The Rockefellers feared the temptations of wealth, yet a visitor once described their estate as the kind of place God would build if only he had the money. They amassed a fortune that outraged a democratic nation, then gave it all away, reshaping America. They were the closest thing to a royal family the country had, but the Rockefellers avoided public attention. For decades, the Rockefeller name was despised in America, associated with John D. Rockefeller Sr.'s feared monopoly, Standard Oil. By the end of his life, Rockefeller had given away half his fortune. But not even his extensive philanthropic activity could erase the memory of his predatory business practices. Who was Rockefeller? Was he a ruthless businessman who only wanted to diminish the American dream of small business owners who believed in hard work and determination, or was he someone who had a vision to make America more efficient and consolidated? The world's first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller Sr. owned 90% of the world's oil refineries, 90% of oil marketing, and a third of all oil wells. Working methodically and secretly, he did more than transform a single industry. When he founded his feared monopoly, Standard Oil, in 1870, he forever changed the way America did business. Because of the ruthless war he waged to crush his competitors, Rockefeller was to many Americans the embodiment of an unjust and cruel economic system. Yet he lived a quiet and virtuous life. “I believe that the power to make money is a gift from God,” Rockefeller once said. He believed that the gift had given him a particular aptitude for acquiring money. “It is my duty to make money, and more money, and to use the money I earn for the good of my fellow men” (Chernow 315). He had the strength of this vision that this was where his destiny lay, and this was where the destiny of this country was, that the country would, in a sense, ride to greatness on this wave of oil . And he constantly felt that he would inevitably triumph in some fundamental way. Oil was used to grease the wheels of America's nascent industries, to fuel the expansion of growth. Rockefeller complained that so many wells were flowing that the price of oil kept falling, yet everyone kept drilling. He saw an industry plagued by overproduction and its very success was threatened by... middle of the paper... long live you, your children and your children's children" (Raymond 198)! Already challenged by demands to make money, Rockefeller now reeled under the new pressure to donate it. “I have investigated and worked to the point of nervous exhaustion,” he said, “in trying to make my way in the ever-expanding field of philanthropic endeavor” (Raymond 199).John D. Rockefeller created an industrial empire and a personal fortune on a scale the world had never known. In the process he ruthlessly crushed his competitors, alienating the public and leaving a stain on the standard family name for philanthropy, but his reputation. was so tainted that he never received the credit he deserved for this great act on behalf of humanity. "We realized that the real problem was the integration of power and goodness," says Steven Rockefeller, grandson of John D. Rockefeller Junior. “And that if the family were to continue to work together, philanthropic commitments and values ​​would be at the center” (Harr 67). In a society that has more millionaires, even billionaires, than ever before, the Rockefeller story is both a cautionary tale and an exemplary tale..