John D. Rockefeller
American industrialist and philanthropist (1839–1937)
Biography
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern history. Rockefeller was born into a large family in Upstate New York who moved several times before eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. He became an assistant bookkeeper at age 16 and went into several business partnerships beginning at age 20, concentrating his business on oil refining. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870. He ran it until 1897 and remained its largest shareholder. In his retirement, he focused his energy and wealth on philanthropy, especially regarding education, medicine, higher education, and modernizing the Southern United States.
Occupation
John D. Rockefeller is recorded as a philanthropist, a banker, a accountant and a entrepreneur, born in New York (1839–1937).
Connections to New York
John D. Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York in 1839. Explore other notable figures from New York, historic sites connected to this era, and the full colonial and statehood history of the state using the links below.
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