The Rockefeller Family Tree Explained

John D. Rockefeller Sr. was born in New York in 1839, but his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, when he was in his early teens. He was a hardworking boy and had a steady job at 16 years old as an assistant bookkeeper. Four years later, John started his own business by selling grains, hay, and meat products. According to Biography, the business made $450,000 in its first year. John was a smart businessman, and his next investment would have the biggest rewards. In 1963, he built an oil refinery in Pittsburgh after seeing oil production scaling up in Pennsylvania, and within two years, his refinery was the biggest in the area.

In 1870, John, together with a couple of associates, established the Standard Oil Company, and just eight years later, the business controlled about 90% of the oil refineries in the country. Furthermore, John was able to increase his wealth by investing in other industries, such as mining, transportation, and manufacturing, per the Rockefeller Archive Center. He left his position at Standard Oil in 1896 to focus his efforts on philanthropy. A bulk of his fortune was donated to charitable institutions, including churches, schools, and research institutes. At its peak in 1912, John's personal fortune was approximately $900 million (equivalent to about $25.2 billion in today's money). However, as reported by The Hustle, his estate was worth only $26 million at the time of his death in 1937, as he gave most of his wealth to charity.

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