The story of a millionaire. John Rockefeller (John Davison Rockefeller). Rockefeller

Greetings! I think each of us has “dark” days when you feel like a complete loser and failure. And the thought: “why bother, nothing will work out anyway,” knocks you out of the saddle and makes you give up.

There are many cures for “everything is gone” attacks: meet old acquaintances, watch videos with kittens, find a new hobby. But personally, a simpler way always helps me: success stories famous people. Great motivation and inspiration! If they succeeded, then maybe it’s too early for me to give up?

More recently, John Rockefeller, whose biography is more reminiscent of a science fiction novel than life, acted as my “antidepressant.” ordinary person. And I included the most impressive moments in today's post.

The future billionaire was born in large family Protestants in the town of Richford (USA) in 1839. By the way, Rockefeller’s nationality is not Jewish at all, as many believe. 🙂

From early childhood he wrote in a notebook (!) and. He did not spend his first savings ($50) on candy, but lent it to a neighboring farmer at 7.5% per annum. At that time, young John was only... thirteen.

John Davison Rockefeller Sr. got his first job at age 16 after completing a three-month accounting course. He was hired as an assistant accountant in a trading company with a salary of... $17 a month. The guy quickly climbed up career ladder. And after some time he was already appointed manager with a salary of $600.

John's first work is interesting for two reasons. First, he resigned as manager after learning that the previous head was paid almost three times more. Secondly, work in that trading company became Rockefeller’s first and... only hired job.

In 1857, he became a business partner of a small English entrepreneur. Moreover, the young Rockefeller borrowed the amount missing for the partnership from his father. The Clark and Rochester company specialized in the sale of meat, grain and hay. Interestingly, when they needed a loan to develop their business, all negotiations with banks were conducted by young John!

Rockefeller and oil

John Rockefeller was one of the first to appreciate the prospects of the oil business. In 1870, he created the legendary oil company Standard Oil, which in the future would bring him a billion dollar fortune. In order not to depend on anyone, Standard Oil carried out a full cycle: from crude oil production and its processing to delivery to the end consumer.

By the way, it was he who first introduced a non-standard motivation system at the enterprise. Part of the salary to employees was given not in “real” money, but in Standard Oil, which was constantly growing in price.

Within 10 years, Rockefeller's company became an absolute oil monopolist in the United States: 95% of all production in the country. John dealt with his competitors mercilessly. By dumping on the cost of railway transportation, he forced other oil companies to leave the market or... merge with Standard Oil.

By the way, I really liked the book about oil: “Prey. World history struggle for oil, money and power" Daniel Yergin. Highly recommend!

Nobody except Rockefeller liked the rigid monopoly. Therefore, in 1890, the Sherman Anti-Monopoly Act was passed in the United States, which dealt a crushing blow to the billionaire’s oil empire. In 1911 he had to split Standard Oil into 34 companies. True, the controlling stake in each of them was retained by the former owner of the corporation.

John Rockefeller died at age 97 in 1937, bequeathing his fortune to his son: John Davison Rockefeller Jr. By the way, it was the son of the legendary billionaire who built the famous Empire State Building in New York and the UN headquarters.

In terms of today's dollar exchange rate, Rockefeller's fortune at the time of his death amounted to $310 billion. Until now, he is considered the richest person in recent history.
He owned not only the legendary Standard Oil, but also 16 railway and 6 steel companies, nine real estate funds, six shipping companies, nine banks and even three orange groves.
During his life, the billionaire donated about $100 billion to charity. Most of this money went to research medicine. At the end of the 30s of the last century, a group of scientists from Oxford received a $5,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. As a result of research, penicillin was discovered.
In 1917, Rockefeller's fortune corresponded to 2.5% of US GDP.
IN everyday life The richest man in the world was a real ascetic in food and clothing, he did not smoke or drink alcohol.
Rockefeller was married to his wife Laura Spelman for more than 60 years! The couple understood each other perfectly and, according to family friends, were an ideal couple.
They say that Rockefeller created a micromodel at home market economy. His daughter Laura was appointed CEO, and all children were required to fill out the books. A day of abstinence from candy was worth 2 cents, and each subsequent day was worth 10 cents. The billionaire's children received payment for weeding in the garden, sharpening pencils, playing music, chopping wood and... killing flies. For being late to the table they were fined 1 cent.
Rockefeller's son confidently followed in his father's footsteps. During the years of the First and Second World Wars, he earned about $2 billion in net profit for military needs
Standard Oil workers scared their children with Rockefeller (like we do with Baba Yaga).

to postpone the first step towards the goal. There are no valid excuses

Give 10% of your income to charity. You need to help those who are worse off than you

Your inner circle should consist of optimists and winners. Losers and poor people drag down everyone who regularly communicates with them

Study biographies and recommendations of successful people

The most important thing in life is to dream and believe that your dreams will come true

Rich people tend to be sociable and friendly. Money always comes to us through other people

Create own business And

What great people’s biographies inspire you to your deeds? Subscribe to updates and share links to the latest posts with your friends on social networks!

John Davison Rockefeller is the richest man in the world in the history of mankind.

The future billionaire was born on July 8, 1839 in Richford, New York. Both parents, William Avery Rockefeller and Louise Selianto, were members of the Baptist Church. The family raised six children, of whom John was the second oldest. William worked as a traveling salesman and from childhood instilled in his children the ability to trade. To do this, his father paid John to do household chores. During periods when William was away, his mother, who did not work anywhere and was only involved in housework, had to save, and Louise instilled this ability in her offspring.

The world's first billionaire John Rockefeller

Little John is already with early age He showed commercial savvy - he sold sweets to his sisters, which he bought in bulk. And at the age of 7, the boy joined his neighbors on a farm, where he earned his first money by picking potatoes and raising turkeys. From the very first days of his working life, Rockefeller kept a ledger where he carefully entered income and expenses.

Young John gave the impression of a quiet, thoughtful boy to those around him. The lean and unemotional child thought for a long time and was in no hurry to make a decision. But in fact, John was a very sensitive boy, and he was experiencing loss sister, who died as an infant. After the girl's death, John lay prone on the grass away from home for 12 hours.

Rockefeller did not like to study at school, although teachers noted the boy’s tenacious memory and ability to think logically. During his student years, John started a moneylending business. Rockefeller realized that by lending small amounts at low interest rates, he could make money easily. The boy did not want to become a slave to money and work for a salary day and night; John decided to make money his own slaves and make it work for himself. After leaving school, John became a student at a commercial college, so the young businessman took a three-month accounting course, where he mastered the necessary basics of managing money.

Business

In 1855, John got his first and only hired job at Hewitt & Tuttle in the accounting department. The young man started with a salary of $17, but after a few months the young man received a raise to $25. A year later, Rockefeller was appointed manager of the company. John began to receive a salary 20 times more than the accounting salary. But the ambitious young man was not satisfied with this amount, since the previous manager was paid much more and, without working even a year, John quits to start his own business.

In order to become a partner of a British businessman, Rockefeller had to borrow $1,200 from his own father at 10% per annum. Having collected the necessary $2,000, Rockefeller became a partner and owner of shares in the company Clark and Rochester. The company traded agricultural products. Rockefeller quickly gained the trust of his partners with his business acumen, intuition and sincerity. The young man began managing the financial affairs of the enterprise.

In the second half of the 19th century in America, the development of a new market area began - the oil refining business, as they began to be popular in everyday life. kerosene lamps. John Davison Rockefeller invites practicing chemist Samuel Andrews to cooperate and makes the scientist a partner in the new company Andrews and Clark. Clark's previous partner did not want to participate in such a business, and John had to buy out a stake in the company and take over the management of the business.

At the age of 31, Rockefeller created the company Standard Oil, which was engaged in the full cycle of kerosene production, from oil production to sales. finished products. A peculiarity of doing business was that John did not pay employees in cash. The businessman gave out incentives with shares of the enterprise. This approach allowed employees to work with greater responsibility, since now their well-being directly depended on the success of the company.

Rockefeller's business development proceeded at a rapid pace. Thanks to his entrepreneurship and ability to negotiate with influential people, John achieved reduced prices for cargo transportation for his own company. railway. Compared to its competitors, Standard Oil's petroleum products were transported 2-3 times cheaper. Rockefeller thus forced other oil companies to sell production to Standard Oil. Thus, the enterprising businessman turned into a monopolist.

In 1890, the antitrust law of Senator Sherman was passed in the United States, which was directed against the activities of the Standard Oil company. Over the course of 20 years, Rockefeller was forced to split production into 34 controlled enterprises. In each of them, John secured the right to own a controlling stake. This division of business had a positive effect on the tycoon’s capital; Rockefeller increased his own income many times over.

State

John Rockefeller's annual income from the activities of Standard Oil was $3 million. At the time of his death, according to experts, the oil tycoon's fortune was $1.4 billion. The company owned 70% of all world oil fields. In terms of the current dollar exchange rate, this is $318 billion or 1.5% of the GDP of the United States. Rockefeller owned 16 railroad companies, 6 steel mills, and 6 shipping companies. The businessman owned 9 banks and 9 real estate companies.

At the end of his life, Rockefeller surrounded himself with luxury, but did not advertise this to society. The tycoon's family owned orange groves, villas and mansions, land plot 273 hectares. John Rockefeller's favorite game was golf, so the billionaire had a playing field at his disposal for his personal use. The tycoon explained his own well-being by discipline and maintaining 12 golden rules of life, which John developed in his youth.

Charity

John Rockefeller attended a Protestant church from childhood and, as an exemplary Christian, from the very first earnings he began to donate tithes to the needs of the parish he visited. The oilman did not change his own habit until the end of his life. The tycoon donated $100 million. In addition to donating to the church, Rockefeller did a lot of charity work. John listed sums of money University of Chicago, New York Institute medical research, the creator of which John was. At the beginning of the 20th century, Rockefeller created the Council for Universal Education and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Tycoon John Rockefeller in 1885

The oil tycoon wrote a number of biographical books, the first of which was the 1909 publication “Memoirs of People and Events.” In 1910, Rockefeller’s book “How I Made $500,000,000” about the history of enrichment was published. In 1913, the entrepreneur wrote the book “Memoirs”, in which he outlined everything interesting facts own biography.

Personal life

At the age of 25, John Rockefeller married teacher Laura Celestia Spelman from a wealthy family. The girl attracted the groom with her piety. The young people were united by a mutual feeling of love for each other and views on life and family well-being. Both were extremely economical and unpretentious in their desires.

The Rockefeller family had 4 daughters and the only heir was the son John D. Rockefeller Jr., who continued his father’s work. Even when Rockefeller purchased the Cleveland oil refinery, the family continued to live in rented housing and did not have servants. As the oil magnate himself wrote, John owes his commercial success to his wife.

After the death of his wife, John Rockefeller lived for a long time. The oilman fell in love with female company and gradually got used to wearing expensive suits. Rockefeller's favorite headdress was a straw hat, in which the elderly entrepreneur often posed for photographs.

John raised his children in an original way. Each child had a ledger in which they recorded cash rewards and expenses. In the Rockefeller house there was a certain system of rewarding children for their work. John rewarded his daughters and son for their refusal of any benefits. For example, for a day without candy, a child was entitled to a sum of money.

John D. Rockefeller Jr. increased the fortunes of the family corporation many times over. And five grandchildren, the most famous of whom were Nelson, Winthrop and, participated in political and economic life USA until the beginning of the 21st century.

Death

John Rockefeller had two dreams in life that did not come true: to live to be 100 years old and earn $100 thousand. But death overtook the entrepreneur at the age of 97, and his fortune amounted to $192 billion. John Rockefeller died on May 23, 1937 of a heart attack in Florida .

Quotes

Famous oil tycoon quotes:

He who works all day has no time to earn money;

Your well-being depends on your own decisions;

If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it.

Rockefeller's 12 rules

Work less for people. The more you work for yourself, the faster you become poor. The word "work" has the root "slave".
The right way to save money is to take a step towards success. Buy products where it is cheaper or in bulk, prepare a list of what you need in advance, purchase products according to the list.
If you are poor, start doing business. If you don’t have a penny at all, then you should open a business right now, without delaying for a minute.
The path to success, the road to great wealth, passes through passive income.
Dream of earning at least $50,000 a month, and possibly more.
Money comes to you through other people. Communication and kindness make people rich. An unsociable person rarely becomes rich.
Poor surroundings, unsuccessful people drag you along with you - into poverty and failure. You need to surround yourself with winners and optimists.
Don’t come up with an excuse for the possibility of postponing the first step towards achieving your goal - there is none.
Study the biographies and thoughts of the world's richest people who have achieved success. The life story of a successful person will help fulfill everyone’s desires - that’s the meaning of this quote.
Dreams are the most important thing in your life. The main thing is to dream and believe that dreams will come true. A person begins to die when he stops dreaming.
Help people not for money, but from pure heart. Donate 10% of profits to charity. That is, every person should help those in need. This is evidenced by the success story of John Rockefeller.
Create a business system and enjoy your earned money. The meaning of this quote is that a person should work in order to live happily, and not stupidly accumulate wealth.

The name Rockefeller has long been synonymous with wealth. It was the representative of this dynasty who became the first in history dollar billionaire. Where did the Rockefellers even come from?

Lumberjack's son

John Davison Rockefeller was born in 1838 in Richford, near New York City, the second of six children of William Avery Rockefeller and Eliza Davison. The head of the family first worked as a lumberjack, then began selling herbal medicines.

John had to earn his living from the age of seven. He dug potatoes from his neighbors and raised turkeys for sale. Having barely learned to read and write, the boy started notebook, in which he recorded all his income and expenses.

At age 16, Johnny entered college in Cleveland, majoring in Commerce. But he soon dropped out of school and took a three-month accounting course. After graduation, he was accepted as an assistant accountant at Hewitt & Tuttle, a real estate and shipping company. John quickly rose to become a company manager with a salary of $600. But one fine day the young man found out that the company paid his predecessor $2,000. He immediately left the company and promised himself never to work for hire again.

How to become a billionaire

In 1857, John became a junior partner in the firm of John Morris Clark and Rochester. To do this, he had to borrow money from his own father at 10% per annum. The company traded grain, meat and other food products. With the outbreak of the Civil War, she began supplying the army and flourished.

When the first kerosene lamps appeared, John realized that the oil from which kerosene is made would quickly increase in price. He invested money in the extraction and processing of black gold and was right. Together with chemist Samuel Andrews, who agreed to take on technical side business, they created the firm Andrews and Clark, which began building the Flats oil refinery in Cleveland. In 1870 it became the famous Standard Oil Company.

Rockefeller paid his employees not in money, but in shares of the enterprise, thus motivating them to successful work, which very soon had a positive effect on income. He also started buying one at a time small firms, in order to eventually concentrate the entire oil production business in its hands.

By 1880, Rockefeller's company owned 95% of all US oil production. However, in 1911, due to the Sherman Antitrust Act, Standard Oil had to be divided into 34 small companies. But for the owners this changed little. The controlling stake in all companies still belonged to John, and capital even began to grow faster.

The Rockefellers were not only involved in oil - they owned 16 railway and 6 steel companies, 9 real estate agencies, 6 shipping companies, 9 banks and 3 orange groves. Although the family tried not to show off their wealth, the public constantly discussed the size of the land they owned and the luxurious villas.

John Davison Rockefeller dreamed of living to be 100 years old. But he failed - he died of a heart attack in May 1937. At that time, his fortune was $1.4 billion.

Rockefeller heirs

Unfortunately, John had only one son, his father's namesake, who continued his work. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. received $460 million in his father's will. He spent most of his inheritance on charity. In particular, he built a complex of buildings in New York for the future UN headquarters - it cost him $9 million. John's six children inherited $240 million from him.

Rockefeller Jr.'s daughter Abby and son John became major philanthropists who founded many foundations and organizations, including the Institute of Pacific Relations. Nelson Rockefeller served as vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977, and his brother Winthrop was at one time governor of Arkansas.

Until recently, the oldest member of the Rockefeller clan was David Rockefeller, last son John Davison Rockefeller Jr., born in New York in 1915 and died on March 20, 2017. In the past, he headed the Council for international relations and until 1981 was president of The Chase Manhattan Bank.

Today, the Rockefellers' fortune is estimated, according to unverified data, at $300 billion.

This family is considered one of the most influential in the world.

The workers' wives frightened their children with them: “Don't cry, otherwise Rockefeller will take you away!” The paradox was that the richest man in the world was most proud of his impeccable morals.

John Davison Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 in New York State. His upbringing was mainly done by his mother, an ardent Baptist. “She and the priest instilled in me from a young age that I had to work and save,” Rockefeller later recalled. Doing “business” was part of family upbringing. Back in early childhood John would buy a pound of candy, divide it into small piles, and sell it at a markup to his own sisters. At the age of seven, he sold the turkeys he raised to his neighbors, and lent the $50 he earned to his neighbor at 7% per annum.

“He was a very quiet boy,” one of the townspeople recalled many years later, “he was always thinking.” From the outside, John looked distracted: it seemed as if the child was constantly struggling with some insoluble problem. The impression was deceptive - the boy was distinguished by a tenacious memory, a death grip and unshakable calm: while playing checkers, he tormented his partners, thinking about each move for half an hour. The stern face of John Davison Rockefeller, covered with dry skin, and his eyes, devoid of a boyish shine, truly frightened those around him.

Rockefeller never finished school. At age 16, with a three-month accounting course under his belt, he began looking for work in Cleveland, where his family then lived. After six weeks of searching, he got a job as an assistant accountant at the trading company Hewitt and Tuttle. At first he was paid $17 a month, and then $25. When receiving them, John felt a sense of guilt, finding the reward excessively inflated. In order not to waste a single cent, the thrifty Rockefeller bought a small ledger from his first salary, where he wrote down all his expenses, and carefully kept it all his life. But this was his first and last work for hire. At the age of 18, John Rockefeller became a junior partner of businessman Maurice Clark.

Helped the new company get on its feet Civil war in the USA 1861-1865. The warring armies paid generously for necessities, and their partners supplied them with flour, pork and salt. Towards the end of the war, oil deposits were discovered in Pennsylvania, near Cleveland, and the city found itself at the center of an oil rush. By 1864, Clark and Rockefeller were already deep into Pennsylvania oil. A year later, Rockefeller decided to focus only on the oil business, but Clark was against it. Then, for $72,500, John bought his partner’s share and plunged headlong into oil.

In 1870 he created Standard Oil. Together with his friend and business partner Henry Flagler, he began to gather disparate oil production and oil refining enterprises into a single powerful oil trust. Competitors could not resist him; Rockefeller gave them a choice: to unite with him or go bankrupt. If beliefs did not work, the dirtiest methods were used. For example, Standard Oil reduced prices on a competitor’s local market, forcing it to operate at a loss. Or Rockefeller sought to cut off oil supplies to recalcitrant refiners. For this, shell companies were used that were actually part of the Standard Oil group. Many refiners had no idea that the local rivals who were pressuring them were actually part of Rockefeller's growing empire.

For the success of such operations they were kept in the strictest confidence. Standard Oil agents exchanged encrypted dispatches with the parent company. Even visitors to Standard Oil management were not supposed to see each other. The company used an extensive system of industrial espionage to collect information about competitors and market conditions. Standard Oil's files included records of virtually every oil buyer in the country, the usage of every barrel sold by independent dealers, and even records of where every grocer from the Isle of Man to California bought kerosene.

By 1879, the “war of conquest” was virtually over. Standard Oil controlled 90% of US oil refining capacity. Rockefeller himself greeted this victory dispassionately - as an obvious inevitability.

In 1890, the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed to combat monopolies. Until 1911, Rockefeller and his partners managed to circumvent this law, but then Standard Oil was divided into thirty-four companies (virtually all of today's large American oil companies trace their history back to Standard Oil).

Personal life

Rockefeller was married to Laura Celestina Spelman, whom he met while still a student. Devout, like her husband, teacher Laura Spelman also had a practical mind. Rockefeller once remarked: “Without her advice, I would have remained a poor man.”
Biographers write that Rockefeller did his best to teach his children to work, modesty and unpretentiousness. John created a kind of model of a market economy at home: he appointed his daughter Laura as “director” and ordered the children to keep detailed accounting books. Each child received a few cents for killing a fly, for sharpening a pencil, for an hour of music lessons, for a day of abstaining from candy. Each of the children had their own garden bed, where the work of removing weeds also had its price. But for being late for breakfast, the little Rockefellers were fined.

Rockefeller fortune

In 1917, John Davison Rockefeller's personal fortune was estimated at between $900 million and $1 billion, which was 2.5% of the then United States GDP. In modern terms, Rockefeller owned approximately $150 billion. He still remains richest man in the world. By the end of his life, Rockefeller, in addition to shares in each of Standard Oil's 32 subsidiaries, owned 16 railroad and six steel companies, nine banks, six shipping companies, nine real estate firms and three orange groves. Standard Oil's holdings in 1903 included about 400 enterprises, 90 thousand miles of pipelines, 10 thousand railroad tanks, 60 ocean tankers, 150 river steamers. The company transported and processed more than 80% of the oil produced in the United States. Standard Oil's share of world oil trade exceeded 70%.

Rockefeller's donations during his life exceeded $500 million. Of this, about $80 million was received by the University of Chicago, and at least $100 million by the Baptist Church. John Rockefeller also created and financed the New York Institute for Medical Research, the Council for Universal Education and the Rockefeller Foundation.

John Rockefeller (John Davison Rockefeller). Millionaire's story

John Rockefeller (1839-1937) - American entrepreneur and multimillionaire, a man whose name has become a symbol of wealth. He was hardworking, purposeful and pious, for which his partners nicknamed him “the devil.” The workers' wives frightened their children with them: "Don't cry, otherwise Rockefeller will take you away!" The paradox was that the richest man in the world was most proud of his impeccable morals...
John Davison Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 in New York State. His upbringing was mainly done by his mother, an ardent Baptist. “She and the priest instilled in me from a young age that I had to work and save,” Rockefeller later recalled.
Doing “business” was part of family upbringing. Even as a young child, John would buy a pound of candy, divide it into small piles, and sell it at a markup to his own sisters.
At the age of seven, he sold the turkeys he raised to his neighbors, and lent the $50 he earned to his neighbor at 7% per annum.
“He was a very quiet boy,” one of the townspeople recalled many years later, “he was always thinking.” From the outside, John looked distracted: it seemed as if the child was constantly struggling with some insoluble problem. The impression was deceptive - the boy was distinguished by a tenacious memory, a death grip and unshakable calm: while playing checkers, he tormented his partners, thinking about each move for half an hour.
The stern face of John Davison Rockefeller, covered with dry skin, and his eyes, devoid of a boyish shine, truly frightened those around him.

Few people knew the other, human side of his nature. John Davison Rockefeller hid the feelings inherent in people in the farthest pocket and buttoned it up. Meanwhile, he was a sensitive boy: when his sister died, John ran into the backyard, threw himself on the ground and lay there all day.
And having matured, Rockefeller did not become such a monster as he was portrayed: he once asked about a classmate whom he once liked (he just liked him - he was a highly moral young man); Upon learning that she was widowed and in poverty, the owner of Standard Oil immediately granted her a pension. It is almost impossible to judge what he really was like: Rockefeller subordinated all thoughts, all feelings, all desires to one great goal - to get rich.
Rockefeller never finished school. At age 16, with a three-month accounting course under his belt, he began looking for work in Cleveland, where his family then lived. After six weeks of searching, he got a job as an assistant accountant at the trading company Hewitt and Tuttle. At first he was paid $17 a month, and then $25. When receiving them, John felt a sense of guilt, finding the reward excessively inflated.
In order not to waste a single cent, the thrifty Rockefeller bought a small ledger from his first salary, where he wrote down all his expenses, and carefully kept it all his life. But this was his first and last hired job. At the age of 18, John Rockefeller became a junior partner of businessman Maurice Clark.

The American Civil War of 1861-1865 helped the new company get on its feet. The warring armies paid generously for necessities, and their partners supplied them with flour, pork and salt. Towards the end of the war, oil deposits were discovered in Pennsylvania, near Cleveland, and the city found itself at the center of an oil rush.
By 1864, Clark and Rockefeller were already deep into Pennsylvania oil. A year later, Rockefeller decided to focus only on the oil business, but Clark was against it. Then, for $72,500, John bought his partner’s share and plunged headlong into oil.
In 1870 he created Standard Oil. Together with his friend and business partner Henry Flagler, he began to gather disparate oil production and oil refining enterprises into a single powerful oil trust. Competitors could not resist him; Rockefeller gave them a choice: to unite with him or go bankrupt. If beliefs did not work, the dirtiest methods were used. For example, Standard Oil reduced prices on a competitor’s local market, forcing it to operate at a loss. Or Rockefeller sought to cut off oil supplies to recalcitrant refiners. For this, shell companies were used that were actually part of the Standard Oil group. Many refiners had no idea that the local rivals who were pressuring them were actually part of Rockefeller's growing empire.
For the success of such operations they were kept in the strictest confidence. Standard Oil agents exchanged encrypted dispatches with the parent company. Even visitors to Standard Oil management were not supposed to see each other. The company used an extensive system of industrial espionage to collect information about competitors and market conditions.
Standard Oil's files included records of virtually every oil buyer in the country, the usage of every barrel sold by independent dealers, and even records of where every grocer from the Isle of Man to California bought kerosene.
By 1879, the “war of conquest” was virtually over. Standard Oil controlled 90% of US oil refining capacity. Rockefeller himself greeted this victory dispassionately - as an obvious inevitability.
In 1890, the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed to combat monopolies. Until 1911, Rockefeller and his partners managed to circumvent this law, but then Standard Oil was divided into thirty-four companies (virtually all of today's large American oil companies trace their history back to Standard Oil).

Personal life:
Rockefeller was married to Laura Celestina Spelman, whom he met while still a student. Devout, like her husband, teacher Laura Spelman also had a practical mind. Rockefeller once remarked: “Without her advice, I would have remained a poor man.”

Biographers write that Rockefeller did his best to teach his children to work, modesty and unpretentiousness. John created a kind of model of a market economy at home: he appointed his daughter Laura as “director” and ordered the children to keep detailed accounting books.

Each child received a few cents for killing a fly, for sharpening a pencil, for an hour of music lessons, for a day of abstaining from candy. Each of the children had their own garden bed, where the work of removing weeds also had its price. But for being late for breakfast, the little Rockefellers were fined.

Rockefeller's fortune.
In 1917, John Davison Rockefeller's personal fortune was estimated at between $900 million and $1 billion, which was 2.5% of the then United States GDP. In modern terms, Rockefeller owned approximately $150 billion. He remains the richest man in the world to this day.

By the end of his life, Rockefeller, in addition to shares in each of Standard Oil's 32 subsidiaries, owned 16 railroad and six steel companies, nine banks, six shipping companies, nine real estate firms and three orange groves.

Standard Oil's holdings in 1903 included about 400 enterprises, 90 thousand miles of pipelines, 10 thousand railroad tanks, 60 ocean tankers, 150 river steamers. The company transported and processed more than 80% of the oil produced in the United States. Standard Oil's share of world oil trade exceeded 70%.