John D. Rockefeller--Robber Baron

John D. Rockefeller: Robber Baron

By: Alex Ernst, Josh Murphy, James Long, and Miguel Garchitorena

How he treated workers

• Rockefeller did infact treat his workers fairly

• Pay was reasonable, and conditions were not harsh

• However, this was not purely out of the goodness of his heart

• If workers complained or were unhappy, there was a higher chance that the news would get involved, especially with recent strikes

• And if the news got involved, there was a higher chance they might go deeper into the problem, and start investigating some of Standard Oil's practices

• So, by pleasing workers, he protected himself

How he spent his money

• His personal wealth jumped to over $900,000,000 at the time Standard Oil was broken up

• His final wealth was well over a billion dollars

• This meant he was still able to make money through various means after the Standard Oil Trust was shut down

How he donated money

• He donated millions of dollars to numerous organizations

These mostly inlcuded:

• Numerous colleges

• War relief efforts

However...

• Even though he gave a lot, Rockefeller still had even more money

• In retrospect to other contributors to organizations, he gave a ton of money

• But, at the time of his death his wealth was still over 1.4 billion dollars, which all went to family

• Today, this would be worth around 392 billion
• His net worth when Standard Oil was at its peak would be around 663 billion dollars

To give an example of how much this is...

Bill Gates = 60 billion

Mark Zuckerberg = 34 billion

• He stated early on in his career that he wished to make $100,000 and live 100 years

Tactics Used to gain his fortune

•He would spy on other companies to find out what type of competition he had

•He secretly bought out companies, and then used them to buy out other competitors

Secrecy

Destroying others

•He went to companies and offered them to sell out, or become bankrupt

•The famous muckraker, Ida M. Tarbell, new this first hand

• Her father was completely bankrupted by Standard Oil, and they lost almost everything

•Rockefeller believed that constant competition wasted money and effort

•To destroy opposing companies, he would raise prices in areas with no competition

•He could then lower the prices radically in areas with competition

Conclusion

Rockefeller became the first American billionaire using these cut throat and secretive tactics

By definition, a Captain of Industry is someone whose means of gaining wealth, also contributed positively to the country

If Rockefeller were a Captain of Industry, then why did the public view him so poorly?

For the final proof he is a robber baron, one needs to look no further than the fact that the government eventually had to step in, and close down Standard Oil, the company Rockefller worked so hard to create

Works Cited

Beattie, Andrew. "A History Of U.S. Monopolies." Investopedia. Investopedia, 21 Nov 2010. Web. 14 Feb 2012.

<http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/hammer-antitrust.asp#axzz1YL2DNINp?>.

Elert, Glenn. "Worth of the Wealthiest Person in the US." The Physics Factbook.b, 2007. Web. 14 Feb 2012.

<http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2007/EugeneKolomiyets.shtml>.

Farrell, N.. "The American Experience-The Rockefellers." pbs.org. PBS, 2000. Web. 14 Feb 2012.

<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/peopleevents/p_rock_jsr.html>.

Grant , William , and Ken Dvorak. "John D. and Standard Oil ." 1890s America: A Chronology. Bowling Green

State University, Spring 2000. Web. 14 Feb 2012.

<http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/rockefeller/bio2.htm.>

"John D. Rockefeller Biography." John d rockefeller biography. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. 14 Feb 2012.

<http://www.biography.com/people/john-d-rockefeller-9461341>.

"John D. Rockefeller: Was A robber baron Of Petroleum?." HubPages. HubPages Inc., n.d. Web. 14 Feb 2012.

<http://londonlady.hubpages.com/hub/John-D-Rockefeller-A-robber-baron>.

Intro

• Used unethical and illegal tactics to gain his wealth

• Aside from just running competitors out of business, he completely destroyed them

• He did anything to raise his own wealth

•Made secret rebates with railroad companies

•Railroads gave his company lower rates, and he then also told them to give opposing companies higher rates

•This ensured he would beat them out in the market

• Headed by Rockefeller, Standard Oil controlled 90 percent of the oil reserves pumped in the United States, and yet the public was completely unaware of this until investigations into the company began