John D. (John Davison) Rockefeller

Born in Richford, New York, in 1839, he started out as a young bookkeeper before building Standard Oil into the dominant force in the American petroleum industry. His fierce focus on efficiency, scale, and control made him one of the richest people of his era and a central figure in the story of big business in the United States.

His success also made him a lightning rod for criticism. Standard Oil became a symbol of monopoly power, and in 1911 the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the company broken up under antitrust law. That tension between extraordinary business skill and public backlash is a big part of why his life still draws so much attention.

In later years, he turned increasingly toward philanthropy. He supported major institutions and causes in education, medical research, and public health, helping fund work associated with the University of Chicago, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, and the Rockefeller Foundation. By the time of his death in 1937, his name was tied not only to immense wealth, but also to one of the most influential charitable legacies in American history.