Captains of Industry
Railroads, steel, and oil were three big businesses that totally transformed American in the years
between 1870 and 1914. Meet three men who became mega-millionaires by being the best at
what they did.
Cornelius Vanderbilt: Shipping and Railroads
An early riser and compulsive worker, Vanderbilt was running a
profitable ferry business in New York by the age of 16. Thirty
years later he had built that business up to the point where he
controlled a huge fleet of steamships servicing ports all along
the Atlantic Coast. "I have been insane on the subject of
money-making all my life," he said.
Becoming rich was his goal and he set out to achieve it.
Vanderbilt began buying up struggling railroad companies. He
made sure his railroads ran on time and provided great service.
By the 1870s his empire covered the entire Northeast all the
way to Chicago, and he became the largest employer in
America, as well as one of the wealthiest. Money-crazed, he
lived life with gusto. He built several huge mansions, gave
generously to many causes, and started a university in
Nashville, Tennessee.
Andrew Carnegie: Steel
Even as a 13-year old immigrant from Scotland, young Carnegie
knew the value of hard work. He got a job at a cotton mill in
Pennsylvania, but longed to go to school. Since that was
impossible, he located a small library and read everything he
could get his hands on.
While working as a messenger boy, then a telegraph operator, and
eventually a railroad company clerk, Carnegie saved his money.
He began investing in companies that made train cars, built
bridges, locomotives, and rails-all of which needed great
quantities of steel. He figured, "Why not own a steel mill?" Soon
he was running the biggest, most profitable steel mill in America.
In 1901 he sold his companies and did something totally wonderful with all of his money. He
gave 90% of it away to build more than 2,500 public libraries throughout the English-speaking
world. His wealth built schools and colleges, and to this day Carnegie's money is still helping
needy organizations.
John D. Rockefeller: Oil
Rockefeller listened to his mother and worked hard, saved
hard, and learned to be charitable. He loved math, so he
studied business, and at age 16, went to work. Rockefeller was
a hard worker-honest, and eager to learn. By the time he was
19 he decided to start his own business.
He realized that Cleveland, Ohio, where he lived, was a perfect
location for storing and shipping raw materials. The city was
midway between the east coast and Chicago and had both rail
and water transportation. Oil was just beginning to be used as
a fuel source, but it needed refining and treatment to be usable.
Rockefeller decided oil was the perfect product to distribute.
Rockefeller was a control freak and got involved in every part of the refining process, from
barrel-making, to manufacturing the pipes to move oil, to shipping the oil. He began buying up
all his competitors. Standard Oil, Rockefeller's new business, soon became an enormous
company-eventually controlling 90% of the oil industry. At that time, oil made life better for
Americans, from heating homes, to providing light, to fueling automobiles as they began driving
down America's roadways.
Rockefeller's mother's lessons of generosity stayed with him. He used his great fortune to fund
medical research and public health issues, and left a charitable trust behind that is still a major
philanthropy that works to improve life all over the world.
When Does Big Get Too Big?
Rockefeller's Standard Oil soon controlled
the entire oil business. When this happens, it
is called a monopoly. Just like the game of
the same name, people who have monopolies
can charge too much for their product and
have too much influence on political
decisions. Many people were outraged about
the power held by these huge corporations,
and eventually the U.S. government stepped
in and broke many of the huge companies up
into smaller businesses.
Our America Five Ponds Press