Both steel and oil are important to industrial revolution. Two great men, Andrew Carnegie and Rockefeller, earned their wealth by dealing with the steel and oil.
Andrew Carnegie was born in a poor family in Scotland. He came to U.S. in 1848 when he is twelve. At his eighteenth, he became private secretary to the local superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Carnegie received his first dividend soon after his boss allowed him to buy stock. He left his job at the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1865 and began his steel business in 1873. As he dealing with steel company, his talent in business revealed. He tried to gain as much control of steel industry as he could. By 1899, the amount of steel that Carnegie’s company manufactured is greater than the total amount of steel manufactured by Great Britain. The explanations for Carnegie’s success are hard work, shrewd investment, and innovative business practice.
In the contrast, John D. Rockefeller gained his wealth in another way. Rockefeller gained his fortune by a trust which provided by other people . Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company only possessed 2-3 percent of the country’s crude oil in 1870. In order to drove his competitors out of this business, Rockefeller sold the oil in a price that even lower than the production cost. As soon as he controlled the market, he hiked the price far more than original and gained huge profit. No more than ten years, Rockefeller gained the total control of the oil industry in America.
Both Carnegie and Rockefeller spent part of their property in philanthropy. Rockefeller Foundation, established by Rockefeller for over $500 million, provided funds to found the University of Chicago and created a medical institute. Carnegie donated about 90 percent of his whole wealth to support the arts and learning.
