Between 1855 and 1900, John D. Rockefeller was an extraordinary business success. He got his first job in 1855, and by 1900 he was ready to retire from leadership of the Standard Oil Company. For his work as president and majority owner of Standard Oil, Rockefeller became the person who remains considered the single richest individual who ever lived. Rockefeller also learned how to give away more money than perhaps anyone who has ever lived.

Young Rockefeller

John Davison Rockefeller was born 8 July 1839, the second of six children, to William Avery and Eliza (Davison) Rockefeller. Young John grew up in modest economic circumstances, beginning life in a rural home near the village of Richford, New York. By the age of fourteen, Rockefeller moved three times with his family. They went to Moravia, New York, then to Oswego and then out of the state entirely. Rockefeller's early years likely had some feelings of insecurity to them.

In the summer of 1853, the Rockefellers established a home in the small community of Strongsville, Ohio, near Cleveland. Yet John moved again, this time into the city to attend Cleveland's Central High School. He joined the Erie Street Baptist Church, located in a new red-brick building, with a fine cathedral. He became active in church affairs. After just two years of high school, Rockefeller enrolled in a six-month business programme at Folsom Mercantile College, which he completed in three months.