He is the richest individual in American business and economic history
One of the interesting facts about John Davison Rockefeller is that he is the richest individual in American business and economic history. Rockefeller is mostly recognized for the raw size of his riches. An audit in 1902 revealed that Rockefeller was worth around $200 million, compared to the total national GDP of $24 billion at the time. His fortune grew dramatically (in accordance with US economic expansion) as gasoline consumption surged, eventually reaching almost $900 million on the eve of World War I, with large interests in banking, shipping, mining, railroads, and other businesses. In 1913, his personal wealth was 900 million dollars, which is now worth 23.5 billion dollars with inflation in 2020.
According to his New York Times obituary, after Mr. Rockefeller resigned from business, it was estimated that he had accumulated close to $1,500,000,000 from the earnings of the Standard Oil trust and other investments. This was quite likely the most riches that any private citizen had ever amassed through his own efforts. By the time of his death in 1937, Rockefeller's remaining fortune, which was mostly locked up in permanent family trusts, was estimated to be $1.4 billion, compared to the whole national GDP of $92 billion. Rockefeller's net worth over the last decades of his life, according to some methods of wealth calculation, would easily place him as the wealthiest known person in recent history. No other American fortune, including those of Bill Gates and Sam Walton, comes close in terms of percentage of US GDP.
