Rockefeller

1 Pages 362 Words

The Rockefeller Foundation is a knowledge-based global foundation with a commitment to
enrich and sustain the lives and livelihoods of poor and excluded people throughout the world.

In order to maximize its resources and leverage the Foundation's strengths, grantmaking is
organized around four thematic lines of work: Creativity & Culture, Food Security, Health
Equity and Working Communities.

John Davison Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 - May 23, 1937) was the guiding force behind the
creation and development of the Standard Oil Company, which grew to dominate the oil industry
and became one of the first big trusts in the United States,

Rockefeller also was one of the first major philanthropists in the U.S., establishing several
important foundations and donating a total of $540 million to charitable purposes.

In 1859, with $1,000 he had saved and another $1,000 borrowed from his father, Rockefeller
formed a partnership in the commission business with another young man, Maurice B. Clark. In
that same year the first oil well was drilled at Titusville in western Pennsylvania, giving rise to
the petroleum industry. Cleveland soon became a major refining center of the booming new
industry, and in 1863 Rockefeller and Clark entered the oil business as refiners. Together with a
new partner, Samuel Andrews, who had some refining experience, they built and operated an oil
refinery under the company name of Andrews, Clark & Co. The firm also continued in the
commission business but in 1865 the partners, now five in number, disagreed about the
management of their business affairs and decided to sell the refinery to whoever amongst them
bid the highest. Rockefeller bought it for $72,500, sold out his other interests and, with Andrews,
formed Rockefeller & Andrews.

In 1870 he organized The Standard Oil Company along with his brother William, Andrews,
Henry M. Flagler, S.V. Harkness, and others. It had a capital of $1 mi...