Why didn't the Asmats eat Rockefeller? The mysterious case of the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller. Who ate Rockefeller's son Oil prices

10 secrets from the life of the richest dynasty.

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There is a lot of gossip and legends about millionaires - people want to know how they managed to maintain their vast empire, while other companies emerged, went bankrupt or merged with others.

Among famous families, the Rockefellers occupy a special place; the surname has become associated with wealth. However, few people know what lay at the heart of the financial empire. Secrets of one of the world's richest dynasties that you didn't know.

Horse thief

The father of the first billionaire in history, William Rockefeller (then his last name sounded like “Rockenfeller”), was born in 1810. Officially, he was engaged in the sale of medicines. However, he was not an ordinary pharmacist, did not have special education and traded in drugs, collaborating with various kinds of healers.

William traveled throughout the northeastern United States selling suspicious medicinal potions. In 1849, when John Rockefeller, William's son, was 10 years old, the family urgently had to change their place of residence, and the move resembled flight. The reason, as the documents show, was very significant - William Rockefeller was accused of horse theft.

Married to a cheater

The mother of the richest man in the world was Eliza Davison. When she first saw William, who, while participating in another fraud, was posing as a deaf-mute, she exclaimed: “I would marry this man if he were not deaf-mute!”

William quickly realized that this was a profitable match - his father gave Eliza a dowry of 500 dollars. They soon got married, and two years later John was born

Rockefeller Sr.

Eliza did not part with her husband, having found out that he not only heard everything perfectly, but on occasion he used foul language no worse than a drunken lumberjack. She did not leave her husband even when he brought his mistress Nancy Brown into the house, and she - in turn with Eliza - began to bear children for William.

My husband left at night to work. He disappeared in the darkness, without explaining where he was going or why, and returned a few months later at dawn - Eliza woke up from the sound of a pebble hitting the window glass. She ran out of the house, threw back the bolt, opened the gate, and her husband rode into the yard - on a new horse, in a new suit, and sometimes with diamonds on his fingers.

The handsome man made good money: he took prizes at shooting competitions, and smartly traded glass under the sign “The best emeralds in the world from Golconda!” He also successfully posed as a famous herbal doctor, selling various additives, which today are called dietary supplements.

He went door to door in different parts of America and sold “miracle” remedies to housewives. Neighbors called him Bill the Devil: some considered William a professional gambler, others considered him a bandit.

After several years of wandering life, the Rockefeller family finally settled in Cleveland, but not because Big Bill - as William Rockefeller was nicknamed among horse dealers - had settled down.

Just one fine day in 1855, he left for an unknown destination, marrying a certain Margaret, a 25-year-old girl who knew him as Doctor William Livingston. Moreover, he never divorced Eliza, which means, in fact, he was a bigamist.

Little businessman

“From a young age, my mother and priest instilled in me the importance of working and saving,” recalled John Rockefeller. Doing “business” was part of family education. Also in early childhood John would buy a pound of candy, divide it into small piles, and sell it at a markup to his own sisters.

At the age of seven, he sold the turkeys he raised to his neighbors, and lent the $50 he earned to his neighbor at 7% per annum. John subsequently appreciated these lessons. And from communicating with his father, he gained the firm conviction that alcohol and tobacco are a vice, and this is very bad. And looking at how his mother suffered from her husband’s frequent infidelities, he decided even in childhood that he would never do this.

“He was a very quiet boy,” one of the townspeople recalled many years later, “he was always thinking.” From the outside, John looked distracted: it seemed as if the child was constantly struggling with some insoluble problem.

The impression was deceptive - the boy was distinguished by a tenacious memory, acumen and unshakable calm: while playing checkers, he tormented his partners, thinking about each move for half an hour.

At the same time, he was a sensitive boy: when his sister died, John ran into the backyard, threw himself on the ground and lay there all day. And having matured, Rockefeller did not become such a monster as he was sometimes portrayed: he once asked about a classmate whom he once liked and, having learned that she was widowed and in poverty, the owner of Standard Oil immediately granted her a pension.

Working for an uncle

John Rockefeller never finished school. At 16, with a three-month accounting course under his belt, he began looking for work in Cleveland, where his family then lived. Six weeks later he got a job as an assistant accountant at the trading company Hewitt and Tuttle.

At first he was paid $17 a month, and then $25. When receiving them, John felt a sense of guilt, finding the reward excessively inflated. In order not to waste a single cent, the thrifty Rockefeller bought a small ledger from his first salary, where he recorded all his expenses, and carefully kept it all his life.

As for work, this was his only paid job. At the age of 18, John Rockefeller became a junior partner of businessman Maurice Clark. Helped get the new company off the ground Civil War 1861–1865. The warring armies paid generously for provisions, and their partners supplied them with flour, pork and salt.

Towards the end of the war, oil deposits were discovered in Pennsylvania, near Cleveland, and the city found itself at the center of an oil rush. By 1864, Clark and Rockefeller were already deep into Pennsylvania oil.

A year later, Rockefeller decided to focus only on oil, but Clark was against it. Then, for $72,500, John bought out his partner’s share and plunged headlong into the oil business.

Oil at any cost

In 1870, Rockefeller created his famous Standard Oil. Together with his friend and business partner Henry Flagler, he began to gather disparate oil production and oil refining enterprises into a single powerful trust. Competitors could not resist him,

Rockefeller gave them a choice: unification or ruin. If beliefs did not work, the harshest methods were used. For example, Standard Oil reduced prices on a competitor’s local market, forcing it to operate at a loss. Or Rockefeller sought to cut off oil supplies to recalcitrant refiners.

By 1879 the war was effectively over. Rockefeller's company controlled 90% of US oil refining capacity. But in 1890, the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed to combat monopolies.

Until 1911, Rockefeller and his partner managed to circumvent this law, but then Standard Oil was divided into thirty-four companies (virtually all of today's major American oil companies trace their history back to Standard Oil).

Home Economics

Rockefeller was married to Laura Celestina Spelman. He once remarked: “Without her advice, I would have remained poor.” Biographers write that Rockefeller did his best to teach his children to work, modesty and unpretentiousness. John created a unique layout for the house market economy: He appointed daughter Laura as "director" and ordered the children to keep detailed accounting books.

Each child received a few cents for killing a fly, for sharpening a pencil, for an hour of music lessons, for a day of abstaining from candy. Each of the children had their own garden bed, where the work of removing weeds also had its price. Little Rockefellers were fined for being late for breakfast.

Owner of 2.5% of US GDP

In 1917, John Rockefeller's personal fortune was estimated at $900–1,200 million, which was 2.5% of the then United States GDP. In modern terms, Rockefeller owned approximately $150 billion - he is still the richest of people.

By the end of his life, Rockefeller, in addition to shares in each of the 34 Standard Oil subsidiaries, owned 16 railroad and six steel companies, nine banks, six shipping companies, nine real estate firms and three orange groves.

Rockefeller's donations to charity during his life exceeded $500 million. Of this, about $80 million went to the University of Chicago, and at least $100 million went to the Baptist Church, of which he and his wife were parishioners.

John Rockefeller also created and financed the New York Institute for Medical Research, the Council for Universal Education and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Military dynasty

The new head of the dynasty, John D. Rockefeller II (Jr.), turned out to be a worthy son of his father. First World War brought the Rockefeller family $500 million in net profit.

The Second World War turned out to be an even more profitable enterprise - tank and aircraft engines required gasoline, and it was produced at Rockefeller factories around the clock.

The result was $2 billion in net profits earned during the war years. Rockefeller Jr. married the daughter of one of the most influential political figures in America at the beginning of the twentieth century, Senator Nelson Aldrich, who for a long period enjoyed almost the same influence in Washington as the presidents of the country.

Strange collection

John Rockefeller Jr. left luxurious palaces and villas to his five sons and daughter. In winter, the young Rockefellers lived in New York in a nine-story family mansion.

They had their own clinic, special colleges, swimming pools, tennis courts, concert and exhibition halls. Rockefeller's 3,000-acre estate includes riding arenas, a velodrome, a home theater worth half a million dollars, ponds for sailing yachts, and more.

The equipment for the games room alone cost the child-loving oil king $520,000. When the youngest of the brothers (David) grew up, each received at their disposal city mansions, summer villas and other real estate necessary for social life.

As for David leading today financial business family, then, according to the American press, his only hobby is collecting beetles. There are 40 thousand of them in the collection; David Rockefeller, newspapers report, always carries a bottle with him for captured insects.

No longer the richest

Rockefeller Financial Services currently has $34 billion in assets under management. Among them is the Vallares oil and gas group, shares in Johnson & Johnson, Dell, Procter & Gamble and Oracle. The majority of the company's shares are owned by the Rockefeller family.

But David Rockefeller’s personal fortune is estimated (according to Forbes) at only $2.5 billion. At the same time, the personal fortune of Russian businessman Roman Abramovich is estimated by Forbes at $10.2 billion.

The Russian is now actively investing in foreign companies. One of the latest major purchases was a 23.3% stake in the British telecommunications group Truphone, costing £75 million.

Experts estimate that Abramovich's art collection is worth at least a billion dollars. In January 2013, he bought a collection of 40 works by Ilya Kabakov, the approximate cost of which is $60 million.

A few years ago, Abramovich became the buyer of a 70-acre estate on the island of St. Barths in the Caribbean. The land on which the estate is located once belonged to David Rockefeller.

The cost of Abramovich's new acquisition is $89 million. The estate includes several bungalows with ocean views, tennis courts, swimming pools and dance pavilions.

Even in the 20th century, New Guinea still remained a kind of reserve for cannibals. The famous Danish writer and traveler Arne Falk-Renne obtained real information about the life and customs of the tribes of this huge island in the 50-60s, at the risk of his life. His wonderful book “Journey to the Stone Age. Among the Tribes of New Guinea" is still a kind of encyclopedia illustrating the life of the Papuans.

In his book, Falk-Rönne summarized all the facts regarding the death of Michael Rockefeller. Before moving on to this tragic story, let's remember a little about the adventures of the Danish traveler himself. This will help us to more realistically imagine the danger to which the young American, the heir to a huge fortune, exposed his life, the details of whose death are still unknown.

Once Arne Falk-Rönne went on a campaign with the warriors of one of the local tribes and witnessed a terrible scene that was etched in his memory for the rest of his life. While climbing a slippery path to the ridge of a mountain, one elderly man became ill, he fell and was breathing heavily, unable to get up. Arne was about to help him, but the warrior Siu-Kun, known for his bravery, beat him to it. He ran up to the old man, swung a stone ax and pierced his skull...

The European experienced an even greater shock when he learned that Siu-Kun had killed his father... The translator explained this terrible act to him this way: “The son must help his father die. A real man is destined to die a violent death, preferably in battle. If the spirits are so displeased, the son must come to his aid and kill him. It's an act of love."

The manifestation of filial love did not end with the murder of the old man; it turned out that Siu-Kun still had to eat his father's brain... The desire to get a sensational photo of a warrior devouring his father's brain forced Arne to overcome disgust and take up the camera, but he was stopped in time by his translator: no one should not see how the son helps his father go into the kingdom of the dead and eats the brain of the deceased.

About ten minutes later, Siu-Kun returned, and the detachment continued on its way.

In response to a bewildered question from a Danish traveler about the need to bury a dead person, the translator spoke about a local custom: “If someone dies on a hike, his body is left in the grass or jungle - provided that there is no housing nearby. There is only one fear here: lest the corpse fall into the wrong hands while the meat is still edible. If the places are uninhabited, there is no need to be afraid of this.”

Photo by Michael Clarke Rockefeller

Failed wedding or kissing a mummy

Arne Falk-Rönne’s stay in the tribe ended in a rather tragicomic way: its leader decided to marry the Danish traveler to his daughter... The traveler’s shock and horror from this proposal are clearly felt in the questions addressed to the reader of his book: “Could you fall in love with a girl who , following the laws of the tribe, does not wash his face in order to smell like a woman as strongly as possible? A girl who smears herself daily with rancid lard, and on special occasions with the fat of deceased relatives; a girl rubbing her thighs and butt with urine, which is kept in a special room, the so-called monthly hut, where women go during their menstrual periods?”

The whole horror of this offer lay in the fact that it was almost impossible to refuse it: Arne could simply be killed... Grinding his teeth and shuddering with disgust, the Dane took part in a kind of “engagement”: he had to crawl into the “month-old” hut and kiss him on the navel the mummy of a woman who distinguished herself by being the most fertile in the tribe...

How did this whole story end? When the wedding was already inevitable, Arne gave the leader and four of his associates cocoa and sleeping pills. Under the cover of darkness, the Dane and his entourage fled from the village. By the end of the next day, the pursuit nevertheless overtook the fugitives; under a hail of arrows, they managed to cross the hanging bridge over the river; Having cut the vines, they collapsed the bridge into the river and thus escaped the terrible revenge of the angry Papuans.

One of the exhibits collected by Rockefeller

Don't say your name!

I think that after these creepy stories it is quite clear to you how unsafe was the expedition undertaken in the fall of 1961 by Michael Clark Rockefeller, the son of Nelson Rockefeller, the state governor NY. What did the young American lose in the wilds of New Guinea?

Michael Rockefeller was the brightest representative, one might even say, one of the symbols of the 20th century. The son of a famous billionaire, Michael realized his ambitions in distant and dangerous journeys. At the same time, he did not just observe and explore. He invaded the wild, pristine places of the planet like a conqueror, like a “white beast.”

In 1961, Michael devoted himself to expeditions to New Guinea, carrying out a seemingly noble mission to study tribes living in a primitive culture. These expeditions were ordered by the Harvard Peabody Museum and the New York Museum of Prehistoric Art.

The main task was to collect unique Asmatian wood products, namely bis, that is, carved totems that served to attract the souls of the dead. However, Michael was more interested in kushi - human skulls decorated with magical symbols.

The fact is that among the local aborigines there was a terrible thousand-year-old tradition of head hunting. Even in order to gain the right to marry, each young man was obliged to provide his fellow tribesmen with the head of a killed enemy. The presence of kusha was considered an indispensable honor for every male household.

At the end of the 50s of the twentieth century, this tradition was so vigorously implemented by the Asmats that the birth rate among them increased significantly. The baby boom had a simple explanation: young men successfully confirmed their right to marry. The Dutch police, who kept order in New Guinea, were forced to send special raids to the most militant villages, using machine guns for greater persuasion.

Michael Rockefeller, a pampered child of Western civilization, was delighted with the described tradition. So at the very beginning of 1961, he went to the primitive tribes of the Baliem Valley, where he organized a blatant bargaining. He announced a reward of 10 steel axes for a fresh human head.

The Asmats were inspired. The proposed price was the ultimate dream for them. Let’s just say that the payment to the bride’s family was equal to one axe, and in everyday life stone axes were used, and one had to be a wealthy hunter in order to purchase even a blank stone.

Little of! Michael began to provoke the Asmat to head hunt not only with market incentives. He began to openly incite hunters to clash with neighboring tribes. He handed over an ax in exchange for some valuable piece of wood and hinted that the new weapon should pass the test and partake of fresh blood. Why did he need this? He filmed the deadly encounters. Michael can be considered one of the first true priests of the modern deity - television.

A parliamentary commission arrived from The Hague to the site of the “research”. It was she who reasoned with Rockefeller Jr., forbidding him to stay in New Guinea. During the investigation, the parliamentarians found out that thanks to Michael’s efforts, seven people died in the Kurulu district, and more than ten were seriously injured.

The proud twenty-three-year-old American did not calm down. Soon, in November of the same 1961, he organized his own expedition, which caused concern among the Dutch authorities and the impatience of the natives, who were waiting for him not only to purchase axes.

Thin, fair-haired, wearing inexpensive glasses, Michael did not at all look like the son of a millionaire. He was considered a fairly experienced traveler; in the spring of 1961, he had already participated in an ethnographic expedition of the Harvard Peabody Museum to New Guinea, and the local color was quite familiar to him.

Michael made another mistake - he told the Asmat his name, and among the wild tribes of New Guinea at that time this was almost tantamount to a suicide attempt... A head is valued twice as much if the name of the person killed is known. The Papuans might have formed the opinion that the village that manages to get into its men's house, a kind of repository of the relics of the tribe, the head of such a powerful white, whose name they know, will gain unprecedented strength and defeat all its enemies.

The catamaran takes you out to sea

On November 18, 1961, a small expedition of Michael Rockefeller, in which his Dutch colleague Rene Wassing and two guides, Leo and Simon, also participated, set off on a catamaran along the coast to the village of Ats. The catamaran was very antediluvian. It consisted of two pirogues, fastened together at a distance of two meters. On the flooring between the pirogues there was a bamboo hut, in which people took shelter from the rain and wind, and here were film equipment, supplies, and goods for exchange with the Papuans. The catamaran was driven by an 18 horsepower outboard motor.

The sea was rough, but the engine handled it, and the travelers managed to keep the catamaran in the right direction. However, soon the ebb from the mouth of the Eilanden River began to overtake the wave, the weak engine could no longer cope, and the catamaran began to be carried further and further into the open sea. The rocking became more and more intense, and the pontoon pirogues began to fill with water. Unexpectedly a big wave completely overwhelmed the catamaran, the engine stalled, and the boat began to sink.

Dangerous attempt

It was about 2.5 km to the shore, but neither Michael nor Rene wanted to leave the catamaran, where the equipment and supplies were stored. They sent Leo and Simon for help. The guides each took an empty canister as a life belt and jumped into the water. There was no certainty that the daredevils would reach the shore; everyone was well aware of this. There were many sharks in the coastal waters, and very large crocodiles were found at the mouth of the river. In addition, everyone knew that along the shore stretched a wide strip of swamp silt, too thick to overcome by swimming, and too liquid to support the weight of a person. It should be taken into account that even after overcoming all the obstacles, Leo and Simon could stumble upon the Asmats, and this threatened them with death.

There were long hours of waiting. In the evening, a huge wave rolled onto the catamaran. He couldn’t stand it: the catamaran capsized, the deck fell apart, and all the provisions and equipment were washed overboard. There was only one pirogue left, and Michael and Rene were holding on to it. IN cold water They spent the whole night, in the morning Michael decided to swim to the shore, considering this the only chance of salvation. In his opinion, Simon and Leo either did not swim or were captured by some tribe.

Rene categorically objected to Michael's plan, he called it reckless: the current off the coast is so powerful that even a strong swimmer will be carried back to the sea until he is exhausted. Michael was an excellent crawl swimmer, he believed in his own abilities, so, grabbing an empty red barrel from an outboard motor, he headed to the distant shore. Last words Michael, which Rene heard: “I think I can do this.”

Disappearance of Michael Rockefeller

Eight hours later, when Rene had given up hope, he was discovered by a Dutch Navy seaplane sent to search for the missing. He threw him a rescue rubber boat, Rene barely covered the 25 meters that separated him from it, but it turned out that it was turned upside down. Rene spent another terrible night at sea; in the morning the plane appeared again, but did not find it. When the Dutchman was already saying goodbye to life, the plane appeared again, this time he shook his wings, which gave new hope for salvation. Three hours later, the exhausted Wassing was picked up by the Dutch schooner Tasman.

“Have you found Michael?” Rene immediately asked.

However, Michael Rockefeller disappeared, although the most thorough searches were organized. Less than a day had passed since his disappearance when Nelson Rockefeller and his daughter Mary set off for New Guinea on a jet plane. On a small plane, he flew as close as possible to the area where his son disappeared, where, together with the Dutch governor Platteel, he led a search expedition to the Asmat country.

A lot of people were raised to search for the missing person. Michael's father, New York State Governor Nelson Rockefeller, flew in from New York, and with him were thirty, two American correspondents, and the same number from other countries. About two hundred Asmats voluntarily and on their own initiative searched the coast.

The search for young Rockefeller involved patrol boats, missionary motor boats, crocodile hunters' pies and even Australian helicopters. A reward was announced for information about the fate of Michael. But all these efforts were in vain and did not produce any results. A week later, the search was stopped without finding any traces of the missing man. Eight days later, Rockefeller lost hope of saving his son and returned to New York with his daughter.

What happened to Michael? Did he become prey for sharks or crocodiles, or did he drown because he couldn’t cope with the current? Or did he finally reach the shore, was killed and eaten by the Asmat? Rene Wassing was convinced that Michael had not reached the shore. But this conviction of Rene was contradicted by the fact that Leo and Simon were still able to reach the shore and escape, and they also informed the missionaries about what had happened.

Most likely, Michael still managed to get to the shore; it is believed that he got ashore much south of the mouth of the Eylander River. In 1965, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraf published information gleaned from a letter from the Dutch missionary Jan Smith. His mission was closest to the Asmat village of Oschanep. Smith wrote to his brother that he saw Rockefeller’s clothes in the Papuan village and allegedly even showed him the bones of an American. Unfortunately, by that time Smith was no longer alive, so it was impossible to verify this information.

Another missionary, Willem Heckman, claimed that Rockefeller was killed by soldiers from Oschanep as soon as he reached the shore. The missionary said that the villagers told him about what had happened, as well as that Michael's skull was in the men's house of the village. In 1964, refugees from Asmat territory reached the administrative center of Daru, in Papua, Australia. About 35 of them claimed that Michael Rockefeller was killed by Oschanep's warriors, "boiled and eaten with sago."

It should also be taken into account that three years before the tragedy with Rockefeller, a punitive detachment was sent to Oschanep in order to stop inter-tribal clashes: bullets killed many warriors, including three close relatives of the leader Ayam. The leader swore revenge on the whites, perhaps he took advantage of the opportunity and kept his oath.

Unfortunately, three tribal leaders who could have solved the mystery of Michael's disappearance died during a tribal war in 1967. Amazingly, during the search expedition of 1961, a number of unforgivable mistakes were made, which were pointed out by A. Falk-Renne. For example, the search expedition never reached Oschanep, and the report of police inspector E. Heemskerks, which cited the words of the Papuans that Michael was killed and eaten by soldiers from Oschanep, was for some reason put aside. Maybe Michael’s father, convinced that his son was probably dead, decided not to get to the bottom of the nightmarish details of his death and consoled himself with the thought that his heir died among the waves?

Perhaps Michael's skull, turned into kushi, is still kept in some secluded place. Will he ever find peace in the homeland of his ancestors? Unknown...

And here is some more information:

With the passage of time, the name of the deceased ethnographer disappeared from the pages of newspapers and magazines. His diaries formed the basis of the book, and the collections he collected adorned the New York Museum of Prehistoric Art. These things were of purely scientific interest, and the general public began to forget mysterious story, which happened in the swampy land of the Asmats.

But in a world where a sensation, no matter how ridiculous, means a sure opportunity to make big money, the story of the billionaire’s son was not destined to end there...

At the end of 1969, an article by a certain Garth Alexander appeared in the Australian newspaper Reveille with a categorical and intriguing headline: “I tracked down the cannibals who killed Rockefeller.”

“...It is widely believed that Michael Rockefeller drowned or became a victim of a crocodile near south coast New Guinea, when he tried to swim to shore.

However, in March of this year, a Protestant missionary informed me that the Papuans living near his mission killed and ate a white man seven years ago. They still have his glasses and watch. Their village is called Oschanep.

...Without much hesitation, I went to the indicated place to find out the circumstances there. I managed to find a guide, a Papuan named Gabriel, and up the river flowing through the swamps, we sailed for three days before reaching the village. Two hundred painted warriors met us in Oschanepa. The drums thundered all night. In the morning, Gabriel told me that he could bring a man who, for a couple of packs of tobacco, was ready to tell me how it all happened.

...The story turned out to be extremely primitive and, I would even say, ordinary.

A white man, naked and alone, staggered out of the sea. He was probably sick, because he lay down on the shore and still couldn’t get up. People from Oscanep saw him. There were three of them and they thought it was sea monster. And they killed him.

I asked about the names of the killers. The Papuan remained silent. I insisted. Then he reluctantly muttered:

One of the people was Chief Ove.

Where is he now?

What about others?

But the Papuan remained stubbornly silent.

Did the dead man have mugs in front of his eyes? - I meant glasses.

The Papuan nodded.

Is there a watch on your hand?

Yes. He was young and slender. He had fiery hair.

So, eight years later, I managed to find the man who saw (and perhaps killed) Michael Rockefeller. Without allowing the Papuan to come to his senses, I quickly asked:

So who were those two people?

A noise was heard from behind. Silent painted people crowded behind me. Many clutched spears in their hands. They listened carefully to our conversation. They may not have understood everything, but the name Rockefeller was certainly familiar to them. It was useless to inquire further - my interlocutor looked frightened.

I'm sure he was telling the truth.

Why did they kill Rockefeller? They probably mistook him for a sea spirit. After all, Papuans are sure that evil spirits have white skin. Or it is possible that a lonely and weak person seemed like a tasty prey to them.

In any case, it is clear that two of the killers are still alive; That’s why my informant got scared. He had already told me too much and was now ready to confirm only what I already knew - the people from Oschanep killed Rockefeller when they saw him crawling out of the sea.

When, exhausted, he lay down on the sand, three men, led by Ove, raised spears that ended the life of Michael Rockefeller..."

Garth Alexander's story might seem true if...

...if almost simultaneously with the Reveille newspaper, a similar story had not been published by the Oceania magazine, also published in Australia. Only this time, Michael Rockefeller's glasses were "discovered" in the village of Atch, twenty-five miles from Oschanep.

In addition, both stories contained picturesque details that made experts on the life and customs of New Guinea wary.

First of all, the explanation of the motives for the murder did not seem very convincing. If people from Oschanep (according to another version - from Atcha) had really mistook the ethnographer crawling out of the sea for an evil spirit, then they would not have raised their hand against him. Most likely, they would simply run away, because among the countless ways to fight evil spirits, there is no face-to-face battle with them.

The “spirit” version most likely disappeared. Moreover, people from the Asmatian villages knew Rockefeller well enough to mistake him for someone else. And since they knew him, they would hardly have attacked him. Papuans, according to people who know them well, are unusually loyal in friendship.

When, after some time, traces of the missing ethnographer began to be “found” in almost all coastal villages, it became clear that this was a matter of pure fiction. Indeed, the audit showed that in two cases the story of Rockefeller’s disappearance was told to the Papuans by missionaries, and in the rest, the Asmatians, gifted with a couple of packs of tobacco, as a return courtesy, told the correspondents what they wanted to hear.

No real traces of Rockefeller could be found this time either, and the mystery of his disappearance remained the same mystery.

Perhaps it would not be worth remembering more about this story, if not for one circumstance - the glory of cannibals, which, thanks to the light hand of gullible (and sometimes unscrupulous) travelers, was firmly entrenched in the Papuans. It was she who ultimately made any guesses and assumptions plausible.

Among the geographical records of deep antiquity, man-eaters - anthropophagi - occupied a strong place next to people with dog heads, one-eyed cyclops and dwarfs living underground. It should be recognized that, unlike the dog heads and cyclops, cannibals actually existed. Moreover, during her time, cannibalism was found everywhere on Earth, not excluding Europe. (By the way, what else, if not a relic of deep antiquity, can explain the sacrament in christian church, when believers “eat the body of Christ”?) But even in those times it was an exceptional phenomenon rather than an everyday occurrence. It is human nature to distinguish himself and others like him from the rest of nature.

In Melanesia - and New Guinea is part of it (albeit very different from the rest of Melanesia) - cannibalism was associated with intertribal hostility and frequent wars. Moreover, it must be said that it took on wide dimensions only in the 19th century, not without the influence of Europeans and the imported firearms. This sounds paradoxical. Were it not the European missionaries who labored to wean the “savage” and “ignorant” natives from their bad habits, sparing neither their own nor the natives’ efforts? Didn’t every colonial power swear (and still swear to this day) that all its activities were aimed only at bringing the light of civilization to godforsaken places?

But in reality, it was the Europeans who began to supply the leaders of the Melanesian tribes with guns and incite their internecine wars. But it was New Guinea that did not know such wars, just as it did not know hereditary leaders who were identified as a special caste (and on many islands cannibalism was the exclusive privilege of the leaders). Of course, the Papuan tribes were at enmity (and are still at enmity in many areas of the island) among themselves, but war between tribes occurs no more than once a year and lasts until one warrior is killed. (If the Papuans were civilized people, would they be satisfied with one warrior? Isn’t this convincing proof of their savagery?!)

But among negative qualities which the Papuans attribute to their enemies, cannibalism always comes first. It turns out that they, the neighbors-enemies, are dirty, wild, ignorant, deceitful, treacherous and cannibals. This is the most serious charge. There is no doubt that the neighbors, in turn, are no less generous with unflattering epithets. And of course, they confirm, our enemies are undoubted cannibals. In general, for most tribes, cannibalism is no less disgusting than for you and me. (True, ethnographers know of some mountain tribes in the interior of the island who do not share this aversion. But - and all trustworthy researchers agree on this - they never hunt people.) Since much information about unexplored areas was obtained precisely through questioning local population, then “tribes of white-skinned Papuans”, “New Guinea Amazons” and numerous notes appeared on the maps: “the area is inhabited by cannibals”.

...In 1945, many soldiers of the defeated Japanese army in New Guinea fled to the mountains. For a long time, no one remembered them - there was no time for that, sometimes expeditions that got into the interior of the island came across these Japanese. If it was possible to convince them that the war was over and they had nothing to fear, they returned home, where their stories ended up in newspapers. In 1960, a special expedition to New Guinea set off from Tokyo. We managed to find about thirty former soldiers. They all lived among the Papuans, many were even married, and the corporal of the medical service, Kenzo Nobusuke, even held the post of shaman of the Kuku-Kuku tribe. According to the unanimous opinion of these people, who have gone through “fire, water and copper pipes”, the traveler in New Guinea (provided that he does not attack first) does not face any danger from the Papuans. (The value of the Japanese’s testimony also lies in the fact that they visited the most different parts giant island, including in Asmat.)

...In 1968, the boat of an Australian geological expedition capsized on the Sepik River. Only Collector Kilpatrick managed to escape, to a young guy, who first came to New Guinea. After two days of wandering through the jungle, Kilpatrick came to the village of the Tangawata tribe, who were recorded by experts who had never been in those places as the most desperate cannibals. Fortunately, the collector did not know this, because, in his words, “had I known this, I would have died of fear when they put me in a net attached to two poles and carried me to the village.” The Papuans decided to carry him because they saw that he could barely move from fatigue. Only three months later did Kilpatrick manage to reach the Seventh-day Adventist mission. And all this time he was led, literally passed from hand to hand, by people of different tribes, about whom the only thing known was that they were cannibals!

“These people know nothing about Australia or its government,” Kilpatrick writes. - But do we know more about them? They are considered savages and cannibals, and yet I have not seen the slightest suspicion or hostility on their part. I have never seen them beat children. They are incapable of stealing. Sometimes it seemed to me that these people were much better than us.”

In general, the majority of benevolent and honest researchers and travelers who made their way through coastal swamps and inaccessible mountains, visited the deep valleys of the Ranger Range, and saw a variety of tribes, come to the conclusion that the Papuans are extremely friendly and quick-witted people.

“Once,” writes the English ethnographer Clifton, “in a club in Port Moresby we started talking about the fate of Michael Rockefeller. My interlocutor snorted:

Why bother? They devoured it, they didn't have it for long.

We argued for a long time, I could not convince him, and he could not convince me. And even if we had been arguing for even a year, I would have remained confident that the Papuans - and I got to know them well - are incapable of causing harm to a person who came to them with a kind heart.

...More and more I am surprised by the deep contempt that officials of the Australian administration have for these people. Even to the most educated patrol officer, the locals are "rock monkeys." The word used to call Papuans here is “dli”. (This word is untranslatable, but means an extreme degree of contempt for the person it denotes.) For the local Europeans, “oli” is something that, unfortunately, exists. No one teaches their languages, no one really tells you about their customs and habits. Savages, cannibals, monkeys - that's all..."

Any expedition erases a “white spot” from the map, and often in places marked brown mountains, the greenery of the lowlands appears, and the bloodthirsty savages who immediately devour any stranger, upon closer examination do not turn out to be such. The purpose of any search is to destroy ignorance, including that ignorance that makes people savages.

But, in addition to ignorance, there is also a reluctance to know the truth, a reluctance to see changes, and this reluctance gives rise to and tries to preserve the wildest, most cannibalistic ideas...

[ sources ]

In November 1961, Michael Clark Rockefeller, the son of an American billionaire, disappeared in Asmat, one of the remote regions of New Guinea. This message caused a sensation precisely because one of the Rockefellers disappeared: after all, on Earth, unfortunately, every year, without causing much noise, a considerable number of researchers die and go missing. Especially in places like Asmat, a giant jungle-covered swamp.

Asmat is famous for its wood carvers, the Wou-Ipiua as they are called there, and Michael was collecting a collection of Asmat art.

A week later, the search was stopped without finding any traces of the missing man.

It was assumed, based on the available facts, that Michael had drowned.

Some people, however, doubted: had he become a victim of bounty hunters? But the leaders of the Asmatian villages rejected this idea with indignation: after all, Michael was an honorary member of the tribe.

With the passage of time, the name of the deceased ethnographer disappeared from the pages of newspapers and magazines. His diaries formed the basis of the book, and the collections he collected adorned the New York Museum of Prehistoric Art. These things were of purely scientific interest, and the general public began to forget the mysterious story that happened in the swampy land of the Asmats.

But in a world where a sensation, no matter how ridiculous, means a sure opportunity to make big money, the story of the billionaire's son was not destined to end there...

“...It is widely believed that Michael Rockefeller drowned or was killed by a crocodile off the southern coast of New Guinea while trying to swim to shore.

Without much thought, I went to the indicated place to find out the circumstances there. I managed to find a guide, a Papuan named Gabriel, and up the river flowing through the swamps, we sailed for three days before reaching the village. Two hundred painted warriors met us in Oschanepa. The drums thundered all night. In the morning, Gabriel told me that he could bring a man who, for a couple of packs of tobacco, was ready to tell me how it all happened.

The story turned out to be extremely primitive and, I would even say, ordinary.

— A white man, naked and alone, staggered out of the sea. He was probably sick, because he lay down on the shore and still couldn’t get up. People from Oscanep saw him. There were three of them, and they thought it was a sea monster. And they killed him.

I asked about the names of the killers. The Papuan remained silent. I insisted. Then he reluctantly muttered:

“One of the people was Chief Ove.”

- Where is he now?

- And others?

But the Papuan remained stubbornly silent.

— Did the dead man have mugs in front of his eyes? - I meant glasses.

The Papuan nodded.

- Is there a watch on your hand?

- Yes. He was young and slender. He had fiery hair.

So, eight years later, I managed to find the man who saw (and perhaps killed) Michael Rockefeller. Without allowing the Papuan to come to his senses, I quickly asked:

- So who were those two people?

I'm sure he was telling the truth.

When, exhausted, he lay down on the sand, three men, led by Ove, raised spears that ended the life of Michael Rockefeller...”

Garth Alexander's story might seem true if...

If almost simultaneously with the Reveille newspaper, a similar story had not been published by the Oceania magazine, also published in Australia. Only this time, Michael Rockefeller's glasses were "discovered" in the village of Atch, twenty-five miles from Oschanep.

In addition, both stories contained picturesque details that made experts on the life and customs of New Guinea wary.

No real traces of Rockefeller could be found this time either, and the mystery of his disappearance remained the same mystery.

Among the geographical records of deep antiquity, man-eaters - anthropophagi - occupied a strong place next to people with dog heads, one-eyed Cyclops and dwarfs living underground. It should be recognized that, unlike the dog heads and cyclops, cannibals actually existed. Moreover, during her time, cannibalism was found everywhere on Earth, not excluding Europe. (By the way, how else than a relic of deep antiquity can one explain communion in the Christian church, when believers “eat the body of Christ”?) But even in those times it was an exceptional phenomenon rather than an everyday occurrence. It is human nature to distinguish himself and others like him from the rest of nature.

In Melanesia - and New Guinea is part of it (although very different from the rest of Melanesia) - cannibalism was associated with intertribal hostility and frequent wars. Moreover, it must be said that it assumed wide dimensions only in the 19th century, not without the influence of Europeans and the firearms they imported. This sounds paradoxical. Were it not the European missionaries who labored to wean the “savage” and “ignorant” natives from their bad habits, sparing neither their own nor the natives’ efforts? Didn’t every colonial power swear (and still swear to this day) that all its activities were aimed only at bringing the light of civilization to godforsaken places?

But among the negative qualities that the Papuans attribute to their enemies, cannibalism always comes first. It turns out that they, the enemy neighbors, are dirty, wild, ignorant, deceitful, treacherous and cannibals. This is the most serious charge. There is no doubt that the neighbors, in turn, are no less generous with unflattering epithets. And of course, they confirm, our enemies are undoubted cannibals. In general, for most tribes, cannibalism is no less disgusting than for you and me. (True, ethnographers know of some mountain tribes in the interior of the island who do not share this aversion. But - and all trustworthy researchers agree on this - they never hunt people.) Since much information about unexplored areas was obtained precisely through questioning local population, then “tribes of white-skinned Papuans”, “New Guinea Amazons” and numerous notes appeared on the maps: “the area is inhabited by cannibals”.

In 1945, many soldiers of the defeated Japanese army in New Guinea fled to the mountains. For a long time no one remembered about them - there was no time for that, sometimes expeditions that found themselves in the depths of the island came across these Japanese. If it was possible to convince them that the war was over and they had nothing to fear, they returned home, where their stories ended up in newspapers. In 1960, a special expedition to New Guinea set off from Tokyo. We managed to find about thirty former soldiers. They all lived among the Papuans, many were even married, and the corporal of the medical service, Kenzo Nobusuke, even held the post of shaman of the Kuku-Kuku tribe. According to the unanimous opinion of these people, who have gone through “fire, water and copper pipes”, the traveler in New Guinea (provided that he does not attack first) does not face any danger from the Papuans. (The value of the Japanese’s testimony also lies in the fact that they visited various parts of the giant island, including Asmat.)

In 1968, the boat of an Australian geological expedition capsized on the Sepik River. Only Collector Kilpatrick, a young guy who first came to New Guinea, managed to escape. After two days of wandering through the jungle, Kilpatrick came to the village of the Tangawata tribe, who were recorded by experts who had never been in those places as the most desperate cannibals. Fortunately, the collector did not know this, because, in his words, “had I known this, I would have died of fear when they put me in a net attached to two poles and carried me to the village.” The Papuans decided to carry him because they saw that he could barely move from fatigue. Only three months later did Kilpatrick manage to reach the Seventh-day Adventist mission. And all this time he was led, literally passed from hand to hand, by people of different tribes, about whom the only thing known was that they were cannibals!

“Once,” writes the English ethnographer Clifton, “at a club in Port Moresby we started talking about the fate of Michael Rockefeller. My interlocutor snorted:

- Why bother? They devoured it, they didn't have it for long.

More and more I am surprised by the deep contempt that Australian administration officials have for these people. Even to the most educated patrol officer, the locals are "rock monkeys." The word used to call Papuans here is “dli”. (This word is untranslatable, but means an extreme degree of contempt for the person it denotes.) For the Europeans here, “oli” is something that, unfortunately, exists. No one teaches their languages, no one really tells you about their customs and habits. Savages, cannibals, monkeys - that’s all...”

Any expedition erases a “white spot” from the map, and often in places marked by the brown color of the mountains, the greenery of the lowlands appears, and the bloodthirsty savages, who immediately devour any stranger, do not turn out to be such upon closer examination. The purpose of any search is to destroy ignorance, including that ignorance that makes people savages.

Michael Rockefeller was an American researcher in the fields of ethnography and anthropology. Besides this he had direct relation to the Rockefeller family, his father was a famous politician and banker.

The fate of the ethnographer is shrouded in mystery, since he disappeared in 1961 during an expedition to New Guinea. The most popular version in the press is that he was eaten by cannibals of one of the tribes. This statement is based on the fact that the researcher was sent to an Aboriginal tribe, which was distinguished by its bloodthirstiness. Who this man was and what he did in Oceania can be found out from the article.

Rockefellers

Michael was a representative of the richest family in America at that time. The Rockefeller family symbolizes wealth. Its representatives are a kind of icon of economic and political culture.

Members of this family belong to the largest law firms, military structures, funds mass media, lobbying organizations. They became a legendary dynasty thanks to the activities of someone who lived in the nineteenth century and was involved in the oil industry and financial affairs. An equally famous representative of this family was Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, about whom we should also talk a little. It was he who sponsored his son and searched for him after his disappearance.

Famous politician

Michael Rockefeller was the son of an influential man in America. Nelson Aldrich was not just a banker, he was involved political activity and succeeded quite well in this. In 1974-1977 he was Vice President of the United States.

He started out working in banks in New York, London and Paris. His name is associated with the creation of the famous Rockefeller Center in New York, the construction and decoration of which he supervised.

The banker has been involved in politics since the forties of the last century. He was a member of the Republican Party. During the reign, he was deputy minister, and later - special assistant to the head of state on foreign policy issues.

Nelson served as governor of New York from 1959 to 1973. All this time he tried to nominate himself for the presidency, but to no avail. All four attempts did not find sufficient support among representatives of his party.

The politician died on January 26, 1979 from a heart attack that occurred during sexual intercourse with his mistress. At the time of his death he was seventy years old.

Nelson Aldrich was married twice and had seven children:

Rodman;
Stephen;
Mary;
Michael;
Nelson;
Mark.

It is noteworthy that Mary and Michael were twins. Further, all the details will concern only Michael’s life.

Biography

Michael Rockefeller was born on May 18, 1938. His father, as we have already said, is banker Nelson Aldrich, and his grandfather is the first dollar billionaire John. They all bore the name Rockefeller.

From childhood, the boy was interested in antiquity. My father fully supported these hobbies. From a young age, he spent time at the Institute of Anthropology, which was supported by contributions from his family. Deciding to become a scientist, Michael enrolled in which he graduated in 1960.

After this, the young man served for several months in the army. He sought to become a member of a scientific expedition to Oceania in order to collect his own collection of objects that would tell about the life of the aborigines. The father supported his son in this too and financed the expedition.

Michael, who is discussed in the article, was able to hit the road in the fall of 1961.

Expedition to Oceania

Having agreed with a Dutch ethnographer named Rene Wassing, Michael Rockefeller left for Oceania. At the place of arrival, they hired two residents as guides. Their names were Leo and Simon.

Together they moved from village to village, exchanging objects of art, including applied art, from the aborigines. In exchange, they offered metal products, among which axes and hooks were very popular.

What the researchers saw and received was not enough. They were attracted by the idea of meeting someone who was distinguished by his bloodthirstiness.

Skull Buyers

Some Papuans offered the white scientists jackpot. This is what they called dried and decorated human skulls. They managed to assemble an impressive collection, which they donated to the New York Museum.

If the researchers had stopped there, perhaps their fate would have been different. The missing scientists decided to take a risk and go to the Asmat.

Trip to the Asmats

The expedition to the bloodthirsty tribes began on November 18, 1961. The missing researchers decided to get to the desired village along the river. To do this, they exchanged a homemade boat from the Papuans, attached a motor to it and set off. The boat turned out to be overloaded, but the young people did not pay attention to this.

They had to swim three kilometers, and they hoped that there would be no problems. Michael decided to send guides to the shore to bring help. Leo and Simon reached the ground, but got lost in the jungle. Rescuers found them a couple of days later.

The scientists remained waiting for help, but a large wave washed over the boat and capsized it. Rene decided to stay afloat with the help of a piece of a floating craft, and his friend swam to the shore and disappeared there.

A few hours later, Rene was discovered by a Dutch Navy seaplane, and the schooner Tasman took him on board. Rene was in a semi-conscious state and was able to talk about what happened when he came to his senses.

Huge forces were thrown into searching for a rich heir. During them, they combed the forest, the river bottom, and interviewed the aborigines. No traces were found. The father, who flew in from New York, spent a huge amount of money to continue the search, but it was unsuccessful. The mystery remains that even the scientist’s body was not discovered, so the inconsolable Nelson Rockefeller had no choice but to return home with nothing.

The tragedy in the family did not in any way affect the career of the politician, who, upon returning home, took the post of Vice President of the United States. In memory of his son, he added a wing to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It bears the name of a missing scientist. It houses exhibitions of primitive art.

Version about being eaten

Where did Michael Rockefeller go? The cause of the ethnographer’s death will probably remain one of the mysteries of the last century. Many media outlets are actively fueling the version that Michael was eaten by bloodthirsty aborigines. It is assumed that he managed to swim to the shore and get to the Asmat.

From the words of one of the missionaries, it became known that representatives of this tribe were carrying the clothes of the missing American. They even displayed human bones that allegedly belonged to Rockefeller. But it was not possible to find out all the details, since Christian Ian Smith died.

There was another witness, also a missionary, who reported that he had heard from the Aborigines about a murdered young man. It is noteworthy that the skull, which was kept by the shaman of this tribe, had “iron eyes”. Most likely, these were the explorer's glasses, which he never took off. But no one managed to find this skull.

Why could the Asmats eat the researcher? The first reason could be the belief that cannibals ate their enemies in order to master their strength and skill. The second reason could be that the aborigines believed in a sea monster that comes out of the water in human form with light skin. And when the billionaire's son came out of the river, they got scared and killed him.

Other versions of the disappearance

The American ethnographer might not have died at the hands and teeth of the aborigines. There were versions that he drowned in the river and was eaten by crocodiles. However, the river was combed quite thoroughly and nothing was found to confirm this. And the version with crocodiles seems unlikely, since the guides and Rene too for a long time were in the water, but not a single crocodile touched them.

To this day there is no final answer to the question of the disappearance of the young man.

Documentary film

Where can you find out more about the tragic expedition in which Michael Rockefeller disappeared? “Secrets of the Century” created and released a documentary film called “The Lost Rockefeller Expedition.”

The film was released in 2003, its duration is thirty-nine minutes. The director of the film was He was also the executive producer of this and others documentaries from the cycle. Under his leadership, 30 films in this series were released.

“Secrets of the Century” is dedicated to mysteries and facts that have not received an unambiguous interpretation among the historical community. By the end of each episode, the viewer can independently choose one of the proposed points of view.

John Davison Rockefeller Sr.: biography

John Davison Rockefeller, photo

John Rockefeller is the richest and most successful person in human history.

His fortune was $318.3 billion (at 2007 dollar exchange rates). He was 74 years old and at the peak of his wealth, with a fortune of 1.53% of the American economy, America's first billionaire.

« I never knew who I would be in this life, but I always knew that I was born for something more“- this is what John Davison Rockefeller said, according to the recollections of his beloved grandson David.

As a young man, John Davison Rockefeller ( John Davison Rockefeller abbreviated as DDR) said that he has 2 dreams in life: the first is to earn $100,000, and the second is to live to be 100 years old. He was 2 years and 2 months short of goal 2, but he made his first dream come true with tremendous success.

John with his son

Rockefeller was born into a poor family

Full name: John Davidson Rockefeller Sr. ( he later had a son with the same name) was born on July 8, 1839 in New York State, USA, and died in 1937, having lived ninety-eight (98) years.

His father, William Avery "Big Bill" Rockefeller was a lazy man who spent most of his time thinking about how to avoid physical labor. John's mother Louise (Eliza), a self-employed farmer, was a very devout Baptist, and was often in poverty because her husband was constantly away for long periods of time and she constantly had to save on everything. However, thanks to the influence of his mother Louise and the devout Baptist John D., he grew up to be quite a hardworking guy.

His mother was a terribly devout Baptist, so from childhood she instilled in John the idea that he needed to work hard and constantly save.
The Rockefellers moved to the New World in the 18th century and gradually moved north to Michigan. Things are piled into a creaking ox-cart, Rockefeller's grandfather holds the reins, his wife and children trail behind, swallowing road dust. They stopped in Richford, New York, where John Rockefeller would be born in 1839.
He became a “devil” as a child. His dry, skin-covered face, eyes devoid of shine and thin pale lips greatly frightened those around him. In fact, he was quite sensitive and emotional, he just seemed to hide all his feelings in the farthest pocket of his soul. Few people knew what John really was like.

In young age

Education

At the age of 13, John went to school in Richford. In his autobiography, he wrote that it was difficult for him to study and he had to study hard to complete his lessons. Rockefeller successfully graduated from high school and entered Cleveland College, where he taught accounting and the basics of commerce, but soon came to the conclusion that three-month accounting courses and a thirst for activity would bring much more than years of college, so he left it.

Starting a business and how you got rich

Business was part of John's family upbringing. As a child, he would buy a pound of candy, divide it into small piles, and sell it to his sisters for a small markup. And at the age of seven he raised turkeys and sold them to his neighbors. He lent the $50 he earned from this to a neighboring farmer at 7% per annum.

In 1853, the Rockefeller family moved to Cleveland. Since John Rockefeller was one of the eldest children in the family, at the age of 16 he went looking for work.

John began his career in 1855 at the age of 16 as an accountant at the Cleveland trading firm Gevit & Tettl with a salary of first $5 and then $25 a week.

With my first wages Rockefeller acquires a good accounting book. In it he writes down all his income and expenses, paying attention to even the smallest details.

He, like Morgan, was of military age when the Civil War broke out in the United States. And both bought their way out of military service for $300 (in the North of the country this was a common practice for those with means).

Having gained what he considered to be sufficient experience and saving $800, John left the company in 1858 to open a partnership called Clark & Rockefeller, a small grocery firm typical of the era of small business.

In the early 1860s, Rockefeller went out of business and organized new company- Rockefeller & Andrews, focusing on oil refining and kerosene trading, and continued to grow.

Then several more firms joined it, and in 1870 they founded the Standard Oil company, with a capital of $1 million, which, with the help successful business decisions and some predatory and illegal actions, has become a gigantic monopoly.

At its height, Standard Oil had about 90% of the refined oil (kerosene) market in the United States (in the beginning, Standard Oil's products were not particularly interesting to the oil industry; the gasoline produced by those refineries was dumped in rivers because it was considered useless).

In 1910, 55 years after Rockefeller made his first $5, he became the world's first dollar billionaire. “Through perseverance, anything - right or wrong, good or bad - will be achieved,” said Rockefeller.

In 1911, the Supreme Court declared Standard Oil a monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Standard Oil Company was broken up.

The corporation was divided into 30 small companies with different boards and directors, in which John Rockefeller retained controlling interests. By this time, John Rockefeller had long since retired from the management of the company, but still had a huge percentage of the shares. He received at least $3 million annually from this business.

Oil prices are the secret to success

Since crude oil is essentially worthless without distillation, hundreds of refineries have sprung up at the other end of the pipeline (and this is true. Under Henry Ford there were 240 automakers, of which three remain - Ford, Chrysler and General Motors).

In Cleveland, Rockefeller's Standard Oil was just one of 26 refineries struggling to survive in a very shaky, single-supplier market.

In the 1960s, the price of crude oil fluctuated from 13 dollars per barrel to 10 cents. In fact, Rockefeller was not the first to appreciate the economic potential of the new industry, since the resulting kerosene could heat houses and light the streets of rapidly growing American cities.

The cheaper it cost the refiner to deliver oil from the field to the refinery and from the refinery to the market and consumer, the greater the margin with which he could play.

Rockefeller did both with success.

In early 1872, having entered into an alliance called the South Improvement Company, Rockefeller entered into a pact with three railroad companies (Pennsylvania, New York Central and Erie): they received the lion's share of all oil shipments.

In exchange, Standard Oil was given preferential railroad rates while its refining competitors were crushed with punitive prices. In addition to his enormous price advantages, Rockefeller received detailed information about competitors' shipments from the shippers and carriers union (South Improvement Company), which greatly helped in undermining their prices.

Time to work is the secret to success

Rockefeller knows that God blesses the righteous, and turns his life into a constant feat - he comes to work at 6.30 in the morning, and leaves so late that he has to promise himself to finish his accounting no later than ten in the evening.

John's favorite game

Daily practice of his favorite game - golf - provided the necessary exposure to fresh air and sun. He did not forget about indoor games, reading and other beneficial activities.

A successful marriage is the secret of success

The above fully applies to Rockefeller’s wife. Before marrying a young promising businessman, Laura Celestina Spelman, who can hardly be called a beauty, was a school teacher and was distinguished by exceptional piety. They met during Rockefeller's short student days, but got married only 9 years later. The girl attracted John's attention with her piety, practicality of mind and the fact that she reminded him of his mother. According to Rockefeller himself, without Laura’s advice, he would have “remained poor.”

State of the Rockefeller clan at the end of the 19th century

In addition to the oil business, which brought in $3 million annually, the businessman owned 16 railway and 6 steel companies, 9 real estate companies, 6 shipping companies, 9 banks and 3 orange groves.

« I believe that the purpose of any person on earth is to honestly take for himself everything he can, and just as honestly give everything he can.“- this is how John formulated his life credo.

At age 16, Rockefeller began working as an accountant and philanthropist.

Rockefeller was always a philanthropist; he gave 10% of his income from his very first salary to charity. As his wealth grew, so did his contributions to charity.

« Grandfather was not interested in purchasing Scottish or French castles; he was disgusted by the thought of buying art or yachts", says David Rockefeller.

In 1908, John wrote and published a book called "Memoirs", which outlined Rockefeller's 12 Golden Rules.

When John Davison started, his fortune was in the thousands of dollars, and all the money went into business. Now that he had hundreds of millions, it was time for charitable charity.

Fifty thousand letters came to Rockefeller a month asking for help; whenever possible, he answered them and sent checks to people.

He helped found the University of Chicago with $35 million, established scholarships, paid pensions - all this was paid for by the consumer, whom Rockefeller forced to pay for kerosene and gasoline as much as Standard Oil needed.
In 1901, he founded the New York Institute for Medical Research (from 1965 - Rockefeller University), in 1903 - the Council for Universal Education, in 1913 - the Rockefeller Foundation, in 1918 - the Laura Spelman Foundation (in honor of his wife - helping children and social sciences).
The total amount of his philanthropic donations amounted to more than $700 million.
Half of America dreamed of extracting more money from John Davison Rockefeller. The other half was ready to lynch him. Rockefeller was getting old. The passions seething around him got on his nerve.

In all the places where the aged Rockefeller appeared, he handed out handfuls of five- and ten-cent coins from his pockets to everyone around him. And he always took a supply of them with him.

John gave birth to four daughters and one son - John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874, died on May 11, 1960 during a winter vacation in Arizona), who continued his father's work ( the youngest had six children, and his five sons, representing the third generation of the Rockefeller dynasty, also became famous in the fields of business, finance and philanthropy).

John Sr. died in 1937 at the age of 98, with a fortune of US$1.4 billion (1937 par) or 1.54% of US GDP, but before his death he gave away half of his accumulated wealth, founding a philanthropic organization that continues to give money for charity, to this day.

John Davison Rockefeller Sr., 1839-1937

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John Rockefeller is the richest and successful person in the history of mankind. His fortune was $318.3 billion (at 2007 dollar exchange rates). He was 74 years old and at the peak of his wealth, with a fortune of 1.53% of the American economy, America's first billionaire. “I never knew who I would be in this life, but...