Filthy Rich: Dirty Secrets of the World’s First Billionaire | Dark History with Bailey Sarian

Aug 9, 2023

Filthy Rich: Dirty Secrets of the World’s First Billionaire | Dark History with Bailey Sarian

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Hi friends, happy Thursday!

Welcome to the Dark History podcast. Today we’re discussing the world’s first ever billionaire- John D. Rockefeller. This guy was money obsessed, and I mean OBSESSED. We’re talking manifestation, threatening people, destroying families, and just generally doing whatever it took. John’s life was quite a unique one, and this episode left me wondering: was he smart, or was he just a sleaze bag? Either way, he changed the world forever.

I appreciate you for coming by, and tune in next week for more Dark History.

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Chapters:
INTRO - 00:00
OG ROCKEFELLER - 02:00
A WHITE MAN?! NO - 05:25
ENTER JOHN D - 10:18
DADDY’S DOUBLE LIFE - 16:14
BOOTSTRAPS OR WHATEVER - 19:13
BLACK SLUDGE, BABY! - 23:01
THE LIGHTBULB MOMENT - 28:15
JOHN GETS CREATIVE - 31:30
GIRLIE GETS REVENGE - 40:44
JOHN STARTS TO CRACK - 51:14
THE OTHER SIDE - 59:14
CONCLUSION - 1:04:49

Dark History is an Audioboom Original.

This podcast is Executive Produced by:
Bailey Sarian, Dunia McNeily from 3arts, Kevin Grosch, and Matt Enlow From Made In Network
Writers: Katie Burris, Allyson Philobos, Joey Scavuzzo, and Bailey Sarian
Research provided by: Xander Elmore \u0026 The Dark History Research Team
Special thank you to Historical Consultants: Carl Shapiro
Production Lead: Brian Jaggers
Post Supervisor: Kelly Hardin
Production Management: Ross Woodruff
Hair: Prince Angel
Makeup: Roni Herrera
I’m your host — Bailey Sarian

Content

0.18 -> - When I say the word Rockefeller,

1.77 -> you probably think of Jay-Z,

3.66 -> but he picked that name because it belongs to a man

6.48 -> who achieved insane wealth and power

8.31 -> like America had never seen before.

10.89 -> I'm talking about the world's first billionaire.

13.59 -> Raised by a dad who was a gifted conman,

15.99 -> this guy was a cutthroat, money-obsessed businessman

19.86 -> who did not care if he destroyed families

22.05 -> to get what he wanted, mm.

24.69 -> This is the story of John D. Rockefeller.

27.389 -> (thunder rumbles)

28.335 -> (warm bluegrass music) (bird cawing)

35.846 -> (bird caws)

37.89 -> Hi, friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today.

40.53 -> My name is Bailey Sarian,

41.637 -> and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, "Dark History."

46.08 -> Now, this is a chance to tell a story like it is

48.54 -> and to share the history of stuff

50.04 -> we would never think about.

52.23 -> So all you have to do is sit back, relax,

54.99 -> and let's talk about that hot, juicy history goss.

59.43 -> So when we did our Gilded Age episode,

62.34 -> there was a name that like kept coming up,

65.13 -> and it was weird because I knew him, you know,

67.83 -> but I didn't know him, you know?

70.44 -> It's sort of like how we all

71.58 -> don't wanna stand in front of the microwave for some reason.

74.31 -> I don't remember anyone telling me not to,

76.29 -> but I know I'm not supposed to.

77.616 -> (microwave beeps)

79.11 -> Anyway, today we're talking about the Rockefellers.

83.01 -> Sound familiar at all, hmm?

85.83 -> The Rockefellers, if you don't know,

87.36 -> were one of those big, famous American families

90.42 -> that had huge success in the Gilded Age,

93.42 -> and they left behind an even bigger legacy.

96.39 -> I mean, it was so big that most of us

98.37 -> have probably heard their name at some point in our lives,

101.52 -> or at least walked past a building with their name on it.

104.31 -> But how did they get their billions, you know?

106.53 -> What are the skeletons in the family closet?

108.6 -> I wanna know.

109.71 -> And why do I have that same microwave feeling

112.32 -> that I shouldn't get too close to them, hmm?

114.54 -> Well, we're about to find out.

117.18 -> I've got answers, Joan.

118.59 -> You look great. (Joan caws)

119.76 -> Now, the name that most people are familiar with,

122.13 -> if they've heard of the Rockefeller family,

124.38 -> is John D. Rockefeller,

126.81 -> because he's like the Daddy Warbucks of America.

129.99 -> I hope you know who that is.

131.28 -> You do, right? Okay, great.

132.93 -> Honestly, he kind of reminds me of William Hurst, yeah.

136.83 -> Both of them were extremely ambitious,

139.62 -> completely obsessed with money,

141.57 -> and (scoffs) just willing to do anything to get it.

144.84 -> And just like Hurst

145.954 -> to really understand who John was

148.35 -> and like what motivated him,

150.39 -> we gotta talk about the man that raised him.

153.75 -> You know, go back to the source.

156.21 -> And that guy's name was William Rockefeller.

159.12 -> Now, William, Daddy William, was a real interesting guy.

164.67 -> He was born into privilege in 1810

167.34 -> to a family that owned a plantation

169.59 -> and a whole bunch of land in New York.

172.02 -> And as a young lad, William was living off his daddy's coin.

176.37 -> You know, just footloose and fancy free,

178.95 -> just doing whatever he wanted.

180.39 -> He's been described by journalists as, quote,

183.067 -> "A man in whom strength, fearlessness, and joy in life,

187.68 -> unbothered by education or love of decency, ran riot.

192.42 -> The type who hunts, fishes, gambles,

195.03 -> races horses and carouses, aka parties,

198.48 -> in low and mean ways.

200.46 -> He had no trade.

201.81 -> Indeed he had all the vices except one: he never drank."

206.16 -> End quote. That was a long quote.

207.091 -> Wow, thank you. (crowd applauding)

209.76 -> But anyways, I was like,

210.593 -> "Oh my God, he sounds just like Hearst, huh?"

212.94 -> Basically, William hated working and just wanted to party,

217.44 -> gamble, and like shoot the shit.

219.24 -> He was a certified bad boy, I guess you could say.

223.77 -> Honestly, William Rockefeller

225.33 -> reminds me of those kids on "Gossip Girl,"

227.7 -> you know, just throwing around their parents' credit card,

229.89 -> going to clubs, and then like sitting on those museum steps.

233.97 -> Get a job, Chuck.

235.92 -> Now, it's not clear when or why,

237.72 -> but at a certain point

238.8 -> William's dad decides enough is enough

241.77 -> and cuts him off financially.

243.497 -> Ooh, you know that's gonna make him a little upset.

246.798 -> So William's like,

248.197 -> "Shit, I need to get a little creative," because, you know,

250.83 -> he's got an expensive lifestyle to maintain.

253.53 -> William wasn't well-educated,

255.66 -> so he didn't have a ton of options,

258.3 -> but this didn't stop him,

259.71 -> I mean, 'cause he wasn't necessarily interested

262.35 -> in playing life by the rules.

264.27 -> So he goes from town to town,

266.13 -> calling himself an herbal doctor

269.19 -> and selling medicine from this like big jug

271.74 -> that he would carry around with him.

273.54 -> He said it just so happened to be the cure

275.97 -> for every problem people asked him about.

278.73 -> And for the right price, William was also the guy

282.06 -> that you would go to for quote/unquote "abortive herbs,"

286.41 -> which were herbs that could induce an abortion.

289.35 -> Now, because William always made a point

291.21 -> to dress in a sharp suit

293.52 -> and know exactly the right thing to say,

295.259 -> people just believed him.

297.54 -> I mean, I know I would've.

299.46 -> He's in a suit.

300.75 -> He must be serious, right?

303.3 -> So he was making some cash, you know,

305.61 -> being this little doctor.

307.05 -> But the problem was his status as a doctor,

310.17 -> all of the herbs, his jug of medicine or whatever the fuck,

314.85 -> none of it was real.

316.32 -> It was all fake.

317.22 -> It was just one big giant con.

319.8 -> Again, William was uneducated and unemployed,

322.41 -> but he wasn't gonna let that stop him.

324.6 -> He was a confident white man.

326.25 -> Hello, a confident white man in a suit.

329.79 -> The world was his oyster.

331.77 -> Oyster Rockefeller, if you will.

334.92 -> Another one of William's ventures

337.32 -> was to loan money to local farmers

339.6 -> at insanely high interest rates.

342.06 -> He would intentionally do this to poor farmers

344.46 -> who probably wouldn't be able to make their payments

347.01 -> so that he could like eventually

348.36 -> just take their farmland from them.

350.64 -> Like, he knew that they probably weren't gonna pay

352.65 -> and then he could come in and like just snatch their land.

356.07 -> Yeah, what a shit.

357.701 -> And this is like when William Rockefeller

360.6 -> develops a reputation for being

362.37 -> a quote/unquote "famous trickster,"

366.883 -> or like we like to say, con artist.

370.2 -> It's worth mentioning

371.25 -> that people usually trusted William Rockefeller right away,

374.82 -> all thanks to, you know, his extreme efforts

377.34 -> to look well-dressed and wealthy,

380.1 -> even if he was broke as a joke.

382.68 -> William was known to be completely obsessed

384.66 -> with his appearance,

386.22 -> and leaving people with a good first impression

388.92 -> was really important to him.

390.21 -> But all his sheisty business moves

392.88 -> and fake-ass medicine slinging,

395.13 -> it starts to catch up with him,

396.81 -> which is how he ends up with the nickname Devil Bill.

402.63 -> Honestly, kind of a badass name, Devil Bill.

405.18 -> Okay, sounds like a cowboy that I don't wanna fuck with.

408.6 -> But this Devil Bill was always

410.52 -> one step ahead of the haters, okay?

412.44 -> Before anyone had time to like catch onto his scams

415.53 -> or like track him down for a refund,

417.84 -> he'd be on his way to another town.

420.03 -> Kind of like your dad, just, poof, gone.

423.24 -> In 1834, William moves to Richford, New York,

426.96 -> and, you know, when you move to a new place

428.88 -> or start at like a new school and you're like,

430.987 -> "I'm gonna change things up.

432.84 -> I'm gonna be someone different,"

434.64 -> so you have people, you know,

436.29 -> calling you by a different nickname

438.12 -> or maybe you're dressing different?

441.03 -> Well, William moved to Richford

443.58 -> and started telling people that he was, I'm not lying,

446.94 -> he was telling people that he was deaf and dumb,

451.17 -> as in like he couldn't speak or even hear.

454.758 -> (crickets chirping)

456.15 -> Yeah, that's what he chose.

457.71 -> And for a while everyone in town

459.36 -> was writing things out for William on a chalkboard

462.36 -> that he carried around his neck.

464.19 -> People think that William did this because he had, quote,

467.407 -> "A desire to hear things which would hardly be talked about

470.97 -> before a stranger with good ears," end quote.

474.18 -> So basically pretty much he liked eavesdropping, okay?

477.6 -> Because people would talk in front of him

480.57 -> not knowing that he could actually hear them,

483.48 -> and then he would hear what they were saying.

486.66 -> I had a lot of Red Bull today, just let me live.

488.94 -> Anyways, that's right, he was a professional eavesdropper

492.87 -> and it's kind of brilliant, honestly.

494.64 -> Wow.

495.57 -> And bizarrely enough,

496.883 -> it really worked out for him in the dating world.

499.93 -> I don't know.

501 -> So one day in 1837, William showed up on the doorstep

505.17 -> of like some wealthy farmer.

506.813 -> And mind you, he has a chalkboard sign around his neck

511.86 -> that says, "I am deaf and dumb."

515.4 -> Yeah, and then he just shows up

516.87 -> to people's houses or something.

518.04 -> I don't know, but he does, okay?

520.2 -> And somehow he still managed to charm the lady

524.73 -> that answered the door.

526.8 -> It was the farmer's daughter, Eliza Davison.

531.09 -> I guess Eliza was quite smitten with him

534.03 -> and she was quoted to say,

536.407 -> "I'd marry that man if he wasn't deaf and dumb!"

540.09 -> Yeah, so, okay, but listen, right?

542.46 -> But listen to this because William, he hears this.

545.61 -> He's like, "What? She would be into me?"

547.92 -> So then he decides

549.033 -> that he's just gonna drop the whole act on the freaking spot

553.41 -> and he comes clean to Eliza.

555 -> He's like, "Yeah, I'm actually not deaf or dumb."

557.447 -> And honestly I was like,

558.787 -> "Yeah, that's a red flag, girl.

560.91 -> I don't know about that one.

561.87 -> Maybe pass, shut the door.

564.87 -> Go on with your life."

566.22 -> But she didn't. That's fine.

568.14 -> We all make choices.

569.37 -> William drops his whole act, right?

571.44 -> Now, many have speculated

573.12 -> that maybe he was just tired of like scamming people, right?

577.11 -> Or maybe he most likely heard a little rumor

581.58 -> that was going around that Eliza's dad,

584.58 -> he was gonna like cut her a fat check when she got married.

587.91 -> Yeah, she had money coming her way,

589.86 -> and William was like, "What's that? What?"

593.22 -> So William decides to drop the whole act,

595.137 -> and he decides that he needs to lock down Eliza.

599.1 -> He needs to keep that shit around

601.23 -> 'cause she has money coming in, right?

603.63 -> Girl, what are you...

605.46 -> What is she...

606.293 -> I don't, I don't know!

607.126 -> If a man came up to you with a sign that says,

609.487 -> "I am deaf and dumb,"

611.31 -> and then was like, "LOL, JK," you would stay?

615.12 -> I don't have anything to follow that with,

616.41 -> but, okay, good for you.

617.76 -> So the two of them go on to wed two years later,

621.15 -> and then on July 8th, 1839,

624.3 -> they have their first baby boy.

627.66 -> John D. Rockefeller is born.

630.868 -> Wah! Wah!

633.772 -> (mysterious music)

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647.85 -> maybe even sundresses,

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652.95 -> in season-ready colors, trends, and patterns

656.01 -> to help you refresh your wardrobe.

658.74 -> I always choose black, but, you know,

661.08 -> you can play with some color if you want to.

662.94 -> Now, if you don't know Stitch Fix,

664.38 -> mm, it is the best way to discover

666.24 -> new styles and brands just for you.

669.03 -> Think of Stitch Fix as like your style partner.

671.67 -> Your stylist will learn your personal tastes

673.89 -> and collaborate with you on looks that you are gonna love.

677.19 -> Now, all you have to do is answer a few questions

679.92 -> about where you typically like to shop,

682.38 -> what you like to wear, and like what your price range is.

685.71 -> And with your choices in mind

687.043 -> and a wide range of sizes from XS to XXXL,

691.71 -> they'll find your perfect fit.

693.81 -> Now, the best part is you can try your pieces at home

696.9 -> before you commit and buy, you know?

698.88 -> Just keep what you love and then you can send back the rest.

702.15 -> Bye!

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717.78 -> You're completely in control.

719.31 -> Personally, I love Stitch Fix

720.9 -> because with the summer coming up,

722.25 -> for some odd reason, I like to wear brighter colors,

725.76 -> or at least I think I like to wear brighter colors.

728.4 -> So with Stitch Fix, they'll find me items

731.22 -> that, you know, are still me, but adding some pops of color.

735.84 -> The best part of all,

736.83 -> if maybe like they miss the mark

738.36 -> or like I just don't like the item,

740.22 -> I can send it back no questions asked,

742.86 -> and even exchange it

743.82 -> for something that's a little bit more me,

746.52 -> maybe a little bit more black, you know?

749.01 -> Even though I asked for color.

750.27 -> I know, I'm complicated, okay?

751.8 -> But Stitch Fix, they just get me and they make it very easy.

755.22 -> Try Stitch Fix today at stitchfix.com/darkhistory,

759.51 -> and you'll get 25% off when you keep everything in your Fix.

763.44 -> That's stitchfix.com/darkhistory

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773.07 -> So John, the baby, right?

774.57 -> He was just one of six kids that William and Eliza had.

778.77 -> Yeah, she pushed a lot out.

780.84 -> Now, you'll never believe this

782.07 -> after everything I've told you about William,

784.11 -> but he wasn't a great father, you know?

788.76 -> He would do trust fall exercises with his kids,

792 -> but at the last second he would step back

794.46 -> and just let them fall flat on their faces.

796.98 -> Thanks, Dad.

797.97 -> Okay, so this was apparently an exercise

801.09 -> that was gonna help like teach the kids how to trust people,

805.44 -> but William did it backwards because he stepped away.

809.234 -> So the moral of the story

811.71 -> was that William was teaching his kids

814.847 -> never to trust anyone, never to trust anyone,

819.57 -> not even him.

822.81 -> That's pretty brutal.

824.01 -> And his wife Eliza must have learned this same lesson

827.4 -> because not long after they were married

829.41 -> and started having children together,

831.27 -> fricking William started having an affair.

833.94 -> Of course he did.

835.83 -> So he started having affair, ugh, to make matters worse,

839.85 -> with his live-in housekeeper.

842.58 -> Her name was Nancy Brown.

844.38 -> That's like the whitest name I've ever heard,

846.18 -> Nancy Brown, wow.

848.648 -> Okay, so he's having an affair with his housekeeper,

851.94 -> who lives there.

852.84 -> And girl, let me tell you, look,

854.37 -> some major information I am uncovered

857.64 -> about William and this Nancy woman,

860.01 -> you are not ready.

861.48 -> So Nancy wasn't just the other woman, oh nay nay,

865.8 -> because as it turns out, William had been in love with Nancy

869.31 -> before he even married Eliza.

871.71 -> I guess he ultimately like chose obviously to marry Eliza,

875.31 -> but mainly because her dad was rich.

878.76 -> And Nancy, mm, she didn't have anything to her name.

882 -> So naturally William has to make a choice, you know?

884.91 -> And he went with Eliza.

887.34 -> But just a couple of weeks after they had gotten married,

890.97 -> you know, getting settled down, whatever,

893.19 -> William ends up going to Nancy's house, knocks on her door,

897.9 -> and he's asking if she'll move in with the family

901.23 -> as like their maid.

902.7 -> And I guess she agrees.

904.35 -> So their little love affair just kept, it kept on going,

908.788 -> even though he had, what's that word?

912.9 -> Oh shit.

913.733 -> Oh, wife. He had a wife.

915.33 -> Yeah, so.

917.87 -> So while little John, baby John was growing up,

921 -> his dad was just screwing the housekeeper

923.43 -> like right under the same roof.

926.46 -> Now, William and Nancy,

928.71 -> they would even have two illegitimate children together.

932.49 -> And I'm just imagining all of this

934.26 -> was maybe a little awkward for Miss Eliza, right?

938.94 -> Like, to say the least.

940.59 -> What do you do?

941.61 -> I think it's safe to say that Eliza

942.766 -> really got the shit end of the stick.

944.88 -> I mean shit, she's like,

946.237 -> "I'm marrying like this nice, sweet, fake deaf man,

950.49 -> and then it turns out, you know,

952.44 -> he's actually a piece of shit.

954.3 -> I wish I could have seen the signs!"

957.084 -> (Bailey laughs)

960.54 -> Sorry, that's actually funny because he's wearing a sign.

963.84 -> Yeah, it was right there, Eliza.

967.02 -> So it's around this time that William decides

968.696 -> to kick the whole fake doctor act up a notch.

973.62 -> He decides he's gonna start living a double life

975.876 -> and just take on a completely fake identity.

980.16 -> I guess like,

980.993 -> while he was on his quote/unquote "business trips,"

984.42 -> he would go by the name Dr. Levingston

988.05 -> and pretend to be a legit eye and ear doctor.

991.02 -> And it's under the name Dr. Levingston

993.21 -> that he actually marries a totally different woman.

998.13 -> This guy's busy, yeah.

1000.35 -> One mistress wasn't enough and neither was a wife.

1003.38 -> He wanted more, okay?

1005.09 -> So in 1855, William actually committed bigamy,

1009.26 -> which is the crime of being married to multiple people

1012.23 -> because he ended up marrying a Canadian woman

1015.17 -> named Margaret Allen.

1016.58 -> According to journalist Allison McNearney,

1019.07 -> William actually met Margaret

1020.81 -> when she was a 17-year-old teenager.

1023.78 -> Yeah, not even like an a adult.

1026.6 -> There was a 24 year age gap between them.

1030.29 -> But, you know, it's the early days of America.

1033.32 -> It's not like it's changed much.

1035.36 -> I mean, there was no internet, you know?

1037.1 -> You could literally be whoever you wanted.

1039.32 -> You could say you're a doctor,

1041.06 -> you could sell juices and potions,

1043.28 -> you could put on a suit and be deaf and blind and...

1047.45 -> America, land of the free, goddammit.

1051.38 -> And honestly, when you think about it,

1053.03 -> it's kind of beautiful.

1054.44 -> It was so free.

1055.88 -> Despite Eliza's family money,

1058.19 -> I guess the Rockefeller family struggled financially.

1061.67 -> William, he had eight mouths feet at this point.

1064.82 -> Well, 11 if you include his housekeeper/lover

1069.23 -> and their two children.

1070.94 -> And also if you count his teenage wife in Canada,

1074.18 -> so I guess that's 12.

1075.59 -> But I mean, shit, none of that noise bothered him.

1078.08 -> You know, William always made sure

1079.52 -> to still present himself in a certain way.

1082.58 -> He continued to always be well-groomed

1084.86 -> and would dress in a way

1085.79 -> that made people assume he was rich.

1089.15 -> Money!

1090.35 -> Plus, he was also known for carrying around $1,000 cash,

1094.841 -> I guess on him at all times.

1097.25 -> Again, this was all for looks,

1098.9 -> like to show off to people that he's rich.

1101.87 -> He sounds like a fictional character, huh?

1104.21 -> So William would actually like get this stack of money

1107.69 -> and just start counting it

1109.79 -> right in front of his kids' faces,

1111.89 -> like, "Yeah, Daddy's got money,"

1114.71 -> just to make them jealous, I guess.

1116.81 -> Yeah, his own kids. Yeah.

1119.69 -> And then he would like trick them into making, quote,

1122.367 -> "bad business deals with him."

1124.7 -> It was all to teach them the same lesson

1126.59 -> about trusting no one.

1128.33 -> I mean, these freaking poor kids.

1129.83 -> I mean, they were really going through it, especially John.

1133.1 -> And I think many of us can maybe see

1135.74 -> why John preferred his mother over his shithead dad.

1140.39 -> Eliza raised John and all of his siblings

1143.27 -> to be Baptists just like her,

1145.007 -> and for the rest of his life,

1146.78 -> John was a very deeply religious guy.

1149.84 -> And on top of that, he was extremely hardworking.

1153.35 -> So the whole family, that huge-ass family,

1157.49 -> moved to Ohio when John was 14 years old.

1160.79 -> And while there, when he wasn't in school, he was hustling,

1164.87 -> picking up like every odd job in town he could.

1167.75 -> John dug potatoes for a local farmer.

1170.45 -> He sold candy, he raised turkeys and other animals.

1174.83 -> Basically if he could make a buck,

1176.253 -> he was down to do the work.

1178.61 -> You know, like that true American way,

1180.74 -> bootstraps or whatever the fuck.

1183.566 -> Pull those bootstraps up high.

1186.98 -> He did that.

1188.03 -> Now, this was the first time John was making his own money,

1191.87 -> and thanks to his dad,

1193.49 -> little John became obsessed with making more of it.

1197.03 -> And then one day John has a come to Jesus moment,

1200.72 -> ah, you know? (celestial music)

1203.03 -> He's thinking and he's like,

1203.967 -> "Hey, shit, you know what?

1205.28 -> I could probably make more money

1207.2 -> by using my own money to make me money."

1211.19 -> He's probably smoking the devil's lettuce,

1213.59 -> if you know what I mean.

1214.67 -> I guess John said, quote,

1216.327 -> "I soon learned that I could get as much interest

1218.627 -> for $50 loaned at 7%

1221.298 -> as I could by digging potatoes for 10 days," end quote.

1225.17 -> Yeah, he was doing math.

1226.58 -> Essentially without lifting a finger,

1228.26 -> John could be making money just by having money.

1231.5 -> And he decides his two goals in life

1233.51 -> are to live to be 100 and make $100,000.

1238.73 -> Yeah, he like put that on a vision board.

1240.92 -> So in 1855, at just 16 years old,

1244.7 -> John, he wasn't focused on normal teenager stuff

1248.57 -> like ripping heaters or go into the Dairy Queen.

1251.93 -> He's got plans, he's got goals.

1254.45 -> It was his first white collar gig.

1257.03 -> John was hired as an office clerk in Cleveland

1260.3 -> doing administrative stuff

1261.95 -> for something called a commission firm,

1264.11 -> which essentially buys and sells products for clients.

1267.47 -> Stuff like grain and coal.

1269.33 -> Sounds boring, right?

1270.35 -> I know, I know, okay? Whatever.

1272.63 -> We use it, grain and coal, we need it.

1274.67 -> So John started this job on September 26th, 1855,

1278.752 -> and we know this exact day

1280.94 -> because it was a very special day to him.

1284.57 -> He even called this date his job day,

1288.62 -> and he treated it like it was a birthday,

1291.26 -> being born into the world of business.

1293.6 -> I guess he would put it on the calendar

1295.342 -> and celebrate it almost every year, even as an adult.

1299.63 -> Yeah, he was really proud.

1300.62 -> I don't know, I'm like,

1301.707 -> "Did he buy himself a birthday cake?"

1303.47 -> You know, he's like, "Yay!"

1307.04 -> Like, okay, I think a lot of us

1308.51 -> probably would roll their eyes

1310.16 -> if someone at the office was like,

1311.397 -> "Hey guys, it's my job birthday.

1313.757 -> We're gonna celebrate.

1314.99 -> Everyone buy me gifts or I'm gonna fire you."

1318.29 -> Which honestly sounds like a good idea

1319.94 -> because I would love gifts.

1322.73 -> Birthday job day!

1325.28 -> Now, later in life, John is quoted as saying,

1327.717 -> "All my future seemed to hinge on that day.

1330.95 -> And I often tremble when I ask myself the question:

1333.83 -> What if I had not got the job?"

1337.243 -> (Bailey gasps)

1338.57 -> I know, he's a little dramatic, but I'll tell you what,

1341.75 -> the course of American history

1343.34 -> would look a hell of a lot different

1345.14 -> if he didn't get that job, so okay.

1349.07 -> About two years into his new job,

1351.41 -> John was already itching for more.

1353.6 -> He got into a little tiff with his boss about his salary.

1357.14 -> I guess John wanted a bump to $800 per year,

1361.04 -> and the boss was like, "Hmm, interesting.

1365.45 -> Okay, how about no?"

1369.08 -> And John, he was like, "Fuck you, I quit,"

1372.29 -> and he goes looking for a better opportunity somewhere else.

1375.41 -> That's because in 1859,

1378.2 -> a man struck oil for the first time in America

1381.04 -> in a town called Titusville, Pennsylvania.

1385.07 -> Honestly, I thought it was Titsville,

1386.6 -> but it's Titusville, Pennsylvania.

1389.24 -> But Titsville sounds way more fun.

1391.015 -> (mysterious music)

1392.12 -> This episode and your easy breezy summer dinners

1395.12 -> are brought to you by HelloFresh.

1397.94 -> Ooh, I love HelloFresh.

1399.77 -> Look, figuring out what's for dinner is like not fun at all.

1403.645 -> It's never at the top

1405.11 -> of anyone's like summer fun to-do list.

1408.83 -> With HelloFresh, they take the work out of it

1411.47 -> by delivering chef crafted recipes

1414.08 -> and fresh ingredients to your door

1415.85 -> so you can like spend more,

1417.47 -> you know, spend more time outside doing fun summer stuff

1420.68 -> like going to the beach

1421.82 -> or maybe even listening to "Dark History," hmm?

1425.33 -> And HelloFresh isn't just for dinner.

1428.06 -> HelloFresh Market has new snacks, meals, and more

1431.6 -> to add on to your weekly order.

1433.94 -> Like, ooh, they have a s'mores bundle.

1436.67 -> It's for kids, but I was like,

1438.027 -> "I'll take it for one, just me,

1440.99 -> at home watching TV, you know?"

1443.81 -> Don't limit yourself, okay?

1445.22 -> S'mores are really for everyone.

1447.2 -> No matter what your lifestyle,

1448.82 -> there's always something for you,

1450.305 -> like from pescatarian to vegetarian all the way to vegan.

1454.55 -> You can even swap out proteins and sides

1456.92 -> to make a meal just how you want.

1458.93 -> I love HelloFresh because hey, look,

1461.15 -> it's cheaper than grocery shopping or takeout

1464.087 -> and it saves me time.

1466.37 -> I don't have to drive anywhere,

1467.78 -> and they send you like recipe cards

1470.24 -> which have pictures on it.

1471.5 -> I'm very visual, okay, I need pictures.

1474.23 -> And you just have to follow along,

1476.18 -> and it's so easy to make something delicious.

1479.6 -> Like, I made sweet ginger chicken, ooh, ah,

1483.92 -> and then I ate a bunch of s'mores, okay?

1485.75 -> Oops, sorry.

1486.583 -> So look, it's great and I have more time in my summer nights

1490 -> to eat more s'mores, thank you.

1492.62 -> If this sounds like your cup of tea,

1494.51 -> go to hellofresh.com/darkhistory16

1498.68 -> and use code DARKHISTORY16 for 16 free meals

1502.73 -> plus free shipping.

1504.98 -> That's hellofresh.com/darkhistory16

1508.85 -> for 16 free meals plus free shipping.

1511.818 -> HelloFresh: America's number one meal kit.

1514.438 -> (mysterious music)

1515.39 -> Now in Titsville...

1516.56 -> Just kidding.

1517.393 -> So in Titusville, there was a man who dug a well

1521.63 -> and was looking for salt,

1523.04 -> and he's doing this, right,

1524.087 -> and he accidentally came across some kind of black sludge.

1528.68 -> So this man, he gets a sample of the substance

1532.1 -> and he sends it to a chemist at Yale University

1535.61 -> to see like, what is this?

1537.41 -> Is it of any value, really?

1540.89 -> So the chemists, they end up running some tests on it

1543.26 -> and they were like, "This is the shit!"

1546.95 -> I mean, it was grade A, high quality oil, okay?

1551.78 -> So they pass on the word to this guy,

1553.58 -> maybe on a phone, I don't know, but I'm assuming a phone,

1557.33 -> and word spread fast that this guy had struck black gold.

1562.61 -> This set off an oil boom in northwestern Pennsylvania.

1566.06 -> At the time, everything was powered by oil.

1568.7 -> Cars didn't exist yet, you know,

1571.07 -> but people needed it for things like street lights,

1573.47 -> wagons, perfume, medicine,

1576.65 -> bleep blop bloop, boop bop boop, scuba doo, you know?

1579.98 -> I mean, oil was part of everyone's life,

1582.41 -> and that meant that there was money to be made.

1585.35 -> So when, you know, people got word about this oil,

1589.19 -> ooh, they flocked to Pennsylvania

1591.32 -> in hopes of striking oil and getting rich themselves.

1595.55 -> So John's over in Cleveland

1597.26 -> and he's hearing about all this oil production

1599.81 -> happening in Pennsylvania.

1601.19 -> Drills and wells are popping up left and right,

1603.895 -> and he gets to thinking.

1605.63 -> I mean, he's got like a sixth sense

1606.95 -> whenever there's an opportunity to make some money,

1609.11 -> and that sixth sense was like tingling, okay?

1612.89 -> Which, you know, must have been like really exciting to him

1616.01 -> because his friends at the time reported that he would say,

1619.287 -> "I'm bound to be rich, bound to be rich, bound to be rich!"

1623.87 -> He was really into like manifestation, I think.

1626.6 -> He literally believed that it was the duty,

1629.113 -> (laughs) duty,

1630.35 -> of every man to get and keep all the money they could.

1634.13 -> I mean, really, right from the jump,

1635.63 -> John was the total opposite of his dad.

1637.91 -> His dad was all about spending and being a shithead,

1640.337 -> and John was all about saving and not being his dad.

1644.39 -> Now, John's father was a major showoff

1648.11 -> and John was notorious for living on a tight budget.

1653.03 -> So combining his business smarts

1654.74 -> with his obsession for wealth,

1656.81 -> John puts himself one step ahead of all those oil producers.

1661.22 -> You'll see, he does his homework

1663.83 -> and he learns that when someone drills oil,

1666.29 -> they get what is called crude oil.

1669.23 -> Crude as in raw or unprocessed.

1671.81 -> I mean, that's what comes out of the earth.

1673.85 -> And John knows that crude oil

1675.86 -> ain't worth jack squattily shit

1679.07 -> unless someone can process it or refine it

1682.37 -> and turn it into like the useful stuff

1685.43 -> people and companies will buy,

1687.38 -> like lubricants for machines or maybe like paraffin wax.

1691.34 -> Bing! He has a little light bulb moment, you know?

1695.27 -> And this light bulb moment John has

1697.88 -> ends up changing not just America, but the world forever.

1703.7 -> Could you imagine having that kind of influence?

1706.49 -> I couldn't imagine.

1707.87 -> So in 1863, John partnered with a businessman and a chemist,

1713.06 -> so all three of them pooled their money and connections

1716.39 -> in order to build an oil refinery near Cleveland.

1720.29 -> And he chose this spot because one, it was a sweet location,

1723.62 -> two, a bunch of railroads were recently finished

1726.23 -> that connected the city

1727.4 -> to both the oil fields in Pennsylvania and to New York.

1731.69 -> And there was also the Erie Canal,

1734.9 -> which gave John another option

1736.94 -> when it came to transportation.

1738.62 -> Now, this was all important because after you refine oil,

1741.8 -> you need to sell and like ship it.

1747.35 -> You got it? Good.

1748.7 -> Boom, Business 101.

1750.98 -> So in 1865, just two years after opening,

1754.76 -> John's oil refinery operation was the largest in the area

1758.69 -> in terms of the number of barrels of oil he was putting out.

1762.35 -> Now, at this point, John was about 26 years old,

1765.352 -> 26 years old,

1766.88 -> and he's seeing that there's real money in this.

1770.57 -> 26, could you imagine being 26 and like being like this guy?

1775.46 -> What?

1776.293 -> So John's like, "Oil, money.

1779.24 -> Hey, why don't I just focus on this?"

1781.197 -> You know, he has another light bulb moment,

1784.19 -> come to Jesus moment, something,

1786.554 -> because he decides that he's gonna dedicate all of his time

1790.52 -> to just oil.

1792.02 -> And it's at this point John did something

1794.09 -> that would become his trademark move.

1797.15 -> You see, John knew that the only way

1799.31 -> to keep the money flowing in oil refining

1801.8 -> was to make the company as big as possible.

1805.46 -> And there were two ways to do that.

1807.95 -> He could build more refineries,

1810.23 -> which would take a ton of work and time,

1813.92 -> or he could just buy out his competitors

1817.824 -> who have already done the hard work

1820.64 -> of building the refineries for him, hmm.

1824.51 -> So John is doing all this,

1825.98 -> and he's honestly pissing a lot of people off.

1829.43 -> John was rich and powerful,

1831.11 -> and there was really nothing they could do.

1833.66 -> Pretty soon he begins his crusade of aggressive expansion

1837.65 -> all across America.

1839 -> He buys out a local Cleveland competitor for $72,500

1844.52 -> and folded that business under his own corporate umbrella.

1848.42 -> And ta-da, overnight,

1852.11 -> John's business essentially doubles in size.

1855.56 -> Damn, I wish I was born in 1860-something

1858.41 -> so I could find oil and be like the Beverly Hillbillies.

1861.653 -> (warm bluegrass music)

1862.486 -> I love that show.

1863.81 -> That's what this kind of sounds like.

1865.07 -> Then in 1867, he teams up with a partner

1868.28 -> who was just as ambitious as John was.

1871.76 -> The two of them together,

1873.38 -> they had a taste for world domination, okay?

1876.23 -> And they were hungry.

1877.49 -> So using money that they received from a silent partner,

1880.34 -> they expanded their refinery business even more.

1883.58 -> By the next year,

1884.57 -> John's company was the largest refinery

1887.03 -> in the entire damn world.

1889.7 -> But at this time the oil market was really competitive,

1893.48 -> so John had to get creative in order to stand out.

1896.716 -> And the first way he did that

1898.52 -> was by using a strategy called vertical integration,

1902.51 -> which I thought was like,

1903.612 -> (crickets chirping)

1905.07 -> I don't know, like you and a lover standing up doing a 69,

1910.82 -> you know, vertical integration?

1913.28 -> It kind of sounds sexual, but I'm just a perv.

1916.28 -> So no, nothing sexual.

1918.199 -> This is when a company owns every stage of its operation.

1922.497 -> We talked about this in our Coca-Cola episode,

1925.49 -> but essentially companies can cut costs

1927.879 -> by owning all parts of the business,

1931.19 -> and it also means every dollar a company earns

1933.98 -> goes back into the owner's pockets.

1936.35 -> They don't have to pay any contractors or suppliers.

1939.71 -> John was his own supplier.

1941.51 -> John owned it all, and he kind of seemed to get off on this.

1946.13 -> He is quoted as saying, "Pay a profit to nobody," end quote.

1951.17 -> I know, what a line, "Pay a profit to nobody," okay.

1955.07 -> If you need a summary,

1956.188 -> he's pretty much saying that no one else but John

1959.45 -> should make a cent on his oil.

1961.49 -> He was possessed by this idea.

1963.86 -> Just more, more, more, more, more.

1966.8 -> John and his partner built high quality, huge refineries

1970.276 -> using the best materials possible,

1973.07 -> and it was all in the details.

1974.84 -> You know, they built their own barrels,

1976.85 -> and instead of dumping the waste

1978.44 -> created by the refining process,

1981.47 -> they found a way to package it and sell it.

1984.32 -> Yeah, one of those waste products

1986.48 -> would soon be rebranded as Vaseline.

1990.83 -> You know her.

1991.82 -> Transportation was also streamlined.

1994.19 -> They had 20 wagons for short distance shipping,

1997.4 -> warehouses in New York, holding tanks,

2000.49 -> fleets of tanker cars on trains,

2003.25 -> and their own boats to ship their product from New York

2006.25 -> to the rest of the freaking world, baby.

2008.59 -> Nothing was gonna stop John, no, he was determined.

2012.04 -> I don't know what he wants though, you know?

2013.48 -> It's like, bro, chill.

2015.04 -> What do you want?

2015.873 -> Like, just chill.

2016.96 -> Anyway, after 1870, John was established

2019.613 -> as a wealthy and powerful man.

2022.12 -> He and his business partner

2023.41 -> incorporate their scrappy organization

2025.42 -> and give it a brand new name, Standard Oil.

2031.03 -> Very basic, okay.

2032.89 -> And by 1872, Standard Oil was responsible

2036.16 -> for 10% of the whole oil market in America,

2039.61 -> and it was only gonna get bigger.

2041.68 -> So just hold on.

2042.97 -> See, at this time, it was cheap and easy

2044.92 -> for like startup refineries to get into the oil game.

2047.56 -> Like, I guess a small refinery

2048.94 -> could be built start to finish for just $10,000.

2052.57 -> According to John, quote,

2054.017 -> "All sorts of people went into it:

2056.14 -> the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker

2058.54 -> began to refine oil," end quote.

2061.27 -> And because of this, you know,

2063.19 -> it's not looking good for John's profits.

2065.65 -> John's kind of looking around Cleveland.

2067.57 -> He's like, "You know what would be nice?

2069.4 -> Like, don't tell anyone,

2070.87 -> but like, wouldn't it be nice if like these refineries

2074.65 -> didn't exist anymore?

2076.48 -> Wouldn't that be cute?"

2077.71 -> So remember when I mentioned John's trademark move

2080.74 -> was to acquire his competitors?

2083.41 -> No? Well, I just reminded you, you're welcome.

2085.66 -> Well, John starts rubbing his oily palms together

2089.35 -> and decides to take his strategy

2091.18 -> to a shockingly shady level.

2094.72 -> This episode and your next second language

2097.03 -> is brought to you by Babbel.

2099.76 -> The other day, my friend asked me,

2101.357 -> "If you could have one superpower, what would it be?"

2104.08 -> And I thought about it real hard, and I was like,

2105.947 -> "You know what?

2106.78 -> My superpower would be to learn

2108.88 -> every language on this planet

2111.13 -> so I can communicate with everybody."

2112.96 -> I think that would be the best, right?

2114.25 -> 'Cause communication is everything.

2116.23 -> So then I was like,

2117.437 -> "Hey, Bailey, that's kind of a good idea.

2118.93 -> Maybe you should try learning a new language."

2122.08 -> So I signed up for Babbel.

2123.64 -> And Babe, I picked French because it sounded safe.

2126.37 -> I was like, "French? Can't go wrong with that one, right?"

2128.77 -> I've been using the Babbel app every day.

2130.93 -> My confidence is getting a little stronger.

2133.03 -> I think I could actually go on a trip to Paris

2136.63 -> and speak some French.

2138.31 -> So if you have any upcoming summer trips,

2141.13 -> let me tell you, my go-to travel hack is gonna be Babbel.

2144.64 -> Babbel, if you don't know, is the language learning app

2147.7 -> that has sold more than 10 million subscriptions.

2150.7 -> And thanks to Babbel's fun and bite-sized lessons,

2153.73 -> there's still time to learn a new language

2155.83 -> before you depart for your trip.

2157.93 -> Babbel has really helped me solidify some, you know,

2161.02 -> strong French words.

2164.29 -> So if I do decide to go to France one day,

2167.14 -> you know, I can get around and be able to read, like,

2170.477 -> "Hey, that's the bathroom.

2172.93 -> Hey, baguette, I know that one," you know?

2176.47 -> With Babbel, you only need 10 minutes to complete a lesson,

2179.38 -> which I absolutely love

2180.85 -> because like I don't wanna spend three hours

2183.19 -> doing something, okay?

2184.96 -> Looking at you, other language learning apps.

2188.44 -> But with Babbel, it's only 10 minutes a lesson

2190.57 -> so you could start having conversations

2192.648 -> in as little as like three weeks.

2195.04 -> Bravo, Babbel.

2196.42 -> Their expertly crafted lessons are built around real life

2200.35 -> so you learn to have practical conversations

2202.9 -> about travel, relationships, business, and so much more.

2207.7 -> You can choose from 14 different languages,

2210.22 -> and while other language apps use AI for their lesson plans,

2214.42 -> but with Babbel, they use over 150 language experts

2219.22 -> voiced by native speakers.

2221.08 -> There are so many ways to learn with Babbel.

2223.39 -> Like, in addition to lessons,

2224.83 -> you can access podcasts, games, videos, stories,

2229.96 -> and even like live classes.

2231.82 -> Plus, it comes with a 20 day money back guarantee.

2235.754 -> (crowd applauding)

2236.92 -> Love to hear it.

2237.91 -> I love a money back guarantee, babe.

2240.04 -> Right now, you can get up to 55% off your subscription

2243.37 -> when you go to babbel.com/darkhistory.

2247.48 -> That's babbel.com/darkhistory

2251.14 -> for up to 55% off your subscription.

2253.817 -> Babbel, language for life, hello?

2257.62 -> Now, today, if you wanna acquire a company,

2259.72 -> it takes lawyers and negotiations,

2262.06 -> more lawyers, more negotiations,

2264.79 -> and before you know it, months have passed, okay?

2267.67 -> I mean, it's not an easy thing to do.

2269.77 -> But in the span of just two months in 1872,

2274.63 -> John bought 22 of the 26 refineries in Cleveland,

2279.43 -> 22 of the 26.

2282.37 -> So if you do the math, that's like almost all of them.

2286.48 -> He was even able to pocket six of them

2288.58 -> over the course of two days.

2291.131 -> Yeah, six companies in two days.

2293.83 -> Anyways, after all was said and done,

2295.78 -> John owned pretty much every refinery in the area.

2299.47 -> And I mean, how did he pull this off, you ask?

2302.8 -> That's a great question.

2304.63 -> You see, he threatened them, mm-hm.

2307.87 -> John and his other friends in oil

2309.82 -> negotiated a special discount

2311.83 -> with the owners of the major railroads.

2315.13 -> So John agreed to like toss them a bunch of business,

2318.91 -> in other words, like ship his oil on their trains,

2322.09 -> in exchange for very cheap shipping costs.

2325.27 -> But to make up for the discount that they're giving John,

2328.75 -> the railroads would have to charge the small companies

2332.83 -> up the butt pretty much.

2334.66 -> And these costs would pretty much guarantee

2336.76 -> these smaller companies would lose tons of money

2339.79 -> or even just go out of business.

2342.31 -> Now, here's the thing,

2343.69 -> this sneaky alliance never actually happened,

2346.63 -> but it didn't matter

2347.68 -> because word of this potential agreement had already leaked.

2350.56 -> And when the small refineries

2352.21 -> heard about John's deal with the railroads,

2354.55 -> they pretty much like crapped their pants.

2356.852 -> I mean, they knew there was no way in hell

2359.2 -> they could afford all those high shipping costs,

2362.02 -> so in a panic they agreed to cash out

2364.57 -> and sell their business to John.

2367.3 -> These three months became known as the Cleveland Massacre,

2372.1 -> which sounds like horrible, right?

2374.11 -> Well, it was named this because John essentially murdered

2377.08 -> every one of his competitors' businesses, yeah.

2380.59 -> By 1879, John owned 90%

2384.97 -> of the refining business in the United States.

2387.32 -> Remember when I said 10% not that long ago?

2389.59 -> Yeah, now it's 90%.

2392.56 -> That's almost all of it.

2394.21 -> And when a company owns this much of one industry,

2397.42 -> it's what people call a monopoly.

2399.49 -> And soon enough, whispers about John having too much power,

2402.85 -> they start to become pretty loud.

2404.8 -> And just a reminder, this is before cars were invented,

2408.065 -> but once they are, Standard Oil was perfectly positioned

2413.23 -> to make an insane amount of money.

2415.81 -> But it's easy to forget

2417.25 -> that what he was doing for his own profit

2419.14 -> was affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

2422.68 -> But lots of those people got payouts.

2425.44 -> I mean, some thought he was just a smart businessman

2427.72 -> who had more power than them.

2429.73 -> But also a whole lot of people also thought

2432.22 -> that he was just an asshole, honestly, okay?

2435.55 -> He was.

2436.383 -> Really, John didn't care about his business decisions

2439.09 -> coming back to bite him in the ass.

2440.92 -> You know, he wasn't thinking about that.

2442.24 -> He was moving forward.

2444.22 -> That is until one little girl

2447.55 -> whose family got screwed over by John Rockefeller

2450.252 -> grew up and decided to get her revenge.

2454.96 -> Love to see it.

2455.92 -> You go, girl.

2457.15 -> So that little girl didn't just want revenge for herself,

2460.21 -> but for everyone in America John had ruined.

2463.6 -> Her name was Ida Tarbell.

2465.94 -> Now, Ida, she was born in 1857

2468.34 -> in Hatch Hollow, Pennsylvania in the middle of oil country,

2472.69 -> and her early years were spent

2474.22 -> in a quiet, humble environment.

2476.132 -> You know, she had a peaceful childhood.

2478.48 -> Then when she was just a kid,

2480.1 -> someone in her hometown struck oil,

2482.77 -> and it essentially turned her hometown

2484.72 -> into the fricking gold rush.

2487.18 -> Ida's father was able to get in

2489.01 -> on all the jobs created because of this oil rush.

2491.92 -> He creates a way to store

2493.51 -> and keep tons of the oil in the area

2495.76 -> by creating special oil barrels.

2498.64 -> And this ended up being like super profitable,

2501.19 -> so Ida's humble family

2503.44 -> suddenly found themselves flush with cash

2507.13 -> and moved right in the middle of the oil craziness.

2511 -> Not long after they moved,

2512.47 -> there was a big explosion at one of the nearby oil wells,

2516.1 -> which ended up killing like 19 people,

2518.32 -> including a family friend of the Tarbells.

2521.17 -> Now, when this happened, Ida was only four years old,

2523.563 -> but she vividly remembered it

2526.96 -> because her mom took in people who were wounded

2529.75 -> and she cared for them in their own home.

2532.57 -> This wouldn't be the last time

2533.89 -> Ida had these traumatizing core memories

2536.29 -> because of the oil industry.

2537.91 -> So Ida's dad actually got into oil drilling himself.

2541.33 -> The oil industry kind of dominated Ida's life.

2544.15 -> She knew so many people

2545.53 -> and had so many family members who were a part of it,

2548.26 -> and it wasn't until she was 15 years old

2550.3 -> that something changed

2551.5 -> the direction of her life's calling forever,

2554.02 -> something called the Oil War of 1872.

2557.68 -> Ida witnessed families being destroyed

2559.4 -> by John's oil company.

2561.28 -> Neighbors were forced to sell or go broke,

2564.82 -> and it was just total chaos

2566.29 -> and destroyed the town that she lived in.

2568.75 -> Ida describes this time in her childhood as when, quote,

2571.517 -> "Hate, suspicion, and fear engulfed the community,"

2575.38 -> end quote.

2576.34 -> Essentially, when John's guys came to the town,

2579.22 -> they started taking over the oil supply and said,

2582.257 -> "Look, take this buyout or go broke, bye."

2586 -> I mean, it wasn't just about the money for Ida's father,

2589.09 -> it was also his life's work.

2591.28 -> He wasn't gonna sell to some soulless corporation, you know?

2594.64 -> But sadly, everyone around him

2598.39 -> did end up selling to John.

2601.21 -> So Ida's father was really struggling to make ends meet

2604.39 -> and just really make a good living

2606.37 -> and provide for his family because of this.

2608.68 -> His life was like the complete opposite of John's.

2611.8 -> Money was constantly a problem,

2613.81 -> and it affected Ida's entire childhood.

2616.72 -> So even though her family seemed to be falling apart

2619.72 -> because of John Rockefeller,

2621.769 -> Ida points to this time in her life

2624.64 -> as the moment when she knew

2626.95 -> she needed to become a journalist.

2630.4 -> Ida got into one of the first colleges in the area

2633.04 -> to accept women,

2634.27 -> and turns out she was the only woman in her freshman class.

2637.84 -> Hot.

2638.673 -> I guess they didn't even have dorm rooms for her

2640.69 -> because it was just all dudes.

2642.58 -> I guess this experience was pretty scarring for her

2645.79 -> because she vowed to never, ever marry anyone

2650.427 -> from a young age.

2652.06 -> Well, she was finally able to start her journalism career

2655.21 -> at a Methodist newspaper

2657.25 -> and pretty much kicked ass immediately.

2659.53 -> She was really good at it.

2660.7 -> I mean, before she knew it,

2661.93 -> she was the managing editor in charge.

2665.17 -> She moved to France to become a researcher for a while,

2668.048 -> but then she moved back to New York in 1893

2671.65 -> when she found out her family

2673.06 -> was seriously financially struggling.

2676.42 -> Something called The Panic of 1893 was happening.

2679.63 -> Hundreds of businesses took out loans

2681.58 -> that their companies could no longer pay,

2683.65 -> bankruptcies were like popping up all over the US,

2686.947 -> and over 15,000 businesses ended up shutting down.

2690.79 -> And these businesses were everything

2692.62 -> from banks to railroads to steel mills.

2696.64 -> I mean, in Michigan alone, the unemployment rate was at 43%.

2702.067 -> And like during all of this,

2703.66 -> Ida was making a name for herself

2705.55 -> as the go-to person for biographies.

2709.06 -> She wrote this book on Napoleon that won a bunch of awards,

2712.75 -> and it ended up leading her

2714.25 -> to a bunch of great job opportunities.

2717.4 -> She kind of became a journalism star from that moment on.

2721.33 -> So one day the editor at her magazine

2724.42 -> suggested that they, I don't know,

2726.94 -> cover a story about John Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company.

2731.86 -> She's like, "Hey, you wanna do this story?"

2734.56 -> And Ida was like, "Ooh, bitch, I sure do.

2737.863 -> This story is mine."

2739.48 -> So Ida began writing her story,

2741.557 -> "The History of the Standard Oil Company,"

2745.21 -> which sounds like a really innocent, boring name.

2747.31 -> The goal of the story

2748.36 -> was to show the beginning of the oil industry

2750.61 -> and how oil came to be in such high demand.

2753.46 -> It was supposed to be a 100-page book, okay?

2756.16 -> Just 100 pages.

2757.27 -> What she came to discover was that there was a reason

2760.24 -> John was at the top of the oil game,

2762.49 -> and it wasn't just because he was lucky.

2764.59 -> John had been taking advantage of small town oil drillers

2767.95 -> like Ida's father.

2769.42 -> At the time Ida was writing this story,

2771.97 -> her father was struggling financially big time

2774.58 -> because of the slowdown in demand for small town oil.

2777.55 -> Everyone was buying oil from John instead

2780.31 -> because it was like easier to get.

2782.44 -> Ida's father refused

2783.67 -> to sell his oil company to Standard Oil,

2786.22 -> and it just completely financially screwed him over.

2790.54 -> Ida's father's business partner,

2792.576 -> well, he was very distraught over,

2795.43 -> you know, his business failing,

2797.71 -> and I guess like it bummed him out so bad

2800.47 -> that he ended up killing himself.

2802.87 -> I know, really sad.

2804.49 -> Ida's dad only was able to pay off some of his business debt

2807.4 -> by like mortgaging his family's home.

2810.19 -> But despite all of that,

2811.21 -> Ida's father actually begged her to not do the story

2814.87 -> because he believed that Rockefellers

2817.51 -> would destroy her reputation,

2819.73 -> which they most likely would because they have money

2822.85 -> and they are powerful, Ida, be careful.

2824.92 -> But you know what?

2825.753 -> Ida didn't give a shit, and I love her for it.

2828.85 -> She was like, "I don't care. I don't care."

2831.22 -> So she dove into decades of court documents,

2834.354 -> confusing company laws,

2836.492 -> and the origins of just how the Standard Oil Company

2839.5 -> became so powerful.

2841.6 -> And as soon as Ida scratched the surface

2844 -> of what was happening within the Standard Oil Company,

2846.88 -> she knew illegal shit was going down.

2849.31 -> And it started to really make sense to her

2851.29 -> why John was so secretive about his company and his life,

2854.59 -> so she made it her mission to expose all of it.

2859.21 -> So Ida, she interviewed dozens of Standard Oil employees

2862.69 -> and she even visited the company headquarters.

2865.51 -> But I guess, you know, at this point,

2866.74 -> this wasn't new to Ida.

2868.21 -> She knew what she was doing, okay?

2869.95 -> She knew that explaining how illegal the oil practices were

2874.15 -> wouldn't necessarily matter to the masses.

2877.63 -> It would only matter to like a certain few people

2881.11 -> who knew what she was talking about.

2882.49 -> I mean, the everyday person doesn't really care

2884.92 -> or understand Standard Oil practices,

2888.1 -> like, eh, nah, you know?

2889.78 -> Ida knew what people really wanted,

2892.36 -> like what so many of us here want.

2895.03 -> They wanted that hot, juicy history goss.

2898.63 -> She wants that information, those details, the secrets,

2903.1 -> and in order to do that,

2904.51 -> she needed to get into the mind

2906.176 -> of the secretive John Rockefeller.

2909.19 -> Ida packed her bags and headed to his hometown.

2913.57 -> One of the few things people knew about John

2915.73 -> was that he was a church going man,

2918.07 -> so Ida decided to go to his Baptist church.

2922.06 -> So when Ida gets to the town,

2923.89 -> she discovered that like John was a celebrity in the area,

2927.97 -> not because of his oil reputation

2929.86 -> but because he was very charitable.

2932.02 -> No matter how much money John made,

2933.97 -> he always made a point to donate money back to the church.

2938.05 -> I guess he would show up to church

2939.4 -> with just envelopes of money

2940.993 -> and secretly hand them to those

2943 -> who seemed like they needed it the most.

2945.19 -> He would even send his kids to investigate

2947.08 -> who in town needed money so he could help them out.

2950.2 -> You know, the parents are like,

2951.707 -> "Billy, go rub some dirt on your face.

2953.507 -> You know, you need to look poor, be sad.

2955.62 -> Grandma died, sad."

2957.43 -> During her time in his hometown,

2959.35 -> Ida interviewed over 300 people

2962.053 -> and took about 1,000 pages of notes on each interview.

2967.03 -> Ida was like, "Look, hi,

2969.16 -> I've been waiting for this moment, baby.

2971.11 -> Thank you."

2971.943 -> And she was so cutthroat in her questioning,

2974.08 -> at a certain point

2975.31 -> people like kind of stopped talking to her

2977.68 -> because they thought that, I don't know,

2979.9 -> she was maybe a spy from Rockefeller's company

2982.555 -> and they were kind of scared of her.

2984.76 -> Still, no matter what threats she got,

2986.98 -> Ida just kept on keeping on.

2989.71 -> Some rumors started to get out there

2991.42 -> about how just maybe John and his company

2994.42 -> were, I don't know, a little too powerful.

2996.73 -> But now that Ida came with the receipts,

2998.95 -> people couldn't, they couldn't ignore it anymore.

3001.5 -> Eventually, Ida published her findings in a magazine,

3004.56 -> but it wasn't just one article, okay?

3006.87 -> It ended up being 19 installments

3009.69 -> because of all the juicy gossip

3012.09 -> that she found on Standard Oil.

3014.01 -> 19 installments.

3016.35 -> And these articles were so successful,

3018.652 -> her publisher decided to turn it into a two book set,

3023.04 -> which was published in 1904,

3024.84 -> and this was a huge hit.

3027.69 -> In 1911, the federal government found John and Standard Oil

3031.65 -> to be in violation of a law

3033.63 -> called the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

3036.12 -> Essentially, this ruling said

3037.71 -> John's chokehold on the oil industry made it a monopoly,

3041.85 -> not the game.

3043.35 -> He was essentially controlling too much of the oil market,

3046.215 -> and his giant company needed to be split apart

3049.74 -> into like 34 different companies.

3052.32 -> I don't know why.

3053.19 -> It's complicated,

3054.21 -> but that's like the simplest way I could put it, okay?

3056.34 -> So this was with the mindset

3058.38 -> of like other people can get a chance

3060.02 -> at competing for the oil business, too.

3062.28 -> It wouldn't just be one guy owning it all.

3064.56 -> So the government thought that they were doing the world,

3067.23 -> you know, a favor by forcing Standard Oil to break apart.

3071.31 -> Their thinking was that more companies

3073.11 -> equaled more competition,

3074.67 -> which means better prices for consumers.

3077.28 -> And at that time, sure, it was the right thing to do.

3079.86 -> But what the federal government didn't realize

3082.05 -> was that John's DNA, you know,

3084.3 -> like his entire ruthless attitude

3086.4 -> and essence and personality

3088.86 -> were still part of every single one of those 34 companies

3092.25 -> that came out of Standard Oil.

3094.05 -> All of them were driven by the same thing John wanted:

3097.29 -> to expand, to make us as much money as possible,

3101.25 -> and to be great at it.

3103.02 -> Which they were.

3103.89 -> They were very good at it.

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3253.355 -> (mysterious music)

3254.19 -> Now, with Ida's book out and the government on his ass,

3257.61 -> John broke his usual good guy act

3260.85 -> and he was fucking pissed.

3263.25 -> It was said that John called Ida

3264.96 -> a, quote, "poisonous woman," end quote.

3268.26 -> Oh shit, he's coming for her.

3271.47 -> And he ordered everyone not to say a word

3273.75 -> about Ida's journalistic findings

3276.27 -> or about her as a journalist in general.

3278.85 -> He doesn't wanna talk about Ida.

3279.967 -> "Don't talk about her around me."

3281.49 -> And honestly, this seemed to be eating him alive, okay?

3284.82 -> The good name he had spent decades creating,

3287.657 -> ah, was now tarnished.

3290.1 -> His mysterious, powerful company,

3293.31 -> ah, the disrespect.

3296.1 -> One of Ida's more famous quotes about John

3298.89 -> became associated with his name for decades.

3301.71 -> She said, quote, "Our national life is on every side

3305.1 -> distinctly poorer, uglier, meaner,

3307.68 -> for the kind of influence he exercises," end quote.

3311.61 -> When these personal Rockefeller stories came out,

3313.751 -> people were drinking the tea.

3316.62 -> Ida was actually one of the first

3318.18 -> investigative journalists ever,

3320.52 -> and thanks to her, the truth about John's sus dad,

3324.541 -> Devil Bill or William, was exposed.

3328.59 -> So you know all that tea

3329.981 -> that we had heard about him earlier,

3331.927 -> you know, you remember,

3333.24 -> pretending to be deaf and dumb,

3335.1 -> letting his kids fall on their face like a psychopath?

3338.61 -> Well, we know all of that because of Ida.

3341.61 -> She was the Wendy Williams of their time.

3344.25 -> She really did the work.

3346.14 -> And this last little nugget Ida exposed

3349.14 -> would prove to be a PR nightmare

3351.42 -> for John's squeaky clean image.

3353.76 -> You see, a bombshell report

3355.62 -> revealed that William Rockefeller

3357.629 -> had even more skeletons in his closet.

3360.695 -> Ooh, I love to hear it! (laughs)

3364.1 -> In 1849, William was indicted

3366.54 -> on charges of rape against a woman.

3369.3 -> The court records show that he had been accused

3371.52 -> of sexually assaulting a woman in his own home at gunpoint.

3375.817 -> I mean, this is 1849,

3378.42 -> so imagine how difficult it must have been

3381.03 -> to be a woman in general,

3383.04 -> but also, ugh, to come forward and accuse someone of rape.

3387.33 -> Not easy, especially someone like fucking William, oh God.

3392.07 -> But her accusations led to William being arrested,

3395.13 -> and William begged his father-in-law for bail money.

3398.25 -> And then once he got it, he was released.

3400.729 -> And he just ended up straight up abandoning his own family.

3405.24 -> One newspaper king, Joseph Pulitzer,

3407.55 -> didn't wanna just settle for stories about Devil Bill.

3410.4 -> He wanted to find him.

3412.98 -> In the early 1900s,

3414.36 -> Pulitzer went so far as to offer an $8,000 reward

3418.254 -> for anyone who could reveal the location

3420.99 -> of John Rockefeller's mysterious father.

3424.44 -> In today's money, that's over $280,000.

3430.65 -> I'd be there like, "Hi, I'll help.

3432.63 -> I brought my binoculars.

3434.64 -> I'll just be out in the fields looking for him."

3436.717 -> $280,000 could change a person's life.

3441.03 -> This was the story of a lifetime for some journalists.

3443.88 -> It even started a nationwide manhunt.

3446.97 -> I mean, everyone wanted to be the person

3449.22 -> who located Devil Bill.

3450.99 -> So by the time journalists found him in 1906,

3454.56 -> he died, he'd already died.

3456.51 -> Bummer, dead.

3458.13 -> Ugh, that sucks.

3459.63 -> Reporters uncovered that he had continued

3461.67 -> the whole fake identity thing,

3463.89 -> and they also found that John and his brother,

3466.74 -> who, like, both of them have never publicly acknowledged

3470.28 -> anything about their father,

3472.2 -> but John had been secretly sending him money for years,

3476.58 -> so, hmm, interesting.

3479.61 -> The expose on his business, the focus on his family life,

3482.97 -> and honestly just working himself to the bone for decades

3486.42 -> just really started to take a toll on John.

3488.91 -> It was reported that he was suffering

3490.74 -> from some serious depression

3492.54 -> and even started to have some scary like stomach problems.

3497.07 -> He also lost pretty much all of his hair

3499.17 -> due to a condition called alopecia.

3501.45 -> John had a bunch of wigs in different lengths made

3504.54 -> so he could still keep up his public image.

3508.11 -> You know, the appearance of having luscious growing hair.

3512.85 -> I mean, he was really going through it

3514.317 -> and he was losing all his hair,

3515.91 -> so wigs, gotta love 'em.

3519.57 -> But on the bright side, a huge thing happened.

3521.85 -> On September 29th, 1916, newspapers all over the country

3527.13 -> announced John made history

3529.32 -> by becoming the world's first billionaire.

3532.44 -> Billionaire in 1916, wow.

3535.47 -> It's like, okay, so he became the world's first billionaire,

3538.59 -> but he was all secret and private

3540.27 -> and like lived in a humble home, allegedly,

3543.51 -> so it's like, what was he doing with all his money?

3546.84 -> Jacking off to it?

3548.37 -> I know we focused on a lot of the bullshit things

3550.86 -> that John and his family have done over the years,

3553.92 -> but to many people,

3556.14 -> John isn't just known as the world's first billionaire.

3559.47 -> He's also known

3560.303 -> as one of the most charitable people in America, yeah.

3564.198 -> (crowd applauding)

3565.74 -> You know, great.

3567.447 -> But where did that start?

3569.16 -> Well, as you can imagine,

3570.63 -> John was getting requests left and right and center

3573.75 -> for him to donate to people in need

3576.39 -> and people just coming up to him randomly, or, you know,

3580.137 -> and it was becoming overwhelming,

3582 -> so he decides to use some of his wealth to hire people

3585.03 -> to do the charity work for him.

3587.07 -> Plus, his family's reputation

3588.75 -> needed a bit of a polish, you know?

3590.643 -> It'd be good PR.

3592.29 -> So John and his son, John Jr.,

3594.69 -> founded the now famous charity, the Rockefeller Foundation.

3599.1 -> Its aim was to, quote,

3600.457 -> "Alleviate suffering worldwide," end quote.

3604.56 -> I know, I was like, "Wow, that's so vague.

3607.26 -> All right, you know, here's an Advil.

3609.93 -> We did it!"

3610.763 -> (crowd applauding)

3612.42 -> What kind of suffering?

3613.65 -> Give me a little bit more to work with here.

3616.08 -> In the end, John Rockefeller died

3618.12 -> on May 23rd, 1937 at the age of 98, damn.

3623.49 -> Remember in the beginning I said John had two goals?

3626.76 -> He had two goals in his life.

3628.47 -> One was to make over $100,000,

3633.06 -> and two to live to be 100 years old.

3637.716 -> (chuckles) He failed.

3639.84 -> He didn't even make it to 100, what a loser.

3641.844 -> (trombone sadly toots)

3643.56 -> Between the billions of dollars and making it to 98,

3646.8 -> I guess, you know, he did all right.

3649.17 -> In fact, John invented that special class of people

3651.84 -> we talk about so much today, the 1%.

3655.17 -> John pocketed a ton of money,

3656.82 -> and during his life, he also gave $540 million away.

3661.106 -> And to his credit, the Rockefeller Foundation

3663.84 -> has done so much for America.

3666.54 -> They established several medical schools

3668.519 -> like Johns Hopkins School of Public Health,

3671.43 -> forever changing medical research in America.

3674.04 -> They funded scientists who were able to develop

3676.29 -> the yellow fever vaccine,

3678.12 -> an epidemic that was killing

3679.5 -> millions of people around the world.

3681.48 -> The foundation has also poured

3683.1 -> hundreds of millions of dollars

3684.75 -> into education, scholarships, and creating schools

3688.62 -> in, you know, rural places in America and like overseas.

3693 -> They're also known for giving millions to the arts.

3695.61 -> They even funded and continued to fund

3697.56 -> research into agriculture

3699.03 -> to contribute to the study of farming

3700.89 -> in countries like Africa.

3702.42 -> But with every good thing

3703.8 -> the Rockefeller Foundation did in the past,

3706.29 -> they seemed to do something shitty.

3707.76 -> For example, they'd open up a school

3709.37 -> in like a low income area,

3711.63 -> but then John Rockefeller Jr.

3713.61 -> would help fund the eugenics movement,

3716.55 -> which says who should and should not have kids.

3719.229 -> And then they were funneling money to the Nazi scientists,

3723.21 -> but once the atrocities of the Holocaust went global,

3726.72 -> eh, they decided to help rescue

3728.379 -> Jewish scholars from Germany.

3730.89 -> So yeah, it's like they're playing

3732.42 -> both sides of history here.

3734.31 -> They're really straddling that shit.

3736.53 -> The Rockefeller Foundation is still open today,

3739.26 -> and so far has donated over $14 billion in today's money,

3743.73 -> which is great, I think, yeah, right, yeah?

3747.54 -> I don't know, okay?

3748.86 -> And in 2021, the foundation's new president

3752.16 -> committed to focusing on equity and inclusion.

3755.67 -> Again, vague, but okay.

3757.53 -> We'll be here, I guess, thanks.

3760.53 -> The Rockefeller family

3761.76 -> continues to have many charitable organizations

3765.355 -> and a few scandals here and there.

3768.36 -> And honestly, it's like, mm, what can we (mumbles)?

3772.11 -> Now, remember back to when I said Standard Oil

3774.66 -> was forced to break into 34 smaller organizations

3777.66 -> by the federal government?

3779.55 -> No? Okay, well then I just reminded you.

3781.679 -> Well, there are some major global companies

3784.8 -> on the scene today

3785.67 -> that have DNA we can trace back to Standard Oil

3788.91 -> as if they are descendants of John D. Rockefeller himself.

3792.66 -> A few examples of these companies, you might be familiar,

3796.89 -> ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Marathon.

3801.99 -> Over the last year, these four companies combined

3805.38 -> brought in around $1.8 trillion in revenue.

3810.3 -> Wow.

3812.73 -> And I'm sure John would be so proud.

3815.22 -> Honestly, you should be proud, John,

3817.2 -> because you had a shithead dad

3819 -> and you really just ran the opposite direction

3821.4 -> and made something, I guess, I don't know.

3824.64 -> Okay, money, huh?

3826.35 -> Every single one of these companies would not exist

3829.02 -> if it wasn't for John D. Rockefeller,

3831 -> and every day, millions and millions of people

3833.25 -> have to give these companies their money

3834.96 -> so we can put gas in our cars or like heat our homes,

3839.37 -> or bleep blop bloop.

3842.19 -> Even though John D. Rockefeller died in 1937,

3846.03 -> all those slick business deals he made,

3848.76 -> all the work he did, all the bamboozling,

3853.59 -> it affects you and I to this very day.

3855.96 -> It sure does.

3857.28 -> I'm not sure if I should thank him.

3859.77 -> Well, he's dead.

3860.88 -> Before I leave here, I didn't even get to mention

3863.22 -> the Rockefeller Christmas tree situation.

3865.399 -> I love that tree.

3867.06 -> Shout out to that Christmas tree.

3869.13 -> All right, well, thank you for learning with me today.

3874.02 -> (Bailey laughs)

3875.64 -> Remember, don't be afraid to ask questions

3878.61 -> to get the whole story because you deserve that.

3881.28 -> I'd love to hear your guys' reactions to today's story,

3884.16 -> so make sure to use the hashtag #darkhistory

3886.98 -> over on social media

3888.21 -> so I can like see what you're saying and like, like it.

3891.51 -> Also, you can join me over on my YouTube

3893.49 -> where you can watch these episodes

3894.96 -> on Thursday after the podcast airs.

3897.06 -> And while you're there,

3898.29 -> also catch "Murder Mystery & Makeup."

3900.99 -> I hope you have a great rest of your day.

3902.79 -> You make good choices, and I'll be talking to you next week.

3906.81 -> Goodbye.

3909.75 -> Dark History is an Audioboom Original.

3912.45 -> This podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian, hi,

3916.44 -> Dunia McNeily from 3 Arts,

3918.75 -> Kevin Grosch and Matt Enlow from Made In Network.

3922.32 -> A big thank you to our writers,

3923.79 -> Joey Scavuzzo, Katie Burris, Allyson Philobos,

3927.51 -> and me, Bailey Sarian.

3929.82 -> Writers assistant Kasey Colton.

3932.46 -> Production lead Brian Jaggers.

3934.98 -> Research provided by the Dark History Researcher Team.

3938.97 -> A special thank you to our expert, Carl Shapiro.

3942.72 -> And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian.

3946.928 -> (mysterious music)

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZulqdMqBqD0