Titan. This book is about the life of the billionaire John Davison Rockefeller, who is known as the richest person in the modern history of the United States.
The word "Titan" refers to the giants in ancient Greek mythology, who were the children of Uranus and Gaea. They were the rulers of the earth before being overthrown by the god Zeus, the ruler of the universe. This word refers to a person or a story of great power and immense success.
In this summary, I will highlight the key points for you to listen to, bringing you closer to the Rockefeller family to understand what valuable things this family has left for future generations of businesspeople and what we can learn and apply in our modern times.
There are many books on the market that try to talk about Rockefeller, but this one is considered the best written. It's over 800 pages long, and if you listen to the full audiobook, it takes up to 32 hours. It's no surprise that everyone wants to understand him, because Rockefeller was the wealthiest person of the 19th century. He became a millionaire at the age of 30. Every day, he received so many letters from around the world that a single bag wasn't enough to hold them all.
In one month, people sent over 200,000 letters to Rockefeller from all corners of the globe. Most of them were asking for money. The content of most letters would say something like, "Rockefeller, you are a messenger of God's word. You have come to help humanity, haven't you? I am very poor right now. Please share some of your money with me." There were also people who sought out Rockefeller from everywhere to ask him to invest. Wherever he opened his eyes, he was surrounded by people who needed his money, because they knew he was incredibly wealthy.
But even though many books have been written about him, they don't let you get close enough to truly understand the man. Most books talk about how he started his oil business, how he defeated his competitors, what social work he did, and so on. We can find all this in newspapers; it doesn't need to be written as a book. But if you want to truly know him, to understand his perspective and way of thinking, this is the only book for you.
Before this book was published, not many people truly knew him. Forget about others; even those closest to him didn't fully know him. For example, what kind of personality and interests he had, what kind of people he liked to associate with, how he solved problems when he faced them, what kind of decisions he made, and what was behind those decisions—what made his thinking different from ordinary people. All of this, no one or no other book has described clearly.
The author of this book states that Rockefeller was a very mysterious person. Even though many people talked about him, no one really knew him. This was due to his character; he was a man of few words and rarely appeared in public. He was very calculating. Even when you saw him in public, he was there for a purpose, but you could never read his mind to know what he was thinking. The information people received about him was always from outside sources. So what makes this book different?
This book is special because it is based on a direct interview between a journalist and Mr. Rockefeller, which took place between 1917 and 1920. It's truly a rare find. It's a document that allows us to understand the biography of Rockefeller clearly.
Although this interview took many hours, he maintained a calm and steady demeanor. But sometimes, he could be a hot-tempered person, unable to control his own emotions. When the journalist asked him about his oil company, which had been reported in the press for pressuring others to sell their companies to him and swallowing the assets of others, Rockefeller was so agitated he could barely stay in his seat. His face turned red, his hands trembled, and he was too angry to speak.
He replied heatedly, "When I expanded the Standard Oil Company by buying smaller companies, it wasn't about swallowing the assets of others. It was about saving them. We combined to create a larger company so we could all survive. When the nation was in crisis, everyone was just trying to survive. Who had time to think about taking others' assets?" He spoke very strongly to the interviewer, but a minute later, he came to his senses and calmed his emotions.
Later, he commented on those harsh words, saying, "What others say about me is not important. What is important is that it's not true. And I myself feel very happy that I did not let myself get angry, and I pity those people instead."
You see? No matter how strong-willed a person is, they can still have moments of weakness. And there was another time when someone insulted his father, calling him a swindler who cheated others. He became extremely angry and scolded them back, but a few minutes later, he calmed down and returned to his steady and composed state.
He said, "Some people live by speaking ill of others. Day in and day out, they have no other work to do but to slander others." He continued, "At this point, what my father taught me is enough for me to use for a lifetime."
From this, we can see that Rockefeller was a man with immense self-control, who rarely showed his emotions. This is also a special point of this book, which allows us to know Rockefeller from the outside in. From the outside, he appeared to be a steady, calm, and serious man, but in reality, he was also a person who used his emotions like any other human being.
The author of this book is named Ron Chernow, an American writer. In the first part of this book, we will discuss three points. First, we will talk about four special characteristics of Rockefeller. These characteristics will help us understand him better and know what kind of person he was. Second, we'll talk a bit about how Rockefeller started his first business. What important stages did he go through at the beginning, and what decisions did he make that led to his success? This point will help us understand his business dealings. And third, we'll look at the way he raised his children.
We will open three letters that he wrote to his son, who was his successor, and we will know what kind of person he was as a father and as the owner of a company worth billions of dollars. What advice did he give them, and is that advice still useful for us as modern businesspeople?
First, let's get to know Rockefeller. We'll talk about his work and business later. When people see Rockefeller, they think of four things.
First, he was a man who was the richest in the world. The Standard Oil Company, which he founded, controlled up to 90% of the oil market in the United States. What is oil? Oil was the most valuable commodity, equal to gold at that time. Rockefeller was the first billionaire in the world, with assets exceeding one billion dollars. When he passed away in 1937, he still had assets of 1.4 billion dollars, which is equivalent to 300 billion dollars today, more than Elon Musk in 2022. And at that time, his wealth was real, not just a valuation based on the stock market like today's billionaires.
The second thing people think of him is that he was a miser. You might wonder, how can the richest man in the world be a miser? It's true. He was notoriously stingy. When giving tips, he was never generous. He would place a few cents on the table for them to take themselves, and if they took too much, he would take it back. After he became the richest man in the world, when a few of his friends came to visit and stay at his house, he charged them $10 each for the stay. If they didn't pay, they weren't allowed to stay. And he said, "This is my principle." His friends and those around him couldn't understand him on this point.
In his factory, if he found a way to save $50, he would be happy for days. And if anyone dared to waste money, they would be fired. What's unbelievable is that from the beginning, he never raised the salaries of his employees. He believed that you should be paid for the work you do. There was no such thing as a bonus to motivate them. If you received more than the labor you put in, Rockefeller believed it was a disrespect to God. People said that Rockefeller was the richest man in the world, and also the most miserly.
The third thing about him is that he was a kind-hearted man. He loved to do charity work. You might wonder, a miser, a penny-pincher like this, how could he do charity work? It must be just for show, right? No. This is something he had been doing since he was young. When he was poor, he would still donate 10% of his income to the needy. He was very careful with his cents, but when he donated, it would surprise everyone.
In his lifetime, he donated countless times. But he didn't just give money to help people for a moment. He did something to bring about change. He created job opportunities or helped an entire industry to grow. For example, the famous universities he founded, such as the University of Chicago, Rockefeller University, and the Munich Rockefeller Foundation, have all contributed significantly to the fields of education and healthcare. These universities were equipped with modern study facilities and were hubs for famous professors, and they have produced many great minds in the world. Famous universities in the world today all follow the educational programs of the universities he founded over 100 years ago.
In his lifetime, he also built many hospitals. In Manhattan, he built the historic Rockefeller Center, which is the largest private building complex, constructed in the heart of New York City, with 19 buildings stretching from 48th to 51st Street. All of this is the property of the Rockefeller family.
The charity work he did was not about giving handouts to the poor. In fact, he was not very fond of the poor at all. He expressed this view in public on many occasions, saying he didn't like the poor because their mindset and way of thinking couldn't be saved by anyone. It is estimated that in his lifetime, Rockefeller donated up to 550 million dollars, which is equivalent to 120 billion dollars today. This is a record that no one has been able to break in human history, in terms of humanitarian donations.
He wasn't just generous in donating his assets. The work he did had to have results and impact. It wasn't just about giving money and being done with it.
His fourth special characteristic is that he was a man without sentimentality. He kept his charity work and business separate. Charity was charity. Business was business. He didn't mix the two. When he did charity work, he spent without regret. Everyone was in awe. But when it came to business, he calculated every single cent without leaving anything behind. Once he set a goal, there was nothing he couldn't achieve. Let's take his oil company as an example.
When Rockefeller first entered the oil industry, it was a blue ocean market with little competition. His business wasn't drilling for oil, because the oil drilling business at that time was something everyone was doing. It was highly competitive. Whether you were a laborer or a farmer, as long as you were diligent and not afraid of getting dirty, you could go drill for oil and sell it.
The business of drilling for oil like this was happening almost everywhere. The price of oil was very cheap, not even $4 a barrel. Rockefeller's company was in the business of refining crude oil into kerosene, which was the fuel used in kerosene lamps at that time. Before he did this, there was no substance in the world that could provide a continuous source of fuel. People only used beef tallow or whale oil. Beef tallow wasn't very good; it produced a lot of black smoke. As for whale oil, it was extremely expensive, and not many people dared to buy it. But kerosene was different. It could burn for a long time, didn't produce black smoke, and was affordable.
It can be said that Rockefeller's oil refining and production factory brought a bright light to the world, no less than Thomas Edison. Because Rockefeller's company was making a lot of money in this industry, later on, many competitors, both big and small, also entered the business to do the same thing. Rockefeller realized that in this oil industry, there couldn't be too many players. The strong would survive, and the weak would have to disappear from the market. So if he wanted to become the big boss in this industry, he had to eliminate and buy out the smaller companies.
He used a very clever strategy that he called a "Trust." In today's terms, it's equivalent to a holding company, which is a company that controls shares. At this point, I'd like to explain a bit about what a holding company is. For example, I am Rockefeller. I own one of the largest oil refining factories in the United States. I have money and resources. You, on the other hand, have a small factory with 40-50 employees. It's clear that you can't compete with me.
One day, I come to you to negotiate to buy your company and offer you shares in my company instead. But you have to give me the right to operate it. You don't have to work hard anymore; just wait for the dividends. I will set the prices, and I will find the market. By doing this, we all win. Why should we compete with each other, lowering prices and causing losses for both sides?
This was the brilliant "Trust" strategy of Rockefeller. He didn't just use this tactic in business. In his charity work, he also used this method. He didn't just donate money on his own. He walked side-by-side with others, encouraging them to join in donating with him. That's how he was able to create foundations, pooling money from people who wanted to do charity work and having professionals manage and run the foundation.
Let's get back to the story of buying up the oil refineries. After he succeeded with this method, he had an even bigger idea: to buy all the oil wells in Pennsylvania. He had someone announce to the oil drillers in that area that he would buy oil for $4.75 a barrel, while the market price at that time was not even $4. Rockefeller's men went around announcing that they would buy 15,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
After the small oil well owners in that area heard this news, they all worked hard to drill for oil day and night, and also bought oil to stock up to sell to Rockefeller. Not even two weeks later, Rockefeller went back on his word and said, "We've changed our minds. We'll only buy it for $2.50 a barrel. You can choose not to sell to us, but if you don't sell at this price, in a week, we'll only buy it for $2 a barrel." The owners of those oil wells were played by Rockefeller with this trick and were furious. They were already facing an economic crisis, and now this happened.
In the end, they decided, "Well, it has come to this. Let's just sell the oil to Rockefeller and be done with it." Using this method, Rockefeller bought up many oil wells in the United States. So was this really Rockefeller's plan? At this point, he later explained that his initial plan was to buy those oil wells at a price higher than the market. But when that news leaked out, the owners of the oil wells got greedy and drilled for oil recklessly, and also bought up oil to stock up, which caused the supply to exceed demand in a very short period. Everywhere you went, there was oil. So the price of oil was bound to fall. This is the nature of business.
But if we're being honest, if he hadn't used these tactics, he wouldn't have been able to become the largest oil company in the United States. Was this Rockefeller's strategy, or was it the dynamics of the market? Only he knows for sure.
To sum up, the four special characteristics people see in Rockefeller are that he was a man of wealth but a miser, kind-hearted but without sentimentality. These things are contradictory. Therefore, we cannot judge what kind of person he was with certainty. He was a man with high self-discipline. What he believed was right to do, he had to get it done.
In terms of his attire, whenever he went out, he always wore a tall hat, a long coat, and black gloves, befitting a prominent businessman of his time. What he offered to the people around him first was trust. He was a man who believed in Roman Catholicism. He believed that his decisions were the guidance of God. Therefore, whatever he decided, it was difficult to change. What he had in common with other wealthy people was his discipline and his steadfastness.
Next, let's see how Rockefeller developed from a poor young man into the richest person in the world, what stages he went through. We'll look at four stages as follows. The first stage was when he worked as a bookkeeper. Through this job, he gained a lot of experience and knowledge in doing business. The second stage was when he seized the opportunity of a declared war to earn his initial business capital. The third stage was entering the oil industry and creating the Standard Oil Company. And the fourth stage was using the "Trust" strategy to buy out other companies to become the number one big boss in the industry and become the richest person in the world.
It sounds easy, but in reality, it was the result of his hard work and the opportunities that the era provided him. The first stage: he worked as a bookkeeper for an international trading company. Because the company was small and had few employees, the work was a bit much. He didn't just help with bookkeeping; he also handled daily operations. Through this job, although he didn't save much money, it gave him a lot of work experience. This was probably due to his innate talent and his handsome appearance that made his boss often use him to go out and meet clients frequently.
It was truly a job that taught a person. This job gave him experience and a network of contacts. He was young, but when it came to speaking, his demeanor, and his negotiation skills, he was like an experienced old businessman. The second stage was when the war came. Most young men joined the army, risking their lives for their country. But he paid someone to go to war in his place. He then took the opportunity to stock up on supplies to sell to the army. Many people thought that Rockefeller was being selfish by doing this. The country was in such a crisis, and he was still taking the opportunity to make money off of them.
But Rockefeller thought that if it weren't for him, those soldiers would have starved to death long ago. Rockefeller didn't care what others said about him. The important thing at that moment was that he had earned a large sum of money, which became his initial capital. The third stage, we have already mentioned above, was when everyone was drilling for oil, he didn't join them. He found a way to refine that oil into another product. He hired a professor from a university to conduct experiments for him on how to refine crude oil into kerosene. At that time, it was a new invention that Rockefeller saw from a businessman's perspective, recognized the problem, and used experts to do what ordinary people found difficult to do.
At that time, his factory could refine 500 barrels of kerosene a day, making it the first and largest kerosene refining factory in the world. Later, he named this company Standard Oil Company, which was one of the most successful companies among the large corporations born on American soil in the late 19th century. If we think about it, in the early 20th century, the automobile industry, which ran on oil, was just beginning. Ford was founded in 1903. Rockefeller had already controlled almost 90% of the oil production since the late 19th century. You tell me, an opportunity like this comes once in a thousand years. And if it falls into the hands of Rockefeller, it would be strange if he didn't become a billionaire.
The fourth stage was when he started buying out his competitors to join him in achieving his ambition, which was the "Trust" strategy. Many people said that Rockefeller's actions seemed to lack business ethics. He went around buying up people's assets, boasting that he had money, and competing unfairly. But Rockefeller thought that oil is a standard product. It's not something you eat. The oil I produce and the oil you produce must have the same standard. So no matter how we compete, in the end, there must be a common standard. If you don't sell to me now, someone else will come and pressure you to lower your price. So why don't we just team up and do business together?
You see? Even the name of his company wanted to show that his oil was the standard oil. Therefore, his cleverness, his right decisions, and this once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity were the conditions that made Rockefeller achieve great success.
In conclusion, let's summarize the key points in the first part of this book. First, we talked about the four special characteristics of Rockefeller. First, he was the richest man in the world, but second, he was a complete miser. Third, he was a man who loved to do charity work, and fourth, he was a man without sentimentality.
Next, we talked about his work history and how he did business. At first, he started as a bookkeeper for someone, gathering a network of contacts and business experience. Later, he seized the opportunity when the country was at war, using his intelligence and clever thinking to gather his initial business capital. Little by little, he created a large oil company and went around buying out competitor companies to become his subsidiaries.
What was amazing about him was not just that he could do business and become the richest person in the world in the 19th century, but what was even more amazing was that he left behind his assets and his great business principles that lasted for six generations. This is truly hard to find. The Rockefeller family later all became aristocrats, all billionaires and leaders of the country. We are really curious about how he was able to pass down the DNA of a businessman from nothing to becoming the richest person in the world to his children and grandchildren. This is in the second key point.
In the second part, we will talk about Rockefeller's family. We all understand that it's difficult for a poor child to become rich. Whether it's their way of thinking or their education, it can't compare to the children of the rich. The children of the rich get a good education, a deep upbringing, and a good living environment. As for the children of the poor, they struggle day to day, selling their labor for food. When do they have time to think about the future?
But if we think about it from another angle, the children of the poor have a fighting spirit, can overcome obstacles, and are more accustomed to problems than the children of the rich. If a child is born to be the child of a rich person, it's even harder to raise them, because material things cannot motivate them to fight forever. Because they think they already have everything. Even if you say that when you die, you won't leave them anything, you still can't teach them to fight like the children of the poor. It's like being born with wings. If you stop them from flying and make them learn to walk like ordinary people, it's really difficult to control their emotions.
Rockefeller understood this point very well. Therefore, since his children were young, he taught them very well, especially his only son, Rockefeller Jr. He taught his son with his own hands, sending letters to him almost every year to remind him. Rockefeller Jr. did not disappoint his father. Not only did he lead the Rockefeller Foundation to gather more and more funds, but he also made his family's assets grow even larger.
In the Rockefeller family, it wasn't like other rich families. Their principle was that the children couldn't spend money freely. If they wanted spending money, they had to work like everyone else. For example, washing dishes in the house once earned them 50 cents, cleaning the house once earned them $1, and shining a pair of shoes for someone in the house earned them 20 cents. And for all this work, they had to keep a clear account. How many pairs of shoes did they shine today? How many times did they clean the house this month? At the end of the month, they would come and get their money from their father.
There is another book that talks about the 38 letters that Rockefeller left for his children. If we have the chance, we will summarize it for you all. Here, we will just present three letters for you.
The first letter is titled "Be a Smart Person Who Appears Foolish." It was written in September 1890, when Rockefeller Jr. was 16 years old. I will translate the content of this letter into Khmer as directly as possible so that you all can feel how Rockefeller taught his son.
"To my beloved son, Rockefeller Jr. Tomorrow, I have to return to our old house for a while to solve a family problem. During this time, I hope you can help me with some of my work. But I want to remind you that if you encounter any problems while working that you can't solve and need help, please ask for advice from my business manager, Mr. Gatess. He is the person I trust the most. He always helps me in making important decisions, and I believe he can certainly help you in making important decisions as well. But there is one condition you must promise me: you must respect him."
You see? The most important word in the passage above is "respect." Respect is very important. If you want someone to help you, you must respect and value them. Let's continue reading the content of this letter. "Son, you are a brilliant student of economics and sociology at the prestigious Brown University. But you must know that the knowledge you have learned is nothing but empty if you don't apply it to create benefits for yourself. The knowledge in books is all theory that is woven together to serve as a foundation for you to enter society, that's all. It can't help you solve the problems that arise before you.
I hope you don't rely on your knowledge to solve problems in life. You must know that the knowledge you learned at school did not make you rich like me. It's only when you know how to use it. You can use knowledgeable people only if you are a person of wisdom. And that wisdom comes from fighting and struggling in life. The experience of life has taught me that when the road is difficult, it can forge you into a strong and capable person. When you have no other way to go, forging ahead is the only way you must fight to overcome obstacles.
Don't think about succeeding overnight. Those who have a lot of wealth and fame in a short period of time, all those things will leave them in a short period of time as well. Only by fighting and struggling for a long enough period of time can you maintain what you have for a long and stable time." At this point, he was emphasizing to his son that knowledge is just a guiding light. If you don't move forward, there's no point in shining it anywhere. Only by working hard and struggling, and overcoming obstacles on your own, can you succeed for a long and stable time. At this point, he wanted to teach his son not to be afraid of failure and to learn to fight.
"I believe you must be wondering, ever since I asked you to work by my side, I have never given you a big task to do. It's not because I don't trust your abilities, son. It's just that I think you are still young. Now is the time to do what you are capable of. Do small things first to get to know people, to learn to control your own emotions. When you can control your own mind, and know how to make decisions with sound judgment, then you will know how to use people who are more capable than you to do big tasks.
Son, in this world, there are only two types of people. The first is a type of person who knows how to use their own abilities, like artists, laborers, engineers. And the other is a type of person who knows how to use others, that is, business owners, corporate managers. The second type of person must have one ability, which is to win the hearts of capable people and know how to manage people from the bottom to the top. Son, you must be the second type of person. Know how to manage people, and even more so, know how to motivate and praise people.
A person without knowledge is a person without a future. A person with too much knowledge might become a slave to their knowledge. To be a person, you don't have to be too smart. You have to learn to be a person who doesn't know, so that you have the opportunity to use capable people. The opportunity to say the words 'I don't know' is a weak point for people. Those who act smart are all foolish people."
The above is the first letter that Rockefeller wrote to his son. Let's open the second letter, which reminds his son not to follow the path of failure of other rich kids. This second letter was written in September 1897, when Rockefeller was 23 years old. This letter is titled "How You Start Doesn't Determine How You Finish." "My dear son, Rockefeller Jr., I hope to be able to walk a path with you to the very end, but I cannot be the one who steers your boat forever.
God created us with two legs, meaning he wants us to learn to walk on our own path. What I have achieved is your starting point. The food has been prepared and placed on the table, but you must learn to hold the fork and knife yourself. Then you can savor the delicious taste of the food on the table. Of course, if I carry you up the mountain, you will never know the value of working hard to climb the mountain yourself. And it would have no meaning.
The rich and the poor, the high and the low, all live in society together. Everyone has a different starting point, but it doesn't mean the end will be the same as how it started. It's a long race. Those who know how to fight and have faith in their own abilities will be able to reach the final destination. When I was young, I was born into a poor family. As you know, even a single book to read was bought for me by a neighbor. I didn't have the ability to buy it myself. When I first started working, I only earned $5 a week. To have what you see now, I went through many bitter experiences.
In the eyes of others, my success is an amazing thing, but in my heart, it's just a small result that I should have gotten from my hard work. I know the value of money, and I also know the problems that money brings us. That's why when you and your sister were young, I intentionally didn't let you know that our family was rich. I taught you to earn your own income and to be thrifty. I couldn't let the wealth we have destroy your future and your happy life.
Life is a long and enjoyable journey. You must learn to enjoy this journey. You must remember that the starting point can influence the end point, but it cannot determine how it will end. Ability, character, experience, and luck are all important factors that you cannot lack on your journey to prosperity. As long as you have high determination and are well-prepared on your own path, God will help you.
If you think that all of Rockefeller's letters to his son were sweet and gentle like this, let's look at the third letter. This letter is titled "Be True to Yourself." "My dear son, Rockefeller Jr., I hope you are feeling better now. If not, I think you should try to understand a few things. In this world, everyone wants to benefit. When you leave the family and enter society, everyone on the street is a stranger. It's like a jungle full of wild animals. Everyone can be your enemy, including yourself.
You have to face your own weaknesses. You have to face down any person or thing that destroys your peace and brings you suffering. Son, don't say no to me yet. I just want you to see one of the dangerous sides of this society. Of course, I also want friendship, honesty, justice, and love. I want everything to be as good as I think it is. But on the other hand, I will never forget every time I was lied to, cheated, attacked, and pressured.
In business, when everyone is thinking about their own benefit, you must know how to protect your own interests. The thing that I can't forget is in Cleveland, our old home. When the economy was in trouble, many oil wells were about to become water wells. Oil was so cheap that it was almost worthless. Many oil well owners were about to go bankrupt. I had the idea to change the situation, to have everyone join hands to row the boat together, to save everyone's lives. I bought up the oil wells that were about to close. Some were left with only old, worthless junk.
We tried so hard to help and save them, but in the end, they were not only ungrateful, but they also ganged up to cause problems for me. Through these lies and deceptions, I told myself that I shouldn't trust anyone. By saying this, I know it's not a positive message, but I want to tell you that in any situation, only by trusting yourself can you not regret it later."
In the last letter, he wanted his son to believe in his own abilities and not to put too much hope in others. Then he wouldn't be disappointed. And this was the experience he had gained from his business dealings for many years. This is just three of the 38 letters that Rockefeller wrote to his son. In them, he told the younger generation to be patient, to be serious, to look at their own abilities and the goals they wanted to achieve.
This information, although not much, the way he wrote these letters really makes people feel special and memorable. If I had a son, I would also write letters to remind him like this on his birthday every year. When we talk to children, it should be full of pride, encouragement, and hope like this. It's more beneficial than using inappropriate words and scolding them.
The above are the key points in the book "Titan," which talks about the saga of the richest man in the world in the 19th century, J.D. Rockefeller.