John Davison Rockefeller was born in 1839. His career started inauspiciously enough. At the age of sixteen he found work as a clerk at a produce company in Cleveland, Ohio. His starting salary was $16 a month.
Rockefeller had a knack for business and soon developed an interest in oil refining. Before long he was running a small Ohio refinery. In 1870 he founded Standard Oil. Rockefeller chose the name Standard Oil to give the consuming public assurance of a “standard quality of product.”
The company leveraged Rockefeller’s good standing with Cleveland bankers to finance buyouts of smaller refineries. By 1882 Standard Oil had a near monopoly of the American petroleum business. Despite a 1911 Supreme Court ruling that Standard Oil be broken up due to violation of federal antitrust laws, Rockefeller’s fortunes soared. He became the first American billionaire.
Rockefeller retired from Standard Oil at the age of 58 and devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy. His many charitable endeavors included support for the founding of the University of Chicago and Spelman College.
Learn more in the Ernest C. Miller papers at UW’s American Heritage Center