The first American billionaire could also be one of the richest people to have ever lived
- John D. Rockefeller is said to be the first billionaire in history
- He entered the workforce on the bottom rung of the ladder
- He went on to found the Standard Oil Company
Published on Nov 24, 2023 at 8:22 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Dec 20, 2023 at 6:17 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Adam Gray
America’s first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller, was born on July 8, 1839 in upstate New York.
He paved the way for the likes of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers.
The son of a travelling salesman, he came from humble beginnings.
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However, he went on to become America’s first billionaire.
In fact, the founder of the Standard Oil Company is said to be one of the wealthiest men who ever lived.
So how did he do it? One TikTok account has laid it all on the line.
After being abandoned by his father, the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1854.
The future billionaire attended high school before briefly studying bookkeeping at a commercial college.
Leaving his studies early, Rockefeller earned money by doing anything he could.
Not unlike billionaires today, he was determined to build something from the ground up.
This included raising turkeys, selling candy, and doing jobs for neighbors.
At age 16, he found work as an office clerk at a Cleveland commission firm that bought, sold and shipped grain, coal and other commodities.
He celebrated September 26 – the day he got his first official job – annually for the rest of his life.
In 1859, Rockefeller and a partner established their own commission firm.
That very year in Titusville, Pennsylvania, America’s first oil well was drilled.
Rockerfeller saw his chance, entering the blossoming oil business in 1863.
He invested in a Cleveland refinery alongside other stakeholders.
In 1865, Rockefeller borrowed money to buy out his partners and take sole control of the refinery.
The refinery had grown to become the largest in Cleveland under his leadership.
In 1870, he established Standard Oil.
Starting from the ground up, by the early 1880s it controlled 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipelines.
However, some are adamant his business practices weren’t completely above board.
Some critics accused Rockefeller of engaging in predatory pricing.
Others believed he made deals with railroads to eliminate competitors and gain a monopoly in the growing industry.
Rockefeller himself said he gained the advantage by simply buying rival refineries and developing companies for distributing and marketing his product internationally.
However the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t agree.
In 1911, it found Standard Oil in violation of anti-trust laws and, as a result, ordered it to be dissolved.
It must be said that, whatever happened in the boardroom, over the course of his life Rockefeller donated more than $500 million to various philanthropic causes.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
