Oil tycoons who influence the United States
Nowadays, whenever the name of the Rockefeller family is mentioned, people are immediately associated with "power, money, rule and policy". The New York Times once said: When the Rockefeller brothers pick up the phone and want to talk to the president of the United States, or to talk to a member of the president's cabinet, or to talk to an industrial leader, in fact, for anyone, the phone will always be connected or quickly dialed back. This is the embodiment of the Rockefeller family strength. The Wall Street Economic Forum also commented: "How far-reaching is the Rockefeller family's influence in American history? It is it, together with many cartels, syndicates and trust-based business organizations, that has pushed the United States to the top of the world today. It is hard for people to imagine how bleak the history of the United States and the United States today would be without it. " It was John Rockefeller, the world-famous king of making money, who created such a myth.
1839 On July 8th, Rockefeller was born in Moravia, new york, USA. His father sells salt, sells herbs and furs, and manages wood. Later, he became a quack and behaved dissolutely. His mother is hardworking and kind. Rockefeller learned the concept of money from his father and the concept of not trusting anyone. He was very cautious about people since he was a child, and he could strictly distinguish friendship from money, which directly affected his future career. 1853, Rockefeller, 14 years old, immigrated to Cleveland on Lake Erie with his parents. There, he met his good friend mark hanna, and later mark hanna became an industrialist and senator in railway, mining and banking. Rockefeller confessed his grand goal in life to mark hanna. Rockefeller began his first love and only love on 1854, and his love with that girl continued until he was old. 1In June, 855, Rockefeller dropped out of school when he was still a sophomore. Three months later, he was hired as a bookkeeper (equivalent to an accountant) by a company called Hugh Ted, and began a long and brilliant road to wealth.
Rockefeller began to dominate with his heart after receiving his first salary. He wrote down every income and expenditure, which is a habit he insisted on all his life and has been maintained by his descendants. No matter what the amount is, he tries to remember clearly that this rigorous and organized style is of great help to his success. Shortly after entering the company, Rockefeller showed great shrewdness and alertness. After he left his job at the age of 19, he cooperated with Clark, an Englishman, to set up a company mainly engaged in grain and pasture. He seized the business opportunity and made thousands of dollars at once (not a small sum at that time). After the outbreak of the civil war, Rockefeller foresaw that food and daily necessities would appreciate due to shortage, so he bought a lot of food and daily necessities in advance, and he gained considerable profits.
Brilliant entrepreneurial history
1864, Colonel Drake first drilled "black gold"-oil in Pennsylvania, which changed American history. People flocked to see Rockefeller's portrait. After careful investigation, Rockefeller decided to help Andrews develop refined oil. He firmly believes that the prospect of the refinery will be good. But Clark, the former partner, refused to take risks and withdrew his shares. Rockefeller resolutely embarked on the road of oil industry at the age of 26.
Rockefeller took over the company and changed its name to Rockefeller-Andrews Company. He quickly expanded the oil refining equipment, making the company the largest oil refining enterprise in Cleveland. A few years later, the company officially changed its name to Mobil Oil Company. 1867, Rockefeller found another partner, Henry flug. In decades of business affairs, the two have cooperated well and established a long-term friendship. Flagler's workshop and some funds were also merged into Mobil Oil Company.
Within a few years after the end of the civil war, Rockefeller fully realized the role of oil in household lighting and lubrication, so he set out to explore the European market and began to monopolize the downstream refining and sales industries. Realizing the importance of railway transportation, he negotiated with Vanderbilt and Goode, two giants in the railway industry, and finally both sides reached a mutually satisfactory agreement. 1 870,65438+10, Rockefeller's limited partnership company was changed into a joint-stock limited liability company-Mobil Oil Company, with a capital of110,000 yuan, and the younger brothers of Andrews, flagler and Rockefeller received 1300 dollars, and Rockefeller held 2,667 shares. At this time, he was only 30 years old. By the end of 1872, Rockefeller had controlled 26 of the 50 refineries.
Scholars pointed out that Rockefeller saw the benefits of merger very early. He bought competing refineries one by one, and in this way, he gradually annexed all the refineries. In this way, he saved the trouble of factory equipment, labor and peer competition.
The establishment of Mobil Oil Company is the beginning of Rockefeller's large-scale competition and sweeping. He extended his business giants to his peers and constantly annexed some small refineries. At one time, many enterprises went bankrupt, families broke up and many people committed suicide. People began to condemn Rockefeller.
With the help of flagler, Rockefeller began to take the road of monopoly. He intends to monopolize the railway transportation first, then the oil refining industry in Cleveland, then control the east and dominate the oil industry in the whole United States, and finally form a trust, a unified enterprise consortium. 187 1 year, Rockefeller, together with 12 oil companies, set up a holding company, the Southern Improvement Company, and formed an alliance with the railway transportation industry, which led to the monopoly of the oil refining industry and the railway transportation industry in Pennsylvania and led to the bankruptcy of many small enterprises. As a result, Rockefeller became a commercial demon in a short time, and many people shouted slogans such as "killing boa constrictors", "burying octopus" and "hanging vampires".
The oil producers' union headed by Ajibo challenged Rockefeller, who wanted to impose a crude oil blockade on Mobil and other enterprises that joined the railway alliance. At this time, the oil refining company excluded by Rockefeller set up another oil refining enterprise alliance in new york, and attacked the Southern Improvement Company and the major railway alliances in new york newspapers. At that time, public opinion developed in a direction unfavorable to Rockefeller. But he was still very calm, and he bought 20 refineries in Cleveland in just three months, occupying an absolute advantage. 1873, Rockefeller annexed all the refineries in Cleveland. By 1878, the assets of Mobil oil company have reached 20 million dollars, but it still keeps gathering more oil companies; But also control more railway companies. For a time, Mobil Oil Company was invincible. 1882, Rockefeller's Mobil oil company formed the highest form of enterprise monopoly-trust. It captured 40 oil companies, of which 14 is directly owned by Mobil Oil Company. In addition to refined oil, they also developed petroleum by-products such as paraffin, lubricating oil, vaseline and chewing gum. At the moment when the light bulb is about to replace the candle, the internal combustion engine, which has changed the modern industrial energy components, has pushed Mobil Oil Company to an unexpected height. His wealth and power grew faster than Rockefeller expected, and he became the first billionaire in American history.
19 1 1 year, the us congress passed the anti-monopoly law, and Mobil oil company was split into 38 companies. Rockefeller resigned from his position in Mobil, but his assets increased and he became the largest shareholder of the oil company, and his company's stock has been on the rise. Starting from 1898, Rockefeller ended his working career. He handed over his business to Ajibo, and after retirement, he began a leisurely life.
From oil tycoon to charity elderly
In his spare time, Rockefeller began to consider creating another organization. For decades, although he has gained great wealth, people have been cursing him, which makes him always bitter. So he wants to create a charity to reverse his negative image and leave a good reputation for future generations. At the same time, letters asking him for money all the year round have been bothering him.
At that time, he was like a man-eating monster Rockefeller. As his wealth piled up, people gradually became gentle. Many years ago, Rockefeller began to think about money. He believes that money is enough for people, too much wealth can not bring satisfaction and happiness, and the greatest use of money is to use it to do more valuable things. At the beginning of the 20th century, Rockefeller had a deeper understanding of money: "I am convinced that the assumption that a lot of money will inevitably bring happiness is wrong. Extremely rich people are like me and everyone else. If they are happy because they have money, it is because they can do something that they think will satisfy some people. "
Influenced by this idea, Rockefeller began to consider giving money to those in need while making money. /kloc-When he got his first salary at the age of 0/6, he donated a few cents to the Baptist Church. Later, with the increase of income, he broke the boundaries of sects, nationalities and colors, and donated more and more businesses. 19 In the late 1980s, Rockefeller donated millions of dollars to the church: 1889, he set up the University of Chicago on the east coast of the United States with 600,000 dollars, and then donated more than 30 million dollars to the University of Chicago.
189 1 year, Rockefeller specially invited a priest named Gates to help him deal with charity affairs. Rockefeller agreed with Gates' suggestion and decided to use the money to alleviate human suffering and burden. 190 1 year, Rockefeller set up a medical research institute with $200,000 to study various epidemic and persistent diseases. This research institute has made great contributions, among which more than 20 scientific research achievements have won the Nobel Prize. Before handing over the financial responsibility to his son, Rockefeller donated $60 million to the institute. 1903, Rockefeller invited Carnegie, the king of steel, to be the leader of the General Education Committee of a charity, which aims to improve the education level of southern blacks. Rockefeller took the lead in donating money, and the total amount donated to the Education Committee was as high as $6,543.8 +0.2 billion. 1909, Rockefeller Health Committee was established. 19 13, Rockefeller established another charity-Rockefeller foundation. He took out $100 million at a time as the fund of the association, whose purpose is to "improve the welfare of all mankind."
1937 In May, 98-year-old Rockefeller died of myocardial aging. After his death, his son Rockefeller Jr., as a philanthropist, carefully managed various charities, expanded the influence of the Luo family in all aspects of society and washed away the stigma left by his father. Today, the Rockefeller family still occupies a pivotal position in the world.