THE WEALTHIEST MAN IN THE WORLD.

Evening Star, Issue 11452, 21 January 1901, Page 3

THE WEALTHIEST MAN IN THE WORLD.

The richest man in the world is probably Mr John Davison Rockfeller, head, nf the famous Standard Oil Company of the United States. He was born at Richford, in the State of New York, July 8, IS3O, of humble parentage, and commenced life as aD assistant in a store. As a yonng man he early *aw the great future of the mineral oil discoveries in Pennsylvania, and, leaving the (-tore, he invested his small savings in oil wells. What the result has been is shown in the following extract from a recent issue of the ' New York Herald':—Wealth has given John D. Rockfeller an income which any monarch might envy, for he comes very near to receiving more money in the course of a year thuu all the orowned heads of Europe combined. That last princely dividend of the Standard Oil Company caußed the world of finance to pause and think how much the king of petroleum really possessed. Andrew Carnecie—arid that canDV has an income of 20,000,000d0l (about £4,000,000) a year himself—says that John D. Rockfeller is the wealthiest man in the world. It is conservatively estimated that Rockfeller's income is 30,000,000d0l (about £0,000,000) a year. It is a bold declaration to make whes it ia said that Mr Rockfeller is the richest min on earth, yet financiers say that the figures will bear out the assertion. He may be the richest man who ever was ; for there was Solomon, who, by controlling a considerable trade in Ophir gold, Lebanon cedar, granite, oils, and such things, aa well as by levying tribute and selling concessions, managed to get together an annual income of 666 talenta. That is 17,502,480d0l (about £3,500,000). John D. Rockfoller lives simply. His tables do not abound in luxurious food. His abodes are plainly furnished. Yet he has more money than tnonarchs who are surrounded by gold-laced functionaries, and are hurried abroad in carriages ornamented with solid gold. This quiet man, at whose feet great universities are called into being, and schools and colleges take on new life, has the wealth of a Orossus, the touch of Midas, and the worldly wisdom of a SolomoD. Those who wish to get an idea of the figures upon which the estimate of John D. Rockfeller's wealth ia based need first to turn their thoughts to oil. Mr Rockfeller' owns about one-third of the 100,000,000d0l (£20,000,000) stocks of the Standard Oil Company. The stock pays dividends of 4S per cent, a year, which would ?ive him an annual income of 16,000,000d0l (£3,200,000). Aside from that he has an enormous income from iron interests in the Messalia Range. He has the controlling interest in a fleet of steamers upon the great lakes. Ho has large and select blocks of stock ia gas and electric companies in the principal cities of the United States. The Standard Oil Company helps him to control gas and electricity in almost unlimited quantities. Mr Rockfeller's interests in railroad properties are extensive. He practically owns the Missouri, Kansas, andf" Pacific Railroad. The stock is cheap, yet the bonds pay interest. It is generally understood that Mr Rockfeller has stock in the Missouri Pacific, the Chicago Northwestern, tho Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul, tho Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western, the New York Central, the New York, New Haven, and Hartford, the Pennsylvania, the Union Pacific, the Baltimore and Ohio, the Northern Pacific, the Chicago and Alton, the Chicago, Burlington, and Qaincy, and the National Transit Company. He also has Btock in the National City Bank, the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, the Amalgamated Copper Company, and scores of other mining properties are on his lists. From a study of these properties it will be seen that Mr Carnegie's estimate is a conservative one. [One of Mr Rnckfeller'a daughters was married on Friday last, the 18th inst., to a Mr Prentieo, of Chicago. He dower was £10,000,000.]