Who is the first billionaire in the USA?
October 04, 2021
The answer is ... John D Rockefeller. 👍
Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York on 7/8/1839. At age 16, he became an assistance bookkeeper working for Hewitt and Tuttle. His ambitions were to make $100,000 and to live 100 years. He entered the oil business in 1863 by investing in a Cleveland Ohio oil refinery. He founded the Standard Oil company in 1870. By the end of the 1870s, Standard Oil was refining over 90% of the oil in the U.S.
Many people accused Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices to eliminate his competitors and monopolize the oil industry. In 1911, the Supreme Court found Standard Oil Company of New Jersey in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The court ruled that the trust originated in illegal monopoly practices and ordered it to be dissolve. It was dismantle into 34 new companies, including but not limited to: Continental Oil, which became Conoco, now part of ConocoPhillips; Standard of Indiana, which became Amoco, now part of BP; Standard of California, which became Chevron; Standard of New Jersey, which became Esso (and later, Exxon), now part of ExxonMobil; Standard of New York, which became Mobil, now part of ExxonMobil; and Standard of Ohio, which became Sohio, now part of BP. Pennzoil and Chevron have remained separate companies.
In 1913, Rockefeller's personal wealth was estimated to be at $900 million. Rockefeller became American first billionaire, with a fortune worth nearly 2% of the national economy.
Rockefeller died of arteriosclerosis on May 23, 1937. He lived to be 97 years old.
Was Rockefeller's life meaningful? Yes. He accomplished his goals, making more than $100,000 like he wanted and live to be 97 years old. Even though he wanted to live to 100 years old, but that is close enough. We can overlook that 3 years. =D
