John D RockefellerJohn D Rockefeller is the richest American who ever lived. Learn all about him here. Surely you have heard of the Rockefellers. Over the past century they have been one of the wealthiest families in America. Where did all the money come from? John Rockefeller was the man behind that prestigious name. From the time of his birth in 1839 until his death almost 100 years later, this extraordinary man amassed the biggest fortune in American history. At his pinnacle John Rockefeller was worth $305 Billion dollars. That number makes him almost 3 times as rich as the current richest man in America, Microsoft’s Bill Gates. So how did Rockefeller achieve these staggering numbers? Well he started out as a successful businessman in the grocery industry. He did well, but that was not where his wealth came from. After the grocery business he went on and revolutionized the oil industry. He developed a new method of refining oil that was far superior to anything prior. He was a fierce businessman who conducted very competitive business. His high level of competition gave his company, Standard Oil, almost a complete monopoly over the oil industry. The timing was right because around the same time the automobile industry (headed by fellow rich man Henry Ford) was booming. His control over the oil industry at a time when oil was more in demand than ever before was enough to land Rockefeller in the number one spot of Americas richest men of all time. He handled his money very wisely, and was a modest individual. He was a huge philanthropist and started the Rockefeller Foundation, one of America’s most influential philanthropic organizations. return from John D Rockefeller to getting rich
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