Table of Contents Title Page Dedication Epigraph Praise Foreword PRELUDE: - POISON TONGUE CHAPTER 1 - The Flimflam Man CHAPTER 2 - Fires of Revival CHAPTER 3 - Bound to Be Rich CHAPTER 4 - Baptism in Business CHAPTER 5 - The Auction CHAPTER 6 - The Poetry of the Age CHAPTER 7 - Millionaires’ Row CHAPTER 8 - Conspirators CHAPTER 9 - The New Monarch CHAPTER 10 - Sphinx CHAPTER 11 - The Holy Family CHAPTER 12 - Insurrection in the Oil Fields CHAPTER 13 - Seat of Empire CHAPTER 14 - The Puppeteer CHAPTER 15 - Widow’s Funeral CHAPTER 16 - A Matter of Trust CHAPTER 17 - Captains of Erudition CHAPTER 18 - Nemesis CHAPTER 19 - The Dauphin CHAPTER 20 - The Standard Oil Crowd CHAPTER 21 - The Enthusiast CHAPTER 22 - Avenging Angel CHAPTER 23 - Faith of Fools CHAPTER 24 - The Millionaires’ Special CHAPTER 25 - The Codger CHAPTER 26 - The World’s Richest Fugitive CHAPTER 27 - Judgment Day CHAPTER 28 - Benevolent Trust CHAPTER 29 - Massacre CHAPTER 30 - Introvert and Extrovert CHAPTER 31 - Confessional CHAPTER 32 - Dynastic Succession CHAPTER 33 - Past, Present, Future CHAPTER 34 - Heirs CHAPTER 35 - See You in Heaven NOTES Acknowledgments BIBLIOGRAPHY About the Author ALSO BY RON CHERNOW Copyright Page To my brother, Dr. Bart Chernow, who pulled me back, at the last moment, from the brink, and to the lovely Valerie Two men have been supreme in creating the modern world: Rockefeller and Bismarck. One in economics, the other in politics, refuted the liberal dream of universal happiness through individual competition, substituting monopoly and the corporate state, or at least movements toward them. —BERTRAND RUSSELL Freedom Versus Organization, 1814 to 1914 Something in the nature of J. D. Rockefeller had to occur in America, and it is all to the good of the world that he was tight- lipped, consistent and amazingly free from vulgar vanity, sensuality and quarrelsomeness. His cold persistence and ruthlessness may arouse something like horror, but for all that he was a forward- moving force, a constructive power. —H. G. WELLS The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind When history passes its final verdict on John D. Rockefeller, it may well be that his endowment of research will be recognized as a milestone in the progress of the race. . . . Science today owes as much to the rich men of generosity and discernment as the art of the Renaissance owes to the patronage of Popes and Princes. Of these rich men, John D. Rockefeller is the supreme type. —WINSTON CHURCHILL St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 8, 1936 Rockefeller, you know, is reputed the richest man in the world, and he certainly is the most powerfully suggestive personality I have ever seen. A man 10 stories deep, and to me quite unfathomable. Physionomie de Pierrot (not a spear of hair on head or face) flexible, cunning, quakerish, superficially suggestive of naught but goodness and conscientiousness, yet accused of being the greatest villain in business whom our country has produced. —WILLIAM JAMES in a letter to Henry James January 29, 1904 Acclaim for RON CHERNOW’s TITAN A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice A Business Week Best Business Book of the Year A Time Magazine Book of the Year An Economist Best Biography of the Year “Splendid . . . a blue chip biography.” —Newsweek “Ron Chernow’s portrait of Rockefeller, an eccentric on a heroic scale as well as a genius, is convincing. . . . This is the best biography of the man so far.” —The Washington Post Book World “What a story! An outstanding business biography.” —The New York Observer “A triumph of research, understanding and elegant writing.” —Houston Chronicle “With uncanny timing, Ron Chernow has written a captivating biography of one of the most famous men in American business history. . . . Business needs more books like Titan. —Newsday “Good biographies are hard to find and great ones even rarer. . . . A thoughtful and balanced approach to one of the most significant and controversial lives of the past century . . . spellbinding.” —The Seattle Times “A masterful synthesis of research and writing . . . an extraordinary achievement in biography.” —The New Republicc “It’s a thrill to read a biography as good as this one! Ron Chernow’s Titan is a triumph, a brilliant, riveting, and monumental portrait of a fascinating human being and his age.” —Robert A. Caro “Chernow has written the definitive biographies of two other legendary financial dynasties. . . . Now, with his Rockefeller biography, he has completed an extraordinary trilogy about the towering figures of twentieth century commerce.” —Vanity Fair “By the time Chernow is finished, the old guy seems utterly human . . . and oddly appealing. . . . A timeless parable of our civilization.” —San Francisco Chronicle “You can read the book as a sympathetic portrait of a complex man, a business history, a legal battle, or simply as a great yarn.” —Business Week “It is hard to imagine a better biography of Rockefeller being written. . . . An enthralling biography of an enthralling person.” —Chicago Tribune “A monumental and mesmerizing biography . . . a fascinating yarn, capturing a man who insisted he could serve God and Mammon.” —The San Diego Union- Tribune “A richly textured and engagingly lively portrait. . . . It is a remarkable story and Chernow tells it with confidence and clarity . . . probably the last word on a genuine titan.” —Daily News “Rockefeller lived one of the great American lives, and Chernow has provided him with one of the great American biographies.” —The Sunday Times (London) “In this splendid biography, justice is finally done to [Rockefeller’s] memory.” —The Plain Dealer “Stunning. . . . Mr. Chernow has confirmed his reputation as a great business historian.” —The Financial Times “A worthy biography of a truly titanic figure.” — The Economist “Chernow’s detailed picture of this ‘implausible blend of sin and sanctity’ is a scrupulously balanced, frequently fascinating and humanizing portrait of a figure of seemingly superhuman energy and ambition.” — People “Altogether splendid.” —American Heritage “Sweeping. . . . Chernow lays out the [Rockefeller] conundrum superbly, delineating the forces that shaped this man and the ways he responded to them.” —USA Today “[Ron Chernow is] America’s best business biographer.” — Fortune “Ron Chernow’s splendid biography of John D. Rockefeller Sr. will stand out as one of the best books of the year. He again proves himself remarkably facile with a huge amount of information. . . . I’d be hard pressed to find a page that isn’t interesting. . . . Chernow succeeds brilliantly.” — Detroit Free Press “Powerful, meticulously researched. . . . Chernow encompasses better than any writer before him the powerful contradictions and polarities in Rockefeller’s character. Titan . . . is one of the richest and most rewarding biographies of an American magnate.” —St. Petersburg Times “[No biographer] has been as skilled, or as exhaustive, as Ron Chernow.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer