John D Rockefeller

John D. Rockefeller is the icon of the American Businessman. He, along with several other individuals, established the Standard Oil in 1870 (Geisst, 2000). He was born July 8, 1839 in New York but moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1853 with his family. His success in life and as a businessman can be immediately traced back to the influence of his parents.   His father, William Avery Rockefeller, was commonly termed in that period as a pitch man, or an individual who convinced people they could accomplish miraculous feats (Flynn, 1941). Rockefeller’s mother was an extremely religious person and imparted this religiosity to Rockefeller through discipline and strict beliefs of work, more work, save, more savings, and to give to charities. Rockefeller took these early lessons to heart and went on during his childhood to save what would have been considered substantial amounts of money for any age and to even make money on his money by loaning it and charging interest on it (Flynn, 1941). After the family’s move to Cleveland, Rockefeller attended a small college, Folsom’s Commercial College where he acquired additional skills that he would use to his advantage (Josephson, 1949). However, in the meantime at Folsom, he learned double-entry bookkeeping and other business related skills. At 16 years of age, Rockefeller had trouble locating employment as a bookkeeper and finally landed a job at a company called Hewitt & Tuttle as an assistant bookkeeper (Josephson, 1949). Being honest, detailed, and meticulous earned him the respect, not only of Hewitt & Tuttle, but eventually of the local business community as a whole. After working in the industry for several years, and on his own commodities deals on the side, Rockefeller and a business partner, Maurice Clark, went into business forming a company called: Clark & Rockefeller just prior to his 20th birthday. Clark & Rockefeller were in the business of acting as commission merchants in such commodities as hay, meats, and other...