Chronicles of American Wealth / Nr 10 / February 28, 2002 

 Founder    :    William Rockefeller (1841-1922)     John Davison Rockefeller (1839-1937)    
 
 Origin       :    Richford (New York)
 
 Activity     :    Petroleum

 Source of wealth       :    Standard Oil

 
 Biographical  sketch  :   
 
The name of Rockefeller has long been synonymous of great wealth, philanthropic foundations and political power. The fortune was originally made by John Davison Rockefeller and his brother William in the consolidation of the early American oil industry under the mantle of their Standard Oil Company. The mastermind behind the first and mightiest of all 19th century trusts was the elder brother, John D. Rockefeller. He was also the first billionaire and the richest American of all times before he gave away his fortune, half to his family and the other half to the Rockefeller foundations. The younger brother, William Rockefeller, was the first of the Cleveland Standard Oil clique to settle in New York, where he developed a close relationship to Wall Street and more specifically to James Stillman of the National City Bank. Together with Stillman and Henry Huddleston Rogers, another Standard Oil tycoon, William Rockefeller participated in a series of large scale speculations, such as the organization of the American Smelting & Refining Company and the Amalgamated Copper trust. William Rockefeller became a large shareholder of the National City Bank and his alliance with the Stillman family was sealed by the marriage of his two sons with two Stillman daughters. The elder son William Goodsell Rockefeller hardly left his mark before he died in 1922. His brother, Percy Avery Rockefeller, showed more interest in business and seemed to have inherited the Midas touch of the Rockefellers during the expansion of the 1920’s. But he was caught in the stock market crash of 1929 and lost much of his fortune in the depression of the 1930’s. On the other hand, their cousin John Davison Rockefeller jr commanded the vast fortune he had inherited from his father in a conservative, almost negative manner. During the Depression years, he funded the building of Rockefeller Center and thereby became one of the largest real estate holders in New York. He also acquired a controlling interest in the Chase National Bank when the latter bought his Equitable Trust Company. John D. Rockefeller junior devoted much time to the philanthropies his father had established and himself gave away a large share of his wealth. His five sons, known as the Rockefeller brothers, became a close knit group of American capitalists and politicians, each of whom played a significant part in post war America. John Davison Rockefeller III was deeply involved in the Rockefeller foundations and had an interest in Asia. Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller chose a political career, starting as Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs during World War II and later became governor of New York and non-elected Vice-President of the United States, as a consequence of Richard Nixon’s resignation. Laurance Spelman Rockefeller vastly increased his inherited wealth as a successful venture investor. Winthrop Rockefeller retired on a ranch in Arkansas and became governor of this state. But doubtlessly the most active and influent of all five Rockefeller brothers was David Rockefeller, who wielded his power through the mighty Chase Manhattan Bank of which he was long time president and chairman.