How John D. Rockefeller became the world's first billionaire

The history of the Rockefellers in 60 seconds

John D. Rockefeller—the world's first billionaire—once controlled 90% of the US oil refining market, built Standard Oil through vertical integration, and used his fortune to fund universities, museums, and landmarks like Rockefeller Center.

A timeline of the Rockefeller family

The Rockefeller family timeline (as it relates to the business world, at least) starts in 1839 with John D. Rockefeller’s birth. In the nearly 200 years since, his offspring have gotten involved in everything from the Watergate scandal to the McCormick & Company spice business.

John D. Rockefeller’s father was a well-known con artist

John D. Rockefeller was born to a man known as “Devil Bill” who made a living posing as a traveling doctor and selling fake herbal cures, and was also infamous for his storytelling and cons.

The winding journey from Standard Oil to the modern oil industry

Standard Oil’s impact on the business world can be clearly seen today in oil giants like Exxon and Chevron. But the journey from the Rockefellers’ trust to the modern firms was a windy road. After the Supreme Court ordered Standard Oil’s break up, the first step saw it separate into many state-based companies like Standard Oil of California and the Ohio Oil Company. Visualize it here.

Standard Oil's predatory business practices included temporarily operating at a loss to drive competitors out of business

Rockefeller's oil monopoly had a dark side, including cutting oil prices so low that Standard Oil was sometimes temporarily operating at a loss in order to drive competitors out of business.

Standard Oil used vertical integration to create an empire

“Vertical integration” is a modern business phrase that refers to a company taking on multiple stages of production—but John D. Rockefeller pioneered it with his Standard Oil company, employing its own plumbers and handling its own oil transportation.

'If you want to succeed, you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.'

- Billionaire John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937)

Warren Buffett began investing at 11 years old

He then bought his first property at 14 years old. From studying under the “father of value investing” to revitalizing a textile company into the largest holding company in the world, Buffett’s career is one of great financial success.

How Martha Stewart became the first self-made billionaire woman

Through her cooking shows, cookware, and media empire, Martha Stewart ascended to billionaire status in 1999, becoming America's first woman to achieve that number on her own. Despite a conviction in 2004 and time spent in prison, Stewart rebounded and continues to develop product lines and media, with an estimated net worth of $200M. Read more about her story here.

The story of the first commercial US oil well and why crude oil is measured in barrels

The 1859 oil discovery in Titusville, Pennsylvania, sparked a boom in oil exploration and production to meet the demand for kerosene lamp fuel. Because the 42-gallon barrel was a readily available container already in use for shipping fish, butter, wine, and other goods, it was adopted by the Petroleum Producers Association in 1872 and by both the US Geological Survey and the US Bureau of Mines in 1882.

Explore an alternative investments timeline

From what’s known as the first leveraged buyout, when JPMorgan acquired the Carnegie Steel Company, to the creation of the first-ever hedge fund, alternative investments have a long history.

The first lithium-ion battery was invented at ExxonMobil

Initially a side project that became a priority due to the 1973 oil crisis, the battery's flammability risks and manufacturing challenges, along with the waning crisis, led the company to shut down its battery program. Other researchers would gradually improve upon published prototype designs in the next decade.

Famed American investor Jesse Livermore made millions when the stock market crashed in 1929

Livermore made his first major short against rail company Union Pacific in 1906, coincidentally before an earthquake in San Francisco, which ultimately tanked share prices. During a financial panic the next year, JP Morgan reportedly asked Livermore to increase his long-term investments to restore hope and restabilize the market—which Livermore did. However, Livermore began betting against the market in 1929, sensing that stocks were too hot, and was one of the few people to benefit from the 1929 stock crash.

Before his final answer, the first US ‘Millionaire’ winner called his dad to tell him he’d won

John Carpenter was the first US contestant on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” to win the top prize. Impressively, he did it without using any of his “lifelines,” which could provide hints. Well, that’s not exactly true: Carpenter did use his “Phone a Friend” lifeline, but it was just to let his father know that he’d be winning a million bucks.

Theodore Roosevelt is considered by many to be the "first modern president"

Roosevelt transformed the presidency by expanding executive power beyond conventional norms, arguing that the president could act in the national interest unless expressly forbidden to do so. His energetic leadership, media use, and policy activism expanded the office's role and prestige.

The first ever IPO was issued by the Dutch East India Co., a spice company

It first offered shares to the public in the 1600s on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange to help finance its passages. The Dutch East India Co. succeeded in part due to its monopolistic hold over the East Indies at the time.

See the world's top 20 billionaires in 2026

This data visualization shows the 20 wealthiest people in the world as of January 2026. Topping the list with a net worth of more than $713B is Elon Musk, trailed by Larry Page ($258B), Jeff Bezos ($251B), and Larry Ellison ($243B).

Vince McMahon turned wrestling into a consolidated, national enterprise

In 1982, Vince McMahon purchased the World Wrestling Federation, which would later be renamed World Wrestling Entertainment, and quickly wiped out the WWE’s smaller regional promotions. By the late 1990s, he minted superstars like Chyna, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, sent its first passengers to space in 2021

Founded in 2000, Bezos spent many years working on the company as a side project before it became more well-known around 2004, when a plot of land in Texas was purchased as a launch site for the company’s rockets. He has said that the goal of Blue Origin is to build “reusable space vehicles.” This resource details what passengers experience from takeoff to landing on a Blue Origin flight.

How the Bank of Italy became Bank of America

Amid the devastation of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, Italian immigrant and local banker Amodei Giannini managed to keep hold of a substantial amount of currency. On a handshake, Giannini loaned needy locals money to rebuild. The enterprising banker would go on to form one of the first banks for the middle class, the Bank of Italy, which would go on to become the Bank of America in 1930. Read about the founder here.

One of Henry Ford's early vehicle prototypes broke an all-time speed record and got him the money to start Ford Motor Company

In 1904, Henry Ford raced the "999" across a frozen lake and reached an average speed of more than 90 miles per hour, beating the then-record for fastest land speed. Ford's success attracted the eyes of the earliest investors in the Henry Ford Company, Ford's company before he started Ford Motor Company.

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and later used his fortune to fund peace prizes

Nobel stabilized dangerous nitroglycerin to create dynamite, revolutionizing construction and mining in the 19th century. Despite his success with explosives, he was deeply disturbed by their destructive potential and redirected his legacy toward rewarding human progress.

Rockwell's first full-time magazine job was for Boys' Life

After graduating from the Art Students League of New York, Rockwell found work illustrating for Boys’ Life, the magazine of the Boy Scouts of America. He went on to create images for over 50 magazine covers and to design the organization’s annual calendars.

George Washington spent thousands of dollars on ice cream in a single summer

Records show that America's first president purchased a "cream machine for ice" as early as 1784. An accounting record from 1790 reveals that Washington spent $200—roughly equivalent to $6,300 today—on ice cream.

Many consider Jackie Brenston's 'Rocket 88' to be the first rock song

Jackie Brenston’s “Rocket 88,” a song penned in 1951 by a young Ike Turner and performed by his band the Kings of Rhythm, is widely considered the genre’s starting point. While late-40s R&B singles have similar elements, “Rocket 88” included distorted electric guitar, which would define the genre for decades.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Poison ivy's characteristic rash is caused by an allergic response to an oily compound in the plant called urushiol.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.