The First Billionaire — Industry And Philanthropy Giant John D. Rockefeller Sr. Is An Unforgettable Original In Biography

'Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.'

by Ron Chernow

Random House, $30

Good biographies are hard to find, and great ones even rarer. Ron Chernow's "Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr." is an outstanding biography that commands attention not only because of its outsized subject, but also because of its timely, thoughtful and balanced approach to one of the most significant and controversial lives of the past century.

John D. Rockefeller Sr., who created the Standard Oil Trust, was born in 1839, the son of steadfast Eliza Rockefeller and undependable William Avery Rockefeller, a colorful flimflam man who abandoned his family for months at a time, traveling the countryside passing himself off as a doctor selling patent-medicine "cures." Unfaithful from the beginning, William had two children by his mistress and eventually married another woman under another identity.

Eliza, in contrast, was a steadying influence in young John's life, introducing him to the strict Baptist faith he carried throughout his long life (he died in 1937 at age 97). As a young man in Cleveland, Rockefeller stumbled into the business of refining oil into kerosene, which was emerging as an alternative to the more costly natural oils used to light homes. An odd man with extremely demanding and precise habits, Rockefeller seized the initiative in the wildly disorganized Pennsylvania oil fields as well as the local refineries.

Using this powerful leverage over the railroads, he negotiated secret "rebates" that allowed him to lower his costs below anything his competitors could approach. Even those with a geographic advantage found themselves undercut, unaware that secret deals required the railroads to pay "drawbacks" to Rockefeller even when a rival's oil was shipped on the railroad.

The effect was deadly. His competitors driven to their knees, Rockefeller would buy their refineries out from under them, embrace their executives and move on to the next target. But he stopped short of complete monopoly, allowing a fringe group of competitors to operate while still controlling the market.

This approach to business eventually brought howls of protest from populists, rivals and, ultimately and most dangerously, government lawyers. Rockefeller amassed an astonishing fortune but an even larger reservoir of ill will. As his empire expanded to control nearly 90 percent of the refining industry, the company spilled across borders and developed into one of the nation's earliest transnational corporations.

Yet after he had made his fortune, Rockefeller turned serious about giving it away. Beset with an avalanche of pleas and petitions, he devoted the same relentless energy and attention to detail to distributing his wealth that he did in building it.

Chernow details the pressure Rockefeller felt as he tried to give away millions of dollars responsibly, ultimately hiring others to assist him and establishing the Rockefeller Foundation in 1913. Largely avoiding individual charity, Rockefeller devoted the bulk of his giving to organizations, founding the University of Chicago and Spelman College, broadly supporting the Baptist Church and temperance leagues, and investing heavily in medical research and public health.

By the 1920s, the Rockefeller Foundation was the largest grant-making institution on earth.

However, Rockefeller made some surprising investment mistakes. Two church acquaintances, Colgate Hoyt and Charles Colby, persuaded him to invest heavily in Everett, Wash., and its surrounding timber stands, where they imagined the Great Northern Railroad terminus would be located. They were wrong, of course. The terminus was Tacoma, and Everett still bears witness to the mistake: Rockefeller, Hoyt and Colby avenues are major streets in that city.

Although Standard Oil was created in an era with few restrictions, the company prompted landmark antitrust legislation and government regulation over railroad rates. A favorite of muckraking journalists writing lurid accounts of its business practices, the company became a favorite target of lawsuits across the nation.

Eventually, the federal government itself filed a massive antitrust suit against Standard Oil under the newly enacted Sherman Antitrust Act, accusing the firm of monopolistic and unfair practices. After a long, bitter fight, the Supreme Court in 1911 affirmed a decision splitting up Standard Oil.

The news reached Rockefeller while he was playing golf with a Catholic priest, whom he advised: "Buy Standard Oil stock." It was great advice. What was intended as punishment turned into a staggering windfall - Rockefeller's wealth nearly tripled as the company was divided and its constituent stocks exploded in value.

For today's reader, the similarities between Rockefeller's oil empire and Microsoft's virtual monopoly over computer operating systems are striking. Like Microsoft's Bill Gates, Rockefeller brought order to a chaotic infant industry, gained a commanding market share of a crucial resource, and made billions of dollars and untold enemies in the process. And like Gates, Rockefeller confronted a federal government intent on curtailing his power.

Gates, whose wealth has surpassed Rockefeller's even when adjusted to current dollars, would be well-advised to study his predecessor's life for important lessons: Public opinion matters, philanthropy pays enormous dividends, and even corporate dismemberment is not necessarily a bad thing.

The Rockefeller story is spellbinding, and Chernow - a National Book Award-winner for "The House of Morgan" - is a fine storyteller, carefully working original sources and presenting a balanced portrait of a man who has been vilified as a vicious, unethical monopolist and deified as the patron saint of philanthropy. Whatever the case, John D. Rockefeller Sr. undeniably left a legacy in business, law and philanthropy that continues to outlive him.

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