JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER.
THE STORY OF A GIGANTIC FORTUNE RETOLD. John D. Rockefeller has made money faster in the past few years than other mortal ever made it. He is so rich that he cannot count his millions. He said under oath in a legal proceedings not long ago that he could not estimate his fortune within £2,000,000 or £2,400,000. The estimate of £27,000,000 is not considered excessive. If anything, it is under the actual amount.
Rockefeller was once a newspaper reporter, and less than two decades ago was a business man of only moderate means in Cleveland, Ohio. His attention was attracted to the opportunities for making money in the handling and refining of the product of the Pennsylvania oil fields. He started a comparatively small refinery, and from that grew the most powerful monopoly on earth — the Standard Oil Trust. How rapidly the Standard has grown is shown by the fact that in 1880 its capital' was only £600,000, whereas it is now £18,000,000. The par value of the stock is £20 a share, but it is quoted at £34. It pays dividends amounting to 10 per cent, per annum. Rockefeller owns more than a majority of the stock, so that something like £20,000,000 of his fortune is represented in the trust. He also has extensive natural gas interests in Ohio, and in addition is a large owner of Govenment bonds and the securities of railroads and other corporations. It has been said, and it is probably a fact, that the Standard Oil Trust is the best managed corporation in the world. John D. Rockefeller is the directing spirit. He looks and acts more like a preacher than a schemer. He is, in fact, a deacon in a Baptist Church He has stooping shoulders, drooping eyelids, and a face that is almost sepulchral. He lives in a handsome house in West- Fifty-fourth-street, just around the corner from Fifth Aveuue. It is in this neighbourhood where the Vanderbilt mansions, the finest in New York, cluster. His diversions are few. Little is heard of him and less is seen of him.
He is inaccessible at all times. He wields the enormous power of the Standard Oil Trust from behind portals.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18900531.2.55.22
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8270, 31 May 1890, Page 2 (Supplement)
Word Count
370JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER. New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8270, 31 May 1890, Page 2 (Supplement)
Using This Item
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Auckland Libraries and NZME.