John Rockefeller - this name is known to every adult inhabitant of the earth. With no start-up capital other than his own hard work and perseverance, Rockefeller managed to put together the richest business empire in the world. During life and after death, a lot of rumors, gossip and various judgments circulated around this person. Enough time has passed to take a sober look at the story of a man who created himself and transformed our world.
Saint-Ecupery once said that we all come from childhood. Following this rule, consider the unique, which represents John D. Rockefeller. The biography of this person began quite ordinary. Our hero was born in 1839 in Richford, New York. A hard worker mother, a large family and a father of a reveler. Accustomed to work since childhood, John regarded we alth as a blessing from God. Possessing a good heart, little John still managed to develop a sober mind and a certain isolation. A focused lifestyle set him apart from his peers. It seemed that he was constantly solving some super-task. EachSunday, the Rockefeller family, excluding his father, attended church, and in this the boy found sincere pleasure. The pious mother passed on to her son the whole ethics of Protestantism, which required perseverance, work and virtue. The father, possessing an adventurous temperament, did not care at all about his wife and children, although in moments of enlightenment he told his son about successful deals and ways of doing business. And yet, at a certain point, he simply ran away, leaving his family to their own devices. Therefore, tenderly caring for his mother until the end of her days, John Davison Rockefeller did not even go to his father's funeral.
At the age of 16, leaving the farm, the young man began looking for work in Cleveland. After 6 weeks, his efforts were crowned with success, he received the long-awaited position of assistant accountant. All the energy and zeal went to work, with great difficulty he restrained himself from accounting calculations on Sundays when he attended church. Life in hard work and complete asceticism gave its first results. A promotion began, but John D. Rockefeller quickly realized that in this way he could not earn the coveted $ 100,000. With little capital, he started his own food business.
On speculation during the Civil War, he managed to make his first serious capital. Yet the real we alth came with oil when the Standard Oil Company was founded in 1865. Winning the competition, he bought up the firms of his opponents until he became a monopolist in this area. Since then it has been establishedfoundation of the great Rockefeller empire.
It often happens that a successful businessman is not happy in family life. John Rockefeller refuted this rule with his example. Having married for love, he found in the person of Laura Spelman not only a wonderful mother for his children, but also a comrade-in-arms, a like-minded person, whose support he valued above all else. Throughout his life, he went hand in hand with her, completely sharing the views and methods of education. Being the richest family in America, they did not spend money on frilly outfits, they repaired old dresses with their own hands, strictly controlled expenses. Children from childhood were accustomed to work, to the fact that rewards must be earned. Market relations were transferred to the family. For certain correct actions and duties, money was given out, bad deeds were marked with fines. John Rockefeller paid tribute to the need to grow a worthy successor for his business with the severity of education.
Possessing diabolical tenacity in business, Rockefeller understood the responsibility placed by God on the steward of such we alth. Therefore, charity work has become an integral part of his life. Sometimes he spent sums on gifts for other people's children that far exceeded the maintenance of his own offspring. And yet, both during his lifetime and after his death, he was accompanied by criticism regarding his money-grubbing. After all, in order to build universities and hospitals, it was necessary to cash in at the expense of the entire nation.
The puritanical lifestyle and determination helped John D. Rockefeller accomplish almost everythingwhich he put before him. The last of these was to live a hundred years. It was not possible to fulfill it, it was not enough for a little over two years.
