Who was the first billionaire in the United States?

essaychess

I checked 6 sources; 5 said John D. Rockefeller, and the other said Henry Ford. I think Rockefeller is probably correct, although Andrew Carnegie might have beat him to it had he not given away something like 350 million dollars to charity. Jul 12 01, 9:30 PM

Brainy Blonde

John D Rockefeller Discover the history and legacy of the first billionaire. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company was eventually broken up into Mobile, Exxon, Chevron, and a slew of other oil giants that dominate the industry today. See: http://beginnersinvest.about.com/cs/johndrockefeller/ The world's first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller Sr. held 90 percent of the world's oil refineries, 90 percent of the marketing of oil, and a third of all the oil wells. Working methodically and secretly, he did more than transform a single industry. When he formed his feared monopoly, Standard Oil, in 1870 he changed forever the way America did business. See: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/filmmore/pd.html Mar 07 02, 10:21 PM