The name of John Rockefeller is known all over the world. Purposefulness, diligence and financial literacy helped him enter history and become famous as the first and richest man of the 20th century. He is a great example of how to start from scratch and become a billionaire. Many entrepreneurs will be interested to learn about his life path. John Rockefeller left the American oil corporation Standard Oil and many facts from the biography, as well as useful advice that will help everyone to succeed in life. Read more about it on newyorkski.
John Rockefeller’s childhood: upbringing, first earnings and financial habits
From the first years of his life, John Rockefeller was surrounded by love from his parents and studied financial literacy. This greatly influenced the formation of his personality and the creation of a fortune in the future.
He was born on July 8, 1839 in an intelligent and large family with 6 children. John Rockefeller was the second child. His father, who was engaged in trade and had his own business, instilled his interest in entrepreneurship. He told little John about the companies with which he cooperated, as well as the principles of their activity and the laws of business. Thanks to this, knowledge and skills in the field of trade became a part of John’s childhood. In addition, his father taught him to appreciate his work. He paid him money for performing household chores.
While the father was on a business trip, his mother took care of his upbringing. Being a housewife, she taught her children to save money. In the future, John needed this habit to develop his business and increase his profit.
At a young age, he began to earn money and manage it competently. At the age of 7, the boy worked on a neighbor’s farm. He dug potatoes and fed turkeys for their further sale. With his first salary, he did not buy sweets or toys. He preferred an accounting book and began to keep records of income and expenses. He treated this book with special respect, keeping it in good condition until the end of his life. John Rockefeller kept all the money he earned in a piggy bank. Thanks to this, he valued and constantly accumulated them.
The first and last work in his life
After graduating from school, John Rockefeller entered college, where he studied the basics of accounting and commerce. Soon, he realized that he did not want to lose the best years of his life listening to lectures at an educational institution. He believed that he could achieve much more if he started practicing earlier. The future billionaire decided to drop out of school and take a 3-month accounting course. After that, he immediately started looking for a job.
After 2 months of searching, he was appointed an assistant accountant at Hewitt & Tuttle. Hard work and discipline helped him quickly make a career. He became a manager. However, he did not stay in this position for a long time. John Rockefeller forever changed his attitude to hired labor after one unpleasant situation. His salary was much less than the previous head of the company received. John was very upset about this, so he decided to quit. Since then, he has never been an employee again and has worked for himself most of his life.
Starting a business: how John Rockefeller became ‘the oil king’ and made a fortune
After the first professional success, John Rockefeller decided not to stop. He believed that he was capable of more and saw prospects for developing a career in the field of commerce. Entrepreneurial knowledge and friendships helped him open his first business. For this, John Rockefeller borrowed $1,200 from his father at 10% per annum. Having accumulated enough money, together with a businessman Maurice Clark, he became a partner in the Clark & Rockefeller company, which was engaged in the sale of agricultural products.
After the start of the American Civil War, the number of orders increased significantly. More money and a new marketing plan were needed to get the job done. At that time, John Rockefeller was a wealthy man, so he had the opportunity to invest money in business development. However, he was no longer interested in agriculture. Then, kerosene lamps and the demand for raw material, oil, appeared in the world.
Meeting a chemist who talked about kerosene inspired John to start a new oil business. Since the middle of the 20th century, it has been a new area for earning and a unique opportunity to provide fuel to the USA and other countries.
At the age of 31, an entrepreneur from New York opened the Standard Oil company, which was engaged in the production, extraction and processing of oil. To motivate employees to work hard, John Rockefeller created the charter of the company. He paid his workers for their work not with money, but with company shares.
Thanks to the initiative and the ability to negotiate with influential people, he achieved reduced prices for freight transportation by rail for his company. Unlike competitors, his oil products were transported 2-3 times cheaper. After that, the future billionaire started buying up other medium and small oil companies. Until 1880, Standard Oil was one of the largest oil companies in the world and annually brought in $3 million in profit. Its founder owned 95% of all US oil production.
In 1890, the Sherman Act against monopolies was passed. John Rockefeller was forced to divide his large enterprise into 34 companies. Some of them were opened in New York. He retained control over the stake in all of them and increased the capital several times. Thanks to this, his oil business remained profitable until the end of his life. It is also known that almost all major American oil companies originate from Standard Oil.
John Rockefeller’s personal life
John Rockefeller became one of those billionaires who was successful in his career and personal life. At the age of 25, he was lucky enough to meet a woman with whom he lived his whole life. His chosen one was teacher Laura Spelman. They had a lot in common, such as views on life, material well-being and attitude to money. Both were modest in their desires, thrifty and competently managed the family budget.
The Rockefellers had a large family with 4 daughters and the only son, John Rockefeller Jr., who continued to be a philanthropist and was a successful man in his business, like his father.
John Rockefeller raised children in an original way. Each child had an accounting book designed to record expenses and income. A wealthy family also had a system of monetary rewards for children for performing household duties and refusing any favors. Thus, for a day without sweets, they received a small amount of money.
After the death of his wife, the oil tycoon lived only a few years. He liked to communicate with like-minded people whom he met in New York. Rockefeller also wore expensive suits, played golf and read books.
John Rockefeller’s rules of life and success
New York businessman and millionaire John Rockefeller is a symbol of wealth of the 20th century. He became an example for many entrepreneurs, having achieved great success in the oil business. Having passed a long and difficult life from an employee to the owner of a large company, he received many valuable life lessons and rules, which he shared with the younger generation. These include:
- Many people want to become rich, but do not know what to do with a lot of money. Rockefeller advises all aspiring entrepreneurs to think about why wealth is needed.
- The one who works all day never earns a lot of money. That is why many billionaires, including Rockefeller, were engaged in capital creation.
- If there is not enough money in the account, you should start your own business. If there is nothing at all, it’s time to become an entrepreneur right now. That is why John Rockefeller was only once an employee. The rest of the time, he devoted to the development of his own business.
- A poor environment drags a person to a low level of life. It takes away money, dreams and goals. According to the New York billionaire, future entrepreneurs should choose the right environment of people who have a positive attitude towards achievements and seek wealth.
- Happiness does not depend on the amount in the bank account, but on love for life, loved ones and one’s business. If all this is replaced by work and money, a person will never be happy. Rockefeller proved it by his example. He became not only a billionaire but also a happy family man, having 5 children.