Not Musk, Buffett, Ambani Or Bezos, This Man Was World's First Ever To Become A Billionaire

Do you know who was the world¡¯s first billionaire? No, it's neither Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos nor Warren Buffett.

Several decades before these people turned super-rich and billionaires, an American businessman is believed to have already earned the tag of the world¡¯s first billionaire.

In the year 1916, American business magnate John Davison Rockefeller reportedly achieved the ¡®billionaire¡¯ status for his ownership of oil company Standard Oil, which operated from 1870 to 1911. At its peak, Standard Oil was said to be the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success is what is believed to have made its co-founder and chairman, John D. Rockefeller, the wealthiest American of all time.

John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839, and died on May 23, 1937.

The Journey

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As per a report in Mirror review, billionaire Rockefeller had always been unafraid of hard work. He started his journey at the age of 16, landing his first job as an assistant bookkeeper with Hewitt & Tuttle, commission merchants, and produce shippers.

And then the journey to propel and fame started in 1870 when Rockefeller founded Standard Oil Company, which eventually became a domineering monopoly in the oil industry.

Soon, John D.Rockefeller¡¯s leadership in Standard Oil brought him both wealth as well as controversy. In 1911, the Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil must be dismantled because it violated federal antitrust laws. The court-ordered disintegration of Standard Oil.

In the year 1913, Rockefeller¡¯s personal wealth, which stood at $900 million, was more than 2% of the US GDP of $39.1 billion that year.

And in 1916, Rockefeller was announced as the country¡¯s official first billionaire, with a fortune worth nearly 2% of the national economy. By 1937 the Rockefeller fortune was 1.4 billion or 1.5% of GDP of 92 billion!

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Quotes & Facts About World's First Billionaire

The billionaire also used his fortune to fund philanthropic causes and went on to pen the following words, to sum up his life:

¡°I was early taught to work as well as play, My life has been one long, happy holiday;

Full of work and full of play¡ª I dropped the worry on the way¡ª and God was good to me every day.¡±

As per the Mirror Review report, some other interesting facts about the world¡¯s first billionaire, include:

1.Every year, Rockefeller celebrated the anniversary of landing his first job.

2.He hired substitute soldiers to avoid Civil War combat.

3.Rockefeller was named as one of the people who built America.

4.Winston Churchill would have written Rockefeller¡¯s biography¡ªif his price hadn¡¯t been so high.

5.Rockefeller donated more than $500 million to various philanthropic causes.

6.The Rockefeller Foundation was the largest grant-making foundation in the world and its founder was deemed the most generous philanthropist in U.S. history.

7.Rockefeller (who died at the age of 97) lived so long that his life insurance company had to pay him $5 million.

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