Rockefeller

"With Risley, everything is “absolutely over the top.” “On his boats, it’s the same way. There’s a crew of ten or twenty and there’s a Russian oligarch next door,” Smith said. “The guys I’ve talked to with more significant wealth than John would never build boats like he builds boats. That’s just way beyond their comprehension... spending that kind of money. They don’t understand this at all. But it’s pure John.” Similarly, Smith argued there’s “no rationale” for Risley to have a Bombardier Global—his largest jet. But “that’s not the point”—it’s the way Risley is with everything he does. “In sailing, he was a trustee of the America’s Cup. He was at the very pinnacle of sailing when that was his consuming interest. When he got into cattle, he had to go down to the island where Rockefeller is and get Rockefeller cattle. Whatever catches his imagination, he goes at it to be the best in it.” Smith gave a jolly laugh as he relayed a line from one of their mutual friends: “The great thing about hanging around John is you learn how to spend money.”"

"Ivar took the long view. He believed matches were an important staple, like steel or sugar, and that match factories inevitably would be consolidated. He also foresaw that Britain’s abandoning of the gold standard would open up international finance to newcomers, and that the war would not clog shipping lanes as much as people supposed. He thought that if he could manage the match business as well as he had managed construction, he would be able to acquire a monopoly on production. Then, he could raise prices and earn enormous profits. Just as Rockefeller controlled oil and Morgan controlled banking, Kreuger envisioned controlling matches, and thereby joining an élite group of global monopolists."

"Rockefeller devised a more efficient way to accomplish the objec¬ tive he had failed to achieve through collusion. His new solution was to create a monopoly. By acquiring most of the oil refining capacity in the United States, the Standard Oil trust was able to manage supply to its benefit. Unlike monopolists in other industries of his era, Rockefeller did not exploit his position to extract artificially high prices from consumers. Instead, he managed prices with an eye toward reducing the gluts and shortages that formerly made the business so risky. He also kept prices low in order to discourage new competitors from entering the refining in¬ dustry. In the neat, orderly world that resulted, Rockefeller earned excel¬ lent profits through the efficiencies of operating on a vast scale. He further leveraged his market power, and fattened his profit margins, by extracting preferential shipping rates from the railroads. This particular cost saving had to be obtained covertly, through secret rebates to Stan¬ dard Oil."

"Although Rockefeller was already the world’s largest refiner, his out¬ put was not big enough to meet the shipping volumes he had promised in return for rebates on rail rates. Accordingly, he undertook to coordinate his shipments with those of the other Cleveland refiners. Rockefeller’s in¬ clination to replace competition with coordination accelerated as high profits and low entry costs lured many new players into oil refining. By 1870, refining capacity had ballooned to three times the volume of crude oil being produced. As a result, Rockefeller estimated, 90 percent of refin¬ ers were losing money."

"Aside from his mental acuity, Rockefeller relied on the same sort of imperturbability for which Kirk Kerkorian is known nowadays. He liked to tell how an angry contractor once burst into his office and furiously de¬ nounced him. Rockefeller sat quietly at his desk without looking up until the man was exhausted from his tirade. He then spun around in his swivel chair and said, “I didn’t catch what you were saying. Would you mind re¬ peating yourself?”4"

"These new capitalists, of course, differ from Rockefeller in many ways. He made his money primarily within one sector, the oil industry; he built a dynasty; he became infinitely richer—and more hated. But there are similarities as well. Both became rich by being first in an immature market where they could initially grow without much competition and charge very well for their services."

"In the hospital, he mostly spent his time reading and voraciously went through numerous books, including business books, history books, success stories of Carnegie, Rockefeller, Konosuke Matsushita, and Soichiro Honda. Among these, “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu and “Lanchester’s Laws” had the strongest influence."

"The banks argued strenuously against this deferral. I remember being in a fiery meeting in the governor’s office as one after another of the city’s leading bankers—Wriston, Rockefeller, and Patterson—went on the attack, insisting that we were doing something meretricious. I answered them politely. Yes, I agreed, a deferral was a terrible thing."

"As a "School for Life," Le Rosey is one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world. Prince Rainier III of Monaco, Shah Reza Pahlavi of Persia, Crown Prince Alexander II of Yugoslavia, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, King Albert II of Belgium, King Fuad II of Egypt are among the alumni. But also the offspring of Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, and Diana Ross attended school here, and the heirs of family dynasties such as Rothschild, Benetton, Rockefeller, Onassis, and Niarchos shared the dormitory rooms."

"As a "School for Life," Le Rosey is one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world. Prince Rainier III of Monaco, Shah Reza Pahlavi of Persia, Crown Prince Alexander II of Yugoslavia, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, King Albert II of Belgium, King Fuad II of Egypt are among the alumni. But also the offspring of Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, and Diana Ross attended school here, and the heirs of family dynasties such as Rothschild, Benetton, Rockefeller, Onassis, and Niarchos shared the dormitory rooms."