Bio and Industry

John Rockefeller was an oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry . In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company and aggressively ran it until he officially retired in 1897. Standard Oil began as an Ohio partnership formed by Rockefeller, his brother William, and several others.When the Standard Oil Trust was formed in 1882, it produced most of the world's lamp kerosene, owned 4,000 miles of pipelines, and employed 100,000 workers. 

Workers

Rockefeller often paid above-average wages to his employees, but he strongly opposed any attempt by them to join labor unions.John D. Rockefeller was also known for selecting the right people of the job and then treating them well. The employees within his company were often referred to as the “Standard Oil family,” and everyone worked together to achieve the company’s goals. Rockefeller routinely praised his employees, and it was not uncommon for him to join them in their work and urge them on. Rockefeller believed in giving his employees praise, rest, and comfort in order to get the best work out of them. He offered long vacations at full pay for weary leaders, but these leaders did not stay away from the business very long because they were so committed to the growth and success of the company. 

Investing Money

Rockefeller hated waste and devoted considerable energy to increasing the efficiency of his refining business. He believed that the secret of success was attention to detail -- to wringing little efficiencies out of every aspect of his business. He made his own barrels for the oil. He bought tracts of white-oak timber for making the barrels. Instead of transporting the freshly cut green timber directly to the shop, he had kilns built on the timber tracts to dry the wood on site, to reduce the shipping weight of the lumber. He bought his own wagons and horses to transport the wood to the shop in Cleveland. He later bought his own railroads to transport his oil barrels. This practice is known as “vertical integration” – buying up every aspect needed for your business so you don’t have to rely on any outside companies.

Philanthropy

As kerosene and gasoline grew in importance during the industrial age, Rockefeller's wealth soared, and he became the world's richest man and first American worth more than a billion dollars. Adjusting for inflation, he is often regarded as the richest person in history. Rockefeller spent the last 40 years of his life in retirement. His fortune was mainly used to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy with foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education, and scientific research. He is also the founder of both the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University. He was a devoted Northern Baptist and supported many church-based institutions throughout his life.