john d. rockefeller

i’m reading ron chernow’s biography titan: the life of john d. rockefeller, sr.

rockefeller was about as capitalist, conservative, and monopolistic as it gets. at one point he was hated across america and became almost a symbol of the ugliest side of capitalism.

and yet, at the same time, he had been giving money away since he was basically a teenager. throughout his life he helped countless people and institutions, donated heavily to medicine and public health, and funded schools, foundations, and projects that ended up having a real impact on society.

when it came to standard oil and money, though, he was ruthless.

he bribed people, made secret deals, crushed competitors, manipulated transportation rates, and used every advantage he could get. but strangely enough, even during the gilded age, he never really embraced the kind of absurd luxury you would expect from someone that rich. by billionaire standards, his personal life was relatively restrained.

i’m not here to praise rich people, but compared with people like elon musk and jeff bezos today, rockefeller almost comes across as mild.

what makes it even stranger is that despite all the philanthropy he did because of his own beliefs and religious convictions, he never really managed to win over the public, and all his wealth still could not stop standard oil from being broken up.

today’s billionaires seem to operate in a completely different environment.

they can cut public programs, influence politics, involve themselves in other countries’ affairs, launch cars into space, try to shut down parts of cities for private events, and generally behave in ways that would have looked outrageous even by gilded age standards.

and somehow, millions of people still cheer them on.

that might be the strangest part.