Rockefeller Center was built through his Oil fortunes to help create economic activity during the Great Depression. (Photo by David Shankbone)
John D. Rockefeller is often considered one of histories richest people. His journey to Entrepreneurial success and business fame started at an early age. He grew up with a tough childhood, his father would often leave and even had a secret second family in Canada. Rockefeller knew he could not pay for a higher education so at the young age of 16 he went to work at an accounting firm as an assistant bookkeeper. He quickly distinguished himself among his peers and teamed up with some local merchants in Cleveland to start a produce shipping company. Rockefeller achieved moderate success at a young age but quickly pivoted to what he would be famous for, the emerging Oil industry. Rockefeller was able to capitalize on his current success to shift into the new market at a perfect time. While most of the companies getting in on the oil rush at this time where rushing to drill oil in the newly discovered oil fields of Pennsylvania Rockefeller knew that the oil was useless until it had been refined so while the market had too many drillers Rockefeller put all his efforts into refining the Oil. He was very successful at this because of his focus on efficiency and chemical innovations, he despised any type of waste. His success continued as he grew older he continued to expand and bought out much of his competition offering generous stock deals to join his Oil Empire. This gave him a dream time of the best oil Entrepreneurs on his team. This company was Standard Oil which became the largest company in the U.S and was technically a monopoly. This led to it later being broken up by the U.S government though this did not effect Rockefeller much as the next years he made his biggest fortunes off of the new automobile industry. Today the Standard Oil company is the origin for almost all major U.S Oil Companies like Exxon and Chevron.
It’s interesting that Rockefeller never necessarily invented anything new, yet its still one of the best entrepreneurs to ever live. I think people often think the only or primary entrepreneurial business move is to invent something new; Rockefeller proved this notion false. He simply knew how and when to capitalize on a particular market, which is probably the most valuable entrepreneurial skill.
I knew that Rockefeller was very successful, but I hadn’t realized that he was young when he started becoming super successful. I particularly like this article because it shows how having a lot of money or having expertise in an area isn’t required to create a successful business. Rockefeller demonstrates this very well, he sees an abundance of oil supply but a lack of refineries. Instead of going along with the crowd and investing in oil, he chooses refineries. Great article, I didn’t realize that Rockefeller came from nothing, what an entrepreneur.
It’s incredible that a man that we know in the business industry to this day started out so young. His determination and commitment to finding a segment in the market that he could capitalize on is truly remarkable.
I find it incredible that Rockefeller was able to find such great financial success without ever attending college and getting a degree. This just proves that the rigid American education system doesn’t necessarily bring you the success that you can find as an independent entrepreneur.
Skill, knowledge, and motivation were the key components necessary for Rockefeller to climb the ladder in the oil industry.