John D. Rockefeller — Standard Oil, Monopoly, Philanthropy

**John D. Rockefeller** was the richest American who ever lived — and the most methodical. Born in 1839 in Richford, New York, to a con man father (William "Devil Bill" Rockefeller literally sold snake oil) and a devout Baptist mother, young John absorbed two competing lessons: the world is full of people trying to cheat you, and God rewards discipline, thrift, and hard work. He kept meticulous financial records from the age of 16 (a ledger he called "Ledger A," which he treasured his entire life), tithed 10% of his income from his first job, and brought to the oil business a combination of religious discipline and competitive ruthlessness that the industry had never seen.