[Good Rich, Bad Rich] The Story of Rockefeller

The richest man in history was Rockefeller, who made a vast fortune in the oil business. In terms of the value of money at the time, he possessed wealth more than three times that of Bill Gates. Rockefeller was condemned by the world for his business activities and praised by the world for his philanthropy. But a closer look shows that he contributed far more to the world through his main line of work, the oil business, than through charity.

Before Rockefeller entered the oil business, nights in America were dark. This was before the age of electricity. To light the darkness at night, people had to use oil lamps, but the problem was that kerosene was far too expensive. At 30 cents per gallon, it was difficult for anyone but the wealthy in America at the time to afford.

Rockefeller’s contribution lay in drastically lowering the price of kerosene in a short period of time. In just seven years, he brought the price of kerosene down from 30 cents per gallon to 6 cents, one-fifth of its original price. This was possible because he expanded his business and increased production so aggressively that he was criticized as “ruthless.” As a result, most Americans were able to light their lamps with Rockefeller’s oil. Thanks to Rockefeller, Americans were able to enjoy nighttime life. In return for supplying Americans with cheap, high-quality kerosene and gasoline, Rockefeller became the richest man in history.

Yet Rockefeller was criticized instead. The problem was that he lowered prices so drastically that all of his competitors collapsed. Standard Oil, Rockefeller’s company, supplied 95% of America’s oil. No one could supply it at prices as low as Standard Oil. Through this, he brought enormous benefits to American consumers and was also able to pay high wages to workers, yet he was branded a monopolist.

In the end, lawsuits brought by his competitors and the U.S. government led a federal court to order the breakup of his company. Rather than having his successful business and the contributions it made recognized, he instead became the target of criticism and condemnation. Only after he began his philanthropic work did he finally start to shed the stigma of being a robber baron. Yet his true contribution to American society lay not in charity, but in supplying inexpensive, high-quality petroleum products to the vast majority of American consumers.

Original title: [좋은 부자, 나쁜 부자] 록펠러 이야기

Author: Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

Date: 2007-12-17

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=column&pn=19&idx=10700