While providing abundant evidence of Rockefeller’s misdeeds, Chernow discards the stereotype of the cold-blooded monster to sketch an unforgettably human portrait of a quirky, eccentric original. The titan spent more than 30 years dodging investigations until Teddy Roosevelt and his trustbusters embarked on a marathon crusade to bring Standard Oil to bay. Critics charged that his empire was built on unscrupulous tactics: grand-scale collusion with the railroads, predatory pricing, industrial espionage, and wholesale bribery of political officials. Rockefeller was likely the most controversial businessman in our nation’s history. Branded 'the Octopus' by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist.īorn the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world’s richest man by creating America’s most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers.

Now Ron Chernow, a National Book Award-winning biographer, gives us a detailed and insightful history of the mogul.

Rockefeller, Sr., history’s first billionaire and the patriarch of America’s most famous dynasty, is an icon whose true nature has eluded three generations of historians.

Ron chernow john d rockefeller