many people ask why America surpassed Europe and
became a global superpower the main reason can be traced back to five men known as the founding
fathers of America they were instrumental in propelling the economy and Industry of America to
new heights ultimately leading to its superpower status when we look at the billionaires of today
we see that most of them have accumulated their wealth through technology such as Elon Musk or
Jeff Bezos however if we want to identify the wealthiest busin
ess person in history we need to
go back more than a 100 years we need to look at a wealthy individual who despite passing away
around a century ago Still Remains unmatched by any contemporary capitalist this is the story of
the Standard Oil company which was not an ordinary company but rather had the largest Monopoly in
the world Standard Oil did not always possess such immense power it gradually acquired it
over time time let's go back to 1839 when a boy was born in New York and his name
was John
John D Rockefeller was the eldest son of William Rockefeller who owned an apothecary in Richford
New York John's father had multiple wives and children with each of them however after a while
he abandoned all of his wives including John's mother and took all the children to live with a
woman named Nancy Brown forming an unconventional family whenever John asked his father for money
his father would say he didn't have any but JN wanted to have his own money so he would work for
the
neighbors and earn some cash when JN turned 15 his father decided to relocate the family to
Cleveland Ohio since John had a taste for money he didn't like going to school and believed it
would waste his time that's why he dropped out of school at the age of 16 and started looking
for work his first job was as a clerk in a small office earning a meager salary of 50 cents per day
which would be approxim imately 14 Dawn dollars in today's rate he worked there for 2 years and
despite outperfor
ming adults he didn't get a raise because he was still considered a child
he worked there until the age of 18 and then he declared that he would no longer work for
others he used the money he had saved took a loan and opened his own office entrepreneurship
was in his blood from a young age as he knew how to make money even at a young age he would buy
products from Farmers and sell them to stores in 1857 at the age of 18 through these transactions
he made sales of $500,000 of which approxima
tely $50,000 could be considered profit in Cleveland
Ohio everyone knew John an 18-year-old kid who excelled in business and everyone acknowledged his
abilities one year after these events in 1859 the first oil well in America was discovered near
John D rockefeller's office oil was found but it didn't have much value at the time time because
there were no machines and this oil was not very useful the best use they had for oil at that
time was to convert it into kerosine and use it in lamps
for lighting John became interested in
the oil well that was discovered near his office and wanted to know what could be done with
this oil he gathered and read all the news and writings about oil and John concluded that
oil itself didn't have much value the valuable thing was the products that could be obtained
from it at that time the value valuable product was white oil after that well many oil wells
were discovered in America and all of their owners were Ordinary People Rockefeller look
ed at
the owners of these Wells and saw that they were not doing well he thought of buying oil from them
for a low price and turning it into white oil the largest oil Discovery in America at that time
was in Pennsylvania in 1863 a railway line was built between the oil wells of Pennsylvania and
Cleveland Ohio which made it possible possible to bring abundant oil to Ohio John D Rockefeller
who was very business-savvy said now is the time to build a refinery in Cleveland considering
this Rai
lway line and the abundance of oil he had earned enough money in the past 6 years to
build an acceptable Refinery he understood that playing with oil was like Alchemy and he could
build everything from nothing for this reason he hired the best Chemists in the region and
told them to produce the highest quality white oil he started with $88,000 approximately 2
years later in 1865 they valued the refinery and its equipment at around $772,500 which if
calculated at today's rate would be more t
han $180,000 but this was just the beginning
Rockefeller knew he was starting his Empire because no one had thought of these ideas before
until that time 26 refineries had been built in Ohio but all of them produced lowquality white
oil while rockefeller's white oil had such quality that customers only wanted his product the sale
of those refineries was in trouble Rockefeller who was highly intelligent realized that he could buy
these refineries for free Jon's method of buying was very inte
resting he invited the owners of the
refineries one by one showed them the accounting and income of his Refinery and said look at how
much profit we have made while you have made no profit if you sell your Refinery to us we will
flourish your Refinery and we will also hire you as one of the managers and we will give you
a good salary that is higher than the income of your Refinery the owners of refineries one by
one came to Rockefeller and said we are willing 10 years passed and we reached
the year 1880
when 90% of America's Refinery production was in rockefeller's hands here a monopoly had emerged
the largest Monopoly in world history at that time this Monopoly had made him so wealthy that he
was buying up most of the railroads in America he would tell the railroad company I will pay more
than anyone else for transportation and you will only carry my goods with this action he raised
the transportation rates with the railroad and other factories started complaining saying how
do we transport our products then the factories protested so so much that the US government got
involved when the US government got involved they saw that there was a monopoly they saw that
in this way the owner of a monopoly could do whatever he pleased and the US Congress worked
to pass laws against monopolies but John was ah head of the US government when he realized that
the US government wanted to pass anti-monopoly laws he opened a trust in New Jersey trust means
that the Standard O
il Company transformed itself into 40 different companies ultimately benefiting
Rockefeller himself but this was not considered a monopoly according to the anti-monopoly law
because there were 40 different companies that were competing with each other in 1890 John
D Rockefeller owned 20,000 oil wells and laid 6,500 km of oil pipelines in America with over
100,000 Americans working for the Standard Oil Company under rockefeller's ownership Rockefeller
established his Empire at the right time
because no other oil wells had been discovered in the
world yet but as we entered the 20th Century oil became more valuable ships and Automobiles
were advancing and in various parts of the world people were searching for oil in other parts of
the world in Russia and Asia they had already found oil but the first major oil well in
the world was discovered on May 26th 1908 in Iran it was discovered by William Knox
Darcy an Englishman who had obtained the oil extraction rights from the kajar g
overnment
now let's go back to Rockefeller in 1890 when oil became more and more precious every day and
different Wells were being discovered all over the world rockefeller's income was declining
but Standard Oil rockefeller's company was not a company that could easily be harmed in 1890
Standard Oil was worth $1 trillion in today's currency Rockefeller had gained so much power
in America that he wasn't worried about oil being discovered elsewhere or having competitors
he had so much money
that he was lending it to the US government he continued to grow his wealth
until the end of his life when John D Rockefeller passed away in 1937 his fortune was estimated
to be over $400 billion earning him the title of the richest businessman in the world at that
time currently according to the statistics from Forbes Magazine El Elon Musk is the richest person
in the world with an estimated wealth of over $219 billion on July 30th 1863 a boy was born in the
city of springwells Michigan h
is name was Henry Henry's father was a farmer during a time when
farming was one of the most laborious occupations without the modern tools we have today they
had to work hard from morning till night in the fields hoping to harvest a crop if it wasn't
affected by pests as Henry grew up he witnessed the hardships his father endured and his heart
achd for him as a result he developed a strong aversion to farming despite his fa being a farmer
and Henry himself having to engage in farming he kn
ew that there was a better opportunity waiting
for him near be and it was improving day by day you should know that the city of Detroit located
12 km from Henry's Village was the most important industrial city in America it was the birthplace
of the Industrial Revolution in America being close to this city exposed Henry to Industries
and Technology at the age of 12 Henry became so interested in technology that he wanted to be
involved in technical work for example when a neighbor's clock br
oke he said I can fix it even
though he had no idea how it worked he just had the desire to open it up and see how it was made
when Henry turned 14 he saw a steam powered engine for the first time his entire Focus shifted to it
and he thought I need to understand how this works he tried to get a job at the railroad to learn how
steam engines worked on locomotives he approached the Railroad Administration many times but they
told him he was not of legal age and couldn't be given a job they s
aid come back when you're 16
however when Henry turned 16 instead of going for a job at the railroad he went to work for a
mechanic who repaired these engines in 1880 when Henry was 17 years old he encountered something
fascinating an Englishman showed him a gasoline engine which was built by Nicolas Auto in Germany
Nicolas AO hadn't built this engine for any particular purpose he just wanted to show that
gasoline could be used instead of steam though young when Henry saw this gasoline engi
ne his mind
became completely absorbed in the possibilities it presented he pondered over its functioning and
completely understood its fuel system but he couldn't figure out its electrical system how the
spark plug ignited the mixture he said to himself I need to learn about electricity he went to the
branch of Edison Electric in Detroit and requested a job they gave him a job because he wanted to
delve into electricity this branch of the Edison Company provided electricity to around 1,000
homes in that area Henry works so well in this company that he goes higher every day and when he
reaches the age of 28 he becomes the CEO of this company it is is in this position that he also
builds his first gasoline engine in the workshop of this company when his engine is ready he tells
himself that he should improve it and put it on a carriage so that it becomes a car the first car
made by Henry Ford in 1896 when he is 33 years old is ready he named the car quadricycle Henry
also mad
e a two-speed gearbox for his car however his engine did not have a radiator so it would get
hot after a few minutes of running finally Henry adds a radiator to his car meanwhile a customer
appears and offers $200 for his car Henry says even better I'll take the money and build a better
one he receives $200 which is equivalent to $6,000 today and delivers the car to the customer Henry
builds another quadricycle but not for sale he wanted to conduct various experiments and identify
the flaws
in the quadricycle eventually in 189 99 he opens a company and names it Ford Motor
Company a name that still exists you know that Edison was a major investor and capitalists would
come to invest in his company Ford was previously the CEO of Edison's company that's why all the
investors knew him until they found out that he had started this new company they said we will
go to his company and invest because we know the person behind it and he starts producing
quadricycles in his Factory but
things don't go well for 2 years everyone works but they can
only produce 20 quadricycles Henry wonders why it takes so long how can we increase our production
the company was not profitable in this situation so many investors asked for their money back
the investors took their money one by1 which not only put the factory to sleep but also caused
the factory to go out of business after that Henry became poor again you know that successful people
never give up easily despite his poverty Henr
y was always thinking about how to start a Factory
that could have high production Henry thought about what to do with paper and Pen how to produce
a successful car he designed a car that was better than the quadricycle at least on paper but as
he designed the car he also thought about the concept of an assembly line these designs and
Thoughts by Henry Ford led to one of the most important inventions of the 20th century the
assembly line which did not exist until that day when we reach 1905
Henry gathers himself
and launches another Factory a factory where the assembly line is created just one year later
in 1906 300 people work on this assembly line and 25 Ford modal T cars are produced every
day if it weren't for the invention of the assembly line it would not have been possible
the assembly line was working however Henry was not satisfied he said it should be better
and faster in the same year 1906 Henry does another important thing he opens another company
called Ford eng
ine company which specializes in producing engines and gearboxes he no longer
had to get engines or gearboxes from someone else this move by Henry Ford increased the
speed of the assembly line and made the cars cheaper because the longest time they wasted
was waiting for parts from the assembly line Ford said I want to produce a car that ordinary
people can buy because until then cars were for the wealthy and kings in 1908 the first Ford
Model T emerged in the following manner a hasslefree
and affordable car because it was
intended to be cheap it was only produced in black Ford succeeded in creating a car that
everyone could afford the Model T introduced in 1908 had a price of $850 when the Model T
was unveiled and people saw its picture in the newspapers they attacked the company within a
week they placed 25,000 orders the demand was so high that they couldn't deliver all of them in
the first year but they managed to deliver around 177,000 when Henry Ford realized the succes
s of
his idea he set up another much larger factory with a bigger production line Henry Ford's Vision
was to make this production line faster and more [Music] efficient as a result production
increased steadily each year by the time we reached 1910 they were delivering over 20,000
Model T cars however only 6 years later in 1916 Ford was producing 500,000 Model T cars per year
Henry Ford wanted not only to make a profit but also for people to benefit from his cars that's
why he increased pr
oduction which in turn lowered the prices of the cars despite producing the
cheapest car in the world you should remember that in 1908 the Ford Model T cost $850 but 8
years later in 1916 it was even lower at $360 which was less than half the initial price Ford
used to say that every American should have one car Henry Ford had built such a revolutionary and
advanced company that for over 20 years it had no competitors in the world in those years over
60% of the cars in America were Ford Mod
el T's until finally other companies were able to start
competing with Ford in the late 1920s companies like Dodge Brothers Chrysler and General Motors
you should know that at that time Dodge Brothers and Chrysler were not together during this period
Henry Ford was one of the richest people in the world although not richer than John D Rockefeller
or Andrew Carnegie moreover it should be noted that Adolf Hitler took took inspiration from
Henry Ford for the Volkswagen Hitler liked Ford so muc
h that he always had a picture of him
in his office saying that he was a hero because he had launched a revolution for himself Henry
Ford remained the head of the company until the age of 81 and the company is no longer the same
as before the company had become so influential that during World War II Boeing's bombers
were built in the Ford Company the Reon was that they needed a large number of bombers and
Bo facilities were insufficient therefore they turned to the largest company in Ameri
ca Ford to
start building bombers in 1945 when Henry Ford was 81 years old and suffering from heart problems
he stepped down as the head of the company and handed it over to his grandson Henry Ford II
because his son had passed away 2 years before that date due to stomach cancer however he did
not like retirement so 2 years later in 1947 he passed away due to a heart attack today Ford Motor
Company is one of the largest Automotive companies in the world the company is publicly traded but
t
he Ford family still hold significant power in the company they control 40% of the company
themselves this company produces cars on five continents and some of its products are the best
selling in the world such as their Ford F-150 truck on May 27th 1794 a boy was born in Staten
Island New York named Cornelius Vanderbilt his parents Cornelius senior and his mother who
were Dutch immigrants were extremely poor both working as laborers after a few years cornelius's
mother secured a job in agr
iculture which slightly improved their income his father found employment
in a steamboat company and became an operator of one of the passenger boats in New York although
the family's situation had a slight Improvement they were still struggling at the age of 11
Cornelius dropped out of school and joined the same company where his father worked the steamboat
industry to contribute to the household expenses while working in the steamboat industry Cornelius
had different aspirations he believ
ed that he needed to do something on his own to improve his
financial situation as the wages in the industry were not sufficient for a comfortable life his
mother had saved some money and Cornelius went to her and asked for a loan of $100 he assured her
that he would repay it soon initially his mother hesitated as they needed the money for their
living expenses but Cornelius persisted eventually his mother agreed and gave him the $100 at that
time $100 was a significant amount for himself e
nough to buy a small boat Cornelius thought to
himself why should I work for a steamboat company when I can own a boat and work for myself
despite having only completed fifth grade and lacking extensive education he had a natural
business sense Cornelius quickly realized that if he wanted to succeed in the industry he had to
offer competitive prices to attract customers he lowered the prices significantly and customers
started flocking to him one after another when he bought his first boat
at the age of 16 he swiftly
repaid his mother the $100 from then on he saved every penny he earned to buy more boats one after
another expanding his Fleet the number of boats increased progressively it may be hard to believe
but by the time Cornelius was not yet 18 he owned more than 10 small and large boats employing 10
people to work for him when he turned 18 an event occurred that would shape his future the War of
1812 between America and Britain began which was part of America's struggl
e for Independence
against the British this war presented an opportunity for Cornelius the US government
entered into a contract with him to transport military supplies across the water to the American
side this work really boosted Cornelius as he had a lot of boats and they were in high demand
providing good rental income therefore he had enough money to invest in sailing a year later
at the age of 19 Vanderbilt married his cousin's daughter a woman named Sophia Johnson who gave
birth to
13 children for Vanderbilt however Cornelius did not care about these 13 children
and his wife he never even spent time with them as he was solely focused on making money he had
become somewhat distant from his children when we reached the 1820s Cornelius has a lot of money
but he is not satisfied and wants to go higher this is also the time when steamboats enter the
market Vanderbilt upon learning about steamboats only thinks about buying them because they are
faster less Troublesome and b
ring in more money you may ask what about the previous boats well
they were sailboats and the steamboats were a new arrival during this period Cornelius begins
to gain Fame but with an inappropriate name as a ruthless Trader what was he doing he charged
high prices not only did Vanderbilt bring down the prices so much that other Merchants were going
bankrupt but he also said I have to crush them I need to be the only one standing and I will buy
their boats for a bargain this way the number
of his boats increased the reason Vanderbilt was
able to lower the prices was that he had prepared himself beforehand and planned to bring down the
prices for a year even if he incurred losses he wouldn't go bankrupt his strategy worked perfect
ly he bankrupted all the shipping companies except his own Cornelius enjoyed the situation he
thought of himself as playing chess and capturing the pieces one by one his only goal was to win
the game entirely despite being wealthier than many of New
York's rich people at the age of 30
they did not acknowledge Him they said you are uneducated your accent is not even New York
and you are UNC they would tell him you have new money but we have old and antique money to
this he would reply I serve all of you very well Vanderbilt did not pay attention to these remarks
he would go to his chessboard sit down move the pieces and go higher and higher we arrive in 1849
and Cornelius Vanderbilt is about 55 years old a fully accomplished wealthy man
but he is still not
satisfied he says I have to build my life another opportunity arises for him successful people
are always opportunistic not NE necessarily in a negative sense but they recognize opportunities
early on they are not indifferent to them in 1849 Cornelius Vanderbilt becomes acquainted with the
gold rush in California perhaps you have heard of the gold rush in California people realized that
there was gold in California and a large portion of the Eastern American population
set out for
it they went to California solely to find gold they arrived and bought a pickaxe and shovel
going to places where they expected to find gold interestingly none of the those who went in
search of gold profited as much as the sellers of pickaxes and shovels except for one person
Cornelius Vanderbilt why because he was also looking for gold but not the kind of gold ordinary
people were seeking he saw the markets's potential and established an institution that transported
people fr
om the east coast of America to the West Coast specifically California and don't think
it was by land because the railroad was not yet fully completed at that time and people found it
easier to board cornelius's boats and travel to California on foot maybe you wonder how the Panama
Canal which hadn't been built yet transported passengers to Nicaragua they would take another
means of transportation to reach the narrow strip of Nicaragua and then make their way to the
Pacific Ocean where they
would board a series of Cornelius boats these boats would carry them
to California Cornelius set sail for gold it was the largest Transportation project in in American
history when nearly half a million people within a very short period wanted to go to the other
side of the country they would say take the Cornelius boat Cornelius would say I'm not going
after gold I'm bringing the people they will find it themselves in 1853 Cornelius was 59 years old
an extremely rare event occurred when C
ornelius decided to go on vacation a man who had worked
tirelessly since the age of 11 even working on weekends when he said he wanted to go on a family
vac they were surprised and asked what does he have in mind surely another business venture but
no he truly wanted to relax so he purchased one of the best ships of that time and went to Europe
with his family he entrusted his companies to his employees whom he trusted however once they
saw his absence they began embezzling while in Europe
Cornelius discovered what his employees
were doing he didn't get angry at all he simply took a piece of paper wrote a few lines with his
limited education and sent it to his employees he wrote on the paper you have committed to deceiving
me I won't file a complaint against you because it would take too long due to the law but I will
ruin you he signed it and sent it to reduce his taxes Vanderbilt had moved his headquarters
to Nicaragua those who embezzled in his company were all in Nicaragu
a despite being Americans he
destabilized Nicaragua to seek revenge against his employe with his influence over the surrounding
countries Vanderbilt told them not to recognize the government of Nicaragua because it was not a
legitimate government he even provided evidence that confirmed this which led Nicaragua to
gradually descend into instability and even internal conflict all the employees who had stolen
Vanderbilt's money were trapped in the midst of the Civil War so the letter that Van
derbilt had
written to them with just four words became a reality many people people when they turned 60
start thinking about retirement but Vanderbilt was the opposite he wanted to expand his Capital
when Cornelius turned 60 it seemed like his mind became a bit more active he focused on a newly
emerging mode of transportation the railroad and interestingly he realized the Revolutionary
impact this means of transportation would have he put all his boats up for sale when they were at
their
Peak value he would sell the boats at high prices and invest the money in Railways he always
wanted to have exclusive ownership of everything and wanted to enter every sector he wanted to
have full control Vanderbilt launched a railway company and started operating on the railroad
tracks at that time there were small private companies that had for example two trains and
operated on the railroad tracks Cornelius caused the same disaster for these trains as he did for
the steamboat captains h
e lowered the prices so much that they went bankrupt and he bought their
trains for next to nothing Vanderbilt's railroad Empire was on the rise even though he started his
railroad business after the age of 60 however he made most of his money through the railroad
Cornelius Vanderbilt lived until the age of 82 until 1877 when he passed away the New York
newspapers reported that he had a Fortune of a 100 million you might say that it's not much
considering that billionaires exist today but $
100 million at that time was equivalent to over
$200 billion today of course you cannot say he had as much money as Elon Musk 00 million at that time
was 1 nth of all the money in America so you can't even compare it to $200 billion interestingly
when Vanderbilt died he had more money than the US Treasury Vanderbilt had divided his wealth
before his death he had 13 children but the one he loved the most was William Henry Vanderbilt
that's why he Beed 90% of his wealth to William and 10% to
the other 12 children he even wrote
In His will that the other 12 children do not deserve this money and he will not help them he
will only bring their destruction despite being known as a ruthless businessman Vanderbilt
is recognized as one of The Men Who Built America on November 25th 1835 a boy named Andrew
was born in dun firm Line Scotland Andrew Carnegie is known as one of the Builders of America along
with men like Henry Ford or Cornelius Vanderbilt the Carnegie family was extremely
poor his father
worked in a textile Factory and barely earned enough to survive he made life very difficult for
him the Industrial Revolution began and instead of prospering it became even more difficult for
Andrew's father to earn an income things got to the point where in 1848 Andrew's father sold
his entire life he bought Trav travel tickets to America for his entire family and with only
20 in his pocket they boarded a ship and went to America when they arrived in America Andrew's
fathe
r realized that if they went to the city of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania they could find work and
provide shelter for themselves however Pittsburgh had its own problems he couldn't make enough money
to live comfortably Andrew continued to see his father struggling so he decided to drop out of
school and said I want to work too he was hired by a telegraph company to deliver telegraphs
on his bicycle Andrew was so intelligent that at the age of 17 he could read and memorize
Telegraph codes when a
Pittsburgh businessman named Thomas Scott saw how well this boy was
doing his job he said to him come work for me and I'll pay you a good salary he offered him
$35 a month whereas at the telegraph office he was only earning 20 now we come to the year one
tattan 61 the year the civil war broke out in America Andrew he was making progress in his work
when the US government s he had to servey Andrew Carnegie who was making progress in his work and
didn't want to leave it managed to arrange $85
0 for someone else to go in his place that amount
was equivalent to $28,000 today a considerable sum at the time during that time there were only
wooden bridges in America's valleys and the enemy would immediately set the on fire so that the
army forces couldn't Advance Andrew heard this news and sat down to think about what could be
done he realized that if he transformed those wooden bridge structues into iron the problem of
fire would be solved he immediately got to work and established
at a company called Keystone
Bridge Company he regularly procured iron and converted the bridges into iron ones the business
was going so well that he ended up buying an iron smelting Factory he produced The Iron needed
for the bridges himself Carnegie's iron smelting expanded rapidly reaching a point where he not
only produced iron for Bridges but also for other purposes such as Railways and construction a
few years before this date in 1856 a person named Henry besser invented a method for
steel
production steel had been invented before but its production was difficult and complex making
it very expensive however besser's invention made this process much easier in 1865 when the
American Civil War ended Carnegie decided to move his company's headquarters to New York because he
believed he could grow further there despite the fact that New York improved his business he always
wrote in his Memoirs that the people of New York were charlatans and couldn't be trusted Carnegie
use
d Henry besser's invention in his iron smelting and started producing steel which transformed
New York into what it is today these were the first skyscrapers in the world and were made
possible by the steel produced by Carnegie's company you should know that Henry besser had
made this invention years ago but the first person to give importance to this invention and
say it was feasible was Andrew Carnegie before him people said this invention was impossible
Carnegie he established the world'
s first steel factory Andrew's initiative was to hire the
best engineers and Architects to ensure the highest production in the shortest possible time
he also utilized this initiative in the automotive industry just like Henry for did however at that
time Henry Ford had not yet come into the world Andrew Carnegie was ruthless in his work saying
that they didn't have time to eidler the workers they're AF free they worked more than 10 hours a
day 364 days a year in the factory not everyone co
uld be fired however they had one day off per
year which was the 4th of July the day of American independence even Christmas and New Year's Day
were not holidays he even wrote In his Memoirs that he wished workers were like machines because
machines don't need to sleep for 8 hours a day Carnegie became extremely wealthy the newspapers
also praised him saying that he cared for his workers and helped the poor among other things
despite dropping out of school Andrew Carnegie had extensive know
ledge and knew everything
about steel his steel customers didn't have much education so Carnegie used new vocabulary
for example he would say that his steals had a special quality and used a specialized name that
the customers couldn't understand in a way he was selling his steals with a certain exclusivity and
it worked not only were the buildings and bridges made with Carnegie's steel Rising high but he
also became the biggest customer Andrew Carnegie produced Railways and most of the rai
lroad tracks
if you remember Cornelius Vanderbilt known as the most ruthless businessman in history you know
that he brought prices down and paralyzed his comp competitors buying their companies at a
lower price Carnegie had the same approach but his competitors were steel makers he produced such
high quality steel and brought the prices down that other companies couldn't compete and one by
one they sold their factories to Carnegie although he grew bigger every day he didn't care about his
employees and this lack of consideration towards the workers eventually led to strikes but it is
now 1892 and Carnegie is a billionaire he is one of the richest men in the world so he doesn't
pay attention to the strikes he doesn't value his employees at all he didn't even prioritize
safety meur in the factories resulting in 9% of the factory workers being kill it on the job
every year this was a terrifying figure even for that time and this happened while Andrew
Carnegie would give interv
iews with newspapers saying that the workers in his factories should
be better taken care of but he never took any action himself self that's why they called him
a hypocrite but nonetheless the workers in his factories had no choice but to continue working
it wasn't like if they didn't work for Carnegie they would find another job tomorrow jobs were
not readily available and Carnegie's work was so monopolistic that it didn't allow others to
grow and for these workers to go elsewhere time pa
sses and Andrew Carnegie reaches the age of
70 he had worked hard for 60 years and built a colossal Empire suddenly his decision changes
he says I want to be with my family now and if someone wants to buy my factories I am the seller
here is where this man suddenly turns green JP Morgan another figure known as the Builders of
America sends a letter to Andrew Carnegie and asks how much do you want for all the factories
Carnegie replies in a letter to a person named Charles Schwab saying take
this and give it to JP
Morgan when JP Morgan opens the letter he sees it written I want $480 million for my factories JP
Morgan doesn't hesitate at all and immediately tells Charles Schwab I want it carnegi receives
$480 million and hands over the factories it goes to JP Morgan and JP Morgan changes the name
of Carnegie's Factory and establishes US steel the world's first steel factory which is still
operating Carnegie was extremely ruthless towards his employees but nonetheless he is reme
mbered for
his philanthropy and is said to be an important figure who contributed to America's further
growth he didn't know that if he wanted his Empire to continue he had to keep his employees
satisfied which is why he was forced to sell and leave in 1837 in the state of Connecticut America
a boy is born named John penpont mongan or JP Morgan for short JP Morgan is the last of of the
American builders unlike other American builders who were all born into poor families JP Morgan is
born i
nto an extremely wealthy family his father Junius Spencer Morgan was a successful Banker in
London and was also very rich but he didn't give JP a scent there is a story that says he puts $1
million in cash in front of JP and JP thinks he wants to give it to him but his father tells him
JP this is $1 million learn how to earn it later he takes the 1 million and goes they put him
in the best school and provide him with the best resources but they don't give him money not
even a dollar in his
pocket they say if you want money you have to work if you work for me I'll
give you money for example sweep my office and I'll give you a dollar JP Morgan goes through a
tough childhood because most of the time he is also sick his lungs constantly get infected and
he always coughs it's the 19th century and there are no doctors and they can't find and treat JP's
lung infection he lives with this lung infection for years until he miraculously gets better when
he turns 19 despite being sick he
gets enrolled in the best schools in the world and attends them
eventually after years JP's Health improves and he goes to find a job when they realize that this
boy is Mr Morgan a famous Banker they immediately hire him on Wall Street but when it reaches his
father's ears he gets tougher on JP and says you used my name and got a job if you want to take
away my honor and my name I disown you be careful in 1859 when JP Morgan is only 22 years old he
takes a big risk with the company's money
and buys a Brazilian coffee ship and sells it the
same day to another company with a good profit although he had made a good profit he was scolded
both the company he worked for and his father told him that he had wasted a worthless risk and
that all his Capital could easily be wiped out JP Morgan says if they think that way then
I won't work anymore and he leaves if you asked him why he would say they are cowards and cannot
be successful businessmen although his father was very successful
in the company he worked for young
JP Morgan had great self-confidence and started his own business a few months later he meets a
girl named Amelia Sturgis and marries her but his wife dies 4 months later from tuberculosis JP
Morgan is deeply saddened and to forget he becomes completely engrossed in his work during this
period the American Civil War breaks out and as JP is only 24 years old they say he must serve it
was common at that time for those who had money to pay someone else to go
to the military in their
place JP finds a cheap substitute who agrees to go to war instead of him for $300 if you remember
Andrew Carnegie also sent someone in his place but he paid $850 you should know that JP Morgan like
Andrew Carnegie or Cornelius Vanderbilt became wealthy at that time too because of the American
Civil War for example one thing JP Morgan did that made him Rich was buying old and obsolete army
weapons for 350 each and then giving them to a company for refurbishment then
he would sell them
to the government for $22 making a good profit in the process he made a profit of 600% but he
realized that if he produced these weapons himself self the government would need ready to use
weapons and he could easily sell them in 1871 JP Morgan is now very wealthy but his father is still
not satisfied and says you still have a long way to go before you gain my experience this remark
made him strive harder to surpass his father that's why he approached a successful America
n
Banker named Anthony Drexel and said let's establish a large Private Bank together they built
a bank called Drexel Morgan and Co which still exists today although its name is Chase and it
is still called Jeet Morgan Chase from this year 1871 the JP Morgan Empire begins to rise and from
then on he is constantly moving up during this time most Industries in America are monopolies
for example oil is in the hands of Rockefeller steel is controlled by Carnegie and railroads and
shipping belon
g to Vanderbilt but Vanderbilt only accepts investors the others say no we have our
own money JP Morgan he pours a lot of capital into the Vanderbilt Railroad Company during this period
Vanderbilt has aged and become much larger than JP Morgan at that time all the Affairs were in the
hands of Vanderbilt's son William however William did not possess his father's talent and two years
after his father's death in 1879 his shortcomings LED JP Morgan to make the largest investment in
the American
railroad taking control of the entire American West in his own own hands if Cornelius
Vanderbilt were alive he would not have allowed JP Morgan to do this he would have done it himself
William made a move that would diminish Cornelius Vanderbilt's Monopoly and give onethird of the
power of the American railroad to JP Morgan at this time JP Morgan is 42 years old and recognized
as a prominent American entrepreneur however his father always said no you are not capable of
doing such a thing m
aybe may he was proud of his son deep down but he never showed it he
would talk to his son like this look at this picture of JP Morgan it has been edited because
he always said I have an ugly face and my jaw is very large retouch my jaw in the photo and then
publish it in the newspapers JP Morgan at that time he was considered one of the tall figures
you should know that in the 19th century people were shorter with an average height of 1.65 ceter
while JP Morgan's height was 188 met at a ti
me when there were no telephones telegraphs or Skype
wealthy individuals would always talk face to face and when two people discussed an important
matter their appearances had a significant impact JP Morgan with his 188 CM height had a
captivating and terrifying appearance a face with determination therefore in negotiations with
others this appearance and height made people more willing to accept his proposals and ideas this can
be seen in politicians as well especially in the past for exam
ple Otto von bismar his height and
his imposing figure were very influential in his power especially in the power of His words razas
sha palavi too anyone who spoke to him could not oppose him it should be noted that razas sha
was also very tall 193 CM at that time bismar was the the same height as Raza sha palavi 193
Cent Anders in summary we want to say that in the past physique height and appearance had
a significant impact on a person's persuasive power during this time when JP Morgan l
earned
that a person named Thomas Edison was doing something interesting he conducted some research
and quickly went to invest and develop his work when JP Morgan started his collaboration with
Edison the Edison electric company was nothing but but after this collaboration started it grew day
by day and it was with JP Morgan's Capital that Edison succeeded in electrifying the first city in
America namely Manhattan New York of course Tesla played an important role in this progress as well
b
ut they didn't give him anything since JP Morgan was the main investor in the Edison Company he
told Edison to change the company's name instead of Edison Electric let's call it General Electric
a colossal company that still exists we mentioned earlier that Andrew Carnegie at the age of 70 said
he wanted to be with his family if anyone buys my steel factories I will sell them immediately who
bought them instantly JP Morgan JP Morgan gave $480 million to carnegi and said go be with your
fami
ly interestingly years later JP Morgan said that if Carnegie had asked for $580 million
he would have bought it JP Morgan changed the name of Carnegie steel to us steel which still
exists today it is not only the world's first Steel company but also the first billion doll
company in the world we come to the year 1893 when a major recession occurs in America people
give away all their dollars and buy gold causing not only the devaluation of the US dollar but
also the collapse of stocks and t
he economy of the United States and the world here is where a
great opportunity arises and an opportunist wants to seize it JP Morgan was that opportunist he
realized that he could offer to the US government and prevent the bankruptcy of the US economy he
buys $650 million in Gold Bond loans from the US government which as you know was a staggering
amount in 1893 this move by JP Morgan saved the US economy but also multiplied his own power and
capital several times over many opposed this an
d said it was not right for a banker to save the
government and that a capitalist should not have such influence JP Morgan gained sign ific power
and people strongly opposed him saying what does it mean for a capitalist to have so much influence
it's like being the ruler of the country but JP Morgan was not alone he also had Rockefeller
on his side this was the time when the power of capitalists surpassed that of the government
for the first time JP Morgan was the last person to be recogniz
ed as one of America's Builders
completing the video of America's builders
Comments