that time, oil had been discovered in Pennsylvania, and thousands of people flocked to the oil-producing areas like the original gold rush. Cleveland businessmen are also very excited about this new business. They elected Rockefeller, a promising young broker, to personally inspect the crude oil producing areas in Pennsylvania.
When Rockefeller came to the oil-producing area, everything in front of him shocked him: towering derricks, messy shacks, grotesque well-drilling equipment and oil storage tanks were everywhere, and they were in a mess. Rockefeller saw the hidden crisis behind blind mining through the superficial "prosperity" scene.
Calm Rockefeller did not rush back to report the results of the investigation to the business community in Cleveland, but stayed at the American hotel in the oil-producing area for further field investigation. He reads the market situation in the newspaper every day, quietly listens to the narration of the anxious and talkative oil businessman, and takes detailed notes seriously.
He returned to Cleveland after a period of investigation. He advised businessmen not to invest in crude oil production, because the oil exploitation there has been excessive, the demand is limited, and the oil market is bound to fall. He warned that if you want to create a career, you must learn to wait, and patience is the prerequisite for winning.
Sure enough, as Rockefeller expected, because of crazy drilling, oil prices fell again and again, and those oil pioneers were defeated one by one.
Three years later, when crude oil plummeted again and again, Rockefeller thought it was time to invest in oil, which was much beyond the expectation of ordinary people. He and Clark jointly invested $4,000 to open an oil refinery in partnership with Andrews, an Englishman who works in an oil refinery. Andrews used a new technology to refine kerosene, which made Andrews-Clark Company develop rapidly.
Rockefeller is only in his early twenties, but he is quite experienced in business. After waiting patiently and observing calmly for a period of time, he decided to let go. But his collaborator Clark hesitated at this moment and dared not take risks. The two men had serious differences in the decision-making of oil business and finally had to go their separate ways.
When auctioning the company's property rights, both of them refused to give up their original brokerage company's equity in Andrews-Clark Company, and the scene of bidding with each other was very fierce. Rockefeller has made up his mind to invest in the oil business, so he always outbid Clark until Clark finally said sadly, "I won't raise the price again, John, this stock is yours." Rockefeller, 26, finally won. He later recalled this decisive moment and said, "This is the biggest decision I have made in my life." From then on, he renamed the company "Rockefeller-Andrews Company" and started his oil business hopefully.
Father of trust
Rockefeller realized that enterprises must expand to resist the impact of wind and waves. Later, he joined two well-funded and reputable investment partners and established Standard Oil Company with a capital of $6,543,800+0,000.
In business wars, Rockefeller hates to drive away competitors with price wars. He is more willing to provide competitors with cash or shares in standard companies (related: financial management) and buy their refineries. He is a pioneer in understanding the value of merger. At the same time of merging companies, Rockefeller also recruited a group of capable people, in his own words: "That value far exceeds all the merged companies."
By the end of 1879, Standard Company had controlled 90% of the national oil refining industry. By 1880, 95% of the oil produced in the United States is refined by Standard Oil Company. Since American history, no enterprise has monopolized the market so completely.
It was at this time that Rockefeller's lawyer Dodd put forward the concept of "trust" as a monopoly organization. Under the guidance of Dodd's "trust" theory, Rockefeller merged more than 40 manufacturers, monopolizing 80% of the national oil refining industry and 90% of the oil pipeline business. 1886, Standard Oil Company established a natural gas trust. Standard Oil Company was finally named Mobil Oil Company. Trust quickly spread all over the United States and all walks of life. In a very short time, this form of monopoly organization occupied 90% of the American economy. Rockefeller successfully created a unique era in American history-the monopoly era.
Rockefeller, as a monopolist, offended many people: business rivals, Wall Street, courts and Congress. The control of monopoly enterprises on the economy makes society uneasy. Under the stick of President theodore roosevelt's antitrust law, Mobil was dismembered. The depressed Rockefeller denounced old Roosevelt as a scumbag. And vowed not to fund Republican candidates.
A life that cherishes money as much as life.
Although Rockefeller has accumulated huge wealth, his life is very frugal and he is always instilling the values he formed in his poor childhood. The first step to prevent them from spending money like water is not to let them know that their father is a rich man. Rockefeller's children never went to their father's office or oil refinery before they grew up.
Rockefeller established a virtual market economy at home, called his wife "general manager" and asked the children to keep accounts carefully. Children earn pocket money by doing housework: catching flies for 2 cents, sharpening pencils 1 cents, practicing piano for 5 cents per hour, repairing vases 1 cents, not eating sugar for one day, and not eating rewards 1 cents the next day. Every 10 weed in vegetable field can earn 1 cent, the only boy. It costs 65,438+0 cents a day to keep the paths in the yard clean. Rockefeller is very proud that he can train his children into a small domestic labor force. He once pointed to his 13-year-old daughter and said to others, "This little girl has started to earn money. You can't imagine how she earned it. I heard that if you use gas carefully, you can reduce the cost, so I told her that the money saved from the current bill every month belongs to her. So she wandered around every night and saw an unused gas lamp, so she turned it down. "
In order to let the children learn to be humble to each other, he only bought a bicycle for four children. When little John grew up, he was embarrassed to admit that he was wearing skirts before he was 8 years old, because he was the youngest in the family and the first three were girls.
Rockefeller regards gold as life. /kloc-when he was 0/6 years old, he spent ten cents to buy a small notebook to record every income and expenditure, and regarded the ledger as the most precious souvenir of his life.
1On September 8, 864, Rockefeller married Laura, a 24-year-old high school classmate. Although he accumulated huge wealth, he only spent $65,438 +05.75 on his wedding ring. This expense was charged to "miscellaneous expenses". Rockefeller once owed a friend five cents in change, and his friend told him not to mention it, but he insisted on putting the coin in his friend's pocket and solemnly said, "This is the interest of one dollar for a whole year."
The biggest philanthropist
Incredibly, a thrifty capitalist like Rockefeller turned out to be the biggest philanthropist in American history. By the 1920s, Rockefeller Foundation had become the largest charity in the world, and its medical education and public health were global. He donated $530 million directly in his life, and the charitable donations of the whole family exceeded $654.38+0 billion. China has benefited a lot, and the funds it receives are second only to the United States. 19 15, Rockefeller Foundation established China Medical Committee, and 192 1 was responsible for establishing Peking Union Medical College, which trained generations of medical talents with modern knowledge for China.
Rockefeller's epoch-making dedication made people have different views and evaluations on him, leaving a contradictory reputation behind him. He combined piety with greed, sympathy with cruelty and cunning; He is the embodiment of American Puritan ancestor tradition, which encourages thrift and hard work, but also stimulates greedy nature.
Fearing that someone would destroy the cemetery, his coffin was placed in a grave that could not be blasted with explosives, and it was covered with thick slate. The newspaper published an obituary describing him as a charitable philanthropist, but it didn't mention the cruel trust king-john D Rockefeller. No matter what position the politician takes, including those who have had a holiday with him, he is praised. A prosecutor praised the perfunctory witness he had asked: "Apart from our beloved president, he is the greatest citizen of our country. It was he who created knowledge with wealth, and no one else. The world is a better place because of him. The chief citizen of this world will go down in history forever. "
Churchill commented on him like this: "His contribution to exploration will be recognized as a milestone in human progress."
The second generation family business
John rockefeller Jr.: A Strong Second Generation
Old Rockefeller said, "The ability to make money is a gift from God". Out of a sense of responsibility for his family, the frail old Rockefeller later passed on this outlook on life to his only son, john D Rockefeller Jr., David's father.
When Rockefeller Jr. became the head of the family, he not only took over the family oil business, but also took over the family charity. Sometimes, Rockefeller Jr. finds it difficult to find a psychological balance between oil business and charity, so he is often insane. Rockefeller Jr. once described that when doing business, he felt like he was in a race with his conscience. David said that his father's religious education often made him doubt whether what he did in business was correct.
Rockefeller Jr. established the Rockefeller Center in new york and managed to save many ancient redwoods in the mountains of the western United States. In fact, he also gave up many opportunities to carry forward the family business. Looking back on his life, he spent most of his life sending family fortune abroad instead of accumulating more wealth. David pointed out that in the process of doing charity, his father "got great satisfaction." He saw many problems in society and tried to help solve them. "
Rockefeller Jr. has a strong interest in protecting historical relics and protecting the environment. Through his efforts, the ancient city of Williamsburg and the Palace of Versailles in France, which were founded by Britain during the colonial period in North America, were completely preserved.
So little John must have contributed to the Rockefeller family's fame today.
John rockefeller Jr.' s creed-I believe
I believe that everyone has supreme value and the right to pursue freedom and happiness.
I believe that every right is a responsibility; Every opportunity is a responsibility; Every property is a responsibility.
I believe that laws are made for people, not for people to make laws at will; The government is the servant of the people, not the master of the people.
I believe that only labor can gain dignity, whether it is manual labor or mental labor; This world will not make people unable to live, but it owes people a better chance to live.
In my opinion, thrift is the first necessity of a good financial structure, whether it is the government, enterprises or personal financial management (related to securities financial management).
I believe that truth and justice are the foundation of a harmonious society.
I believe in commitment, and everyone should take the sacred language as their own bond; Commitment-not wealth or strength-is the highest value.
I believe that it is the common need of mankind to get the necessary returns. Eliminating selfishness is to purify the dregs of the fire and achieve the collection of great souls.
I believe that God with supreme wisdom and love, no matter what name he gives people, the highest personal achievement, the greatest happiness and the widest talent will exist in his own will.
I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world, and only it can help you overcome all resentment and make you have the possibility of happiness.
The third generation family business
Lawrence Rockefeller: "the father of venture capital" wealth is only his platform, which gives him more convenience in loving nature; His family is his glory, and the national park is his spiritual home.
Wall street genius
Lawrence Rockefeller was born in new york on May 26th on19/kloc-0. He is the fourth of john rockefeller's six children.
Seventy years ago, lawrence Rockefeller started his career on Wall Street. He became a pioneer of modern venture capital and successfully multiplied the wealth inherited from the Rockefeller family. During his 10 years in new york Stock Exchange, he often used his innate business intuition to make the next important decision. He is not satisfied with simply making more money, but hopes that money can produce something lasting. When talking about his brother, David Rockefeller, the only surviving son of John D. john rockefeller Jr., said, "I admire his extraordinary talent in business, and I have always followed him in the field of venture capital." He is really a pioneer in this field. "
Father of venture capital
Lawrence inherited the gift of making money from his grandfather. His assets were $65.438+0.5 billion, ranking 377th among Forbes' 587 billionaires. 1937, Lawrence inherited the new york Stock Exchange bought by his grandfather, and then embarked on the road of starting a business from Wall Street, creating a precedent for venture capital in the United States. Surprisingly, instead of buying more blue chips, he began to invest and help newly established enterprises start their own businesses. His first attempt was very accidental. At that time, he and his new wife were going to customize some furniture. When he saw the photos of Bentwood designed by Finnish designer alvar aalto, he had a premonition that these furniture would be the ideal choice for modern home, so he placed an order to buy a batch and opened a specialty store in new york. Although many people are skeptical about the business prospects, the result is a great demand for furniture. Until 1940, the Finnish winter war affected the supply of goods, and the business was forced to be interrupted. Lawrence's second deal is more influential. He got to know Eddie Rickenbeck, the pilot of World War I, and thought Rickenbeck's views on the upcoming rise of commercial air transport were very insightful. So, 1938, he funded Rickenbeck to set up Eastern Airlines, and became the largest shareholder of the company for a long time, and Eastern Airlines also became the most profitable airline after the war. In addition, his investment in 1939 McDonnell Douglas Airlines has also become a major supplier of military aircraft.
During World War II, he froze his business and joined the navy, at least in school. After the war, he returned to the shopping mall and continued to look for new corporate investments. An article in Wall Street Journal 65438-0959 specifically pointed out Lawrence's contribution to the new field of venture capital, thus establishing his position as the "father of venture capital". Lawrence, together with other Rockefeller family members and some institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, established the Vanlock Venture Capital Company, which specializes in venture capital. By the end of 1996, they had invested in 22 1 start-up companies, and all these companies had achieved good results after being invested.
Decades of business experience have convinced him of the importance of keeping a flexible mind and keeping pace with the times, so he is willing to accept new things, introduce new concepts, promote venture capital funds, and develop high-tech and other emerging industries, including investing in Apple Computer and Intel Group, the largest chip company in the United States.
On July 1 1, 2004, lawrence Rockefeller, a billionaire and all-powerful man in the United States, died in his sleep at the age of 94. The third generation of the Rockefeller family, although born with a golden key, is by no means a dude. In his life, he not only started venture capital, but also made immortal contributions to environmental protection and charity in the United States.
The third generation head of the economic empire
David rockefeller,1915 June12, born in the Rockefeller family, is the most influential family name in two centuries. He is the third generation leader of this economic empire.
Political and economic dignitaries
As a descendant of the first American family, David has the opportunity that no one else has, to get in touch with the most influential economists, the most powerful families, politicians who have influenced the political situation in Europe and America, and every American president has participated in many important visits that have changed the world pattern. He visited the former Soviet Union during the Cold War and had direct and sharp face-to-face communication with Khrushchev and Gorbachev. He was also the first capitalist 1973 who visited China after Sino-US relations began to thaw. He was also an international financier who had close contact with China and successfully carried out business activities at the beginning of reform and opening up.
As a student of Hayek and Schumpeter, and a classmate of Samuelson, a famous economist, he has profound views on economics, which have influenced enterprise management and government, and these views have also widely influenced the direction of American economy and the formulation of policies. He redefined the identity of an entrepreneur, thinking that "the identity of an entrepreneur itself represents an opportunity to satisfy people's nature of invention, innovation, pursuit of rights and gambling ... In fact, the process of pursuing achievement itself is a goal for many people, and in the eyes of those people, profit is just a by-product worth working hard", which may better explain everything he has done in using and creating wealth.
Social responsibility of the rich
When David grew up, he became the president of Chase Manhattan Bank, specializing in supervising the international business of the bank. At the same time, he is also interested in charity and art. He also helped manage a family legacy that still affects American life today.
In addition to running his own company steadily, David has done many things that his grandparents have never tried. For example, he wrote a book called Essays about his personal life in the most powerful family in America. He also wrote a biography, Memoirs, which included family history for future generations to learn from. Whether in books or in life, David always insists that a person with great social wealth should have a sense of social responsibility. "Rich people should have a sense of responsibility to society and do something beneficial to others." Whenever someone writes to him or asks him to donate money in person, David will do as his father does. It seems that without the burden of family business, David should become a writer and historian or something. David Rockefeller said that he hoped his family would go down in history as a "helping family": "If you have wealth, you will have opportunities that others don't have. It is also important to seize these opportunities. " The Rockefeller family business has been handed down for three generations, but by the fourth and fifth generations, the habit of inheriting the same strain met with strong opposition. Among David's descendants, many extremists even gave up Rockefeller's trademark name and traveled around the world incognito. According to statistics, 80% of family businesses failed to spread to the second generation, and the remaining 13% failed to spread to the third generation. I wonder if the Rockefeller family can continue to maintain this surviving 7% by David's memoirs?
philanthropist
John works as hard as his father and has a strong sense of responsibility, but he is "nervous", "shy and clumsy in social situations" and even "will suffer for days for what he said or thought that flashed by". However, shy John has another side. Because he opposed his younger brother Nelson's single-handedly controlling family affairs, he launched a fierce struggle and won the final victory.
As a philanthropist in his family, John devoted his life to solving some social problems, and he has an empathy for the losers in life. During the Vietnam War, the turmoil in American society gave John a natural recognition of the anti-war trend of thought, and he had a preference for those young people who were considered unorthodox at that time with long hair and love to drink. David praised John's achievements in charity "which Rockefeller family members can be proud of".
Nelson rockefeller: An outstanding politician.
Nelson's personality is more like his mother's aldridge family than the Rockefeller family. He has countless wealth, but he never wants to wait for success. He dares to overcome all obstacles, including his serious dyslexia. He has successfully set an astonishing record of being re-elected as governor of New York for four times, becoming the most watched politician after Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower.