100 Entrepreneurs Who Changed The World
6. Rockefeller 1839-1937
“The growth of a large business is merely a survival of the fittest”
The man who made the name Rockefeller synonymous with wealth. John D Rockefeller was an American business magnate, oil king, and philanthropist. One of the founders of the Standard Oil Company, a company that dominated the American oil industry and became of the first great American business trusts. A leading philanthropist, Rockefeller used his wealth to aid millions. The foundations he established for medical research pioneered new research and were instrumental in the eradication of hookworm and yellow fever. He also founded both the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University, as well as funded the establishment of Central Philippine University in the Philippines. He poured lots of money into foundations focused on the development of Central and South America. He is a notably philanthropist, but that doesn’t discount the effect he had on the oil modern world through his control of oil. At his peak, Rockefeller controlled 90% of all US oil.
