A Baptist fundamentalist with a head for figures, John Davison Rockefeller (1839–1937) was probably the richest man in history, with a fortune estimated at around $150 billion, at its peak at current values.

Born in Richford, near Ithaca, New York, he made his fortune in the oil business during the Cleveland oil boom. His Standard Oil Company at one point dominated almost all United States oil production, refining and distribution, and much of the world’s oil trade. He saw the oil industry shift from a producer of lighting fuels (kerosene) to the main source of energy during the twentieth century Standard Oil’s control of the oil industry was ultimately so great that the US Supreme Court forced the company to dissolve. During his ascendancy at Standard Oil, ]ohn D. Rockefeller’s associates, rivals and critics attributed to him superhuman powers as a business builder and manager. Edward T. Bedford, a Standard Oil executive commented that:

Mr Rockefeller was really a superman. He not only envisaged a new system of business upon grand scale but he also had the patience, the courage and the audacity to put it into effect in the face of almost insuperable difficulties, sticking to his purpose with a tenacity and confidence [that were] simply amazing.........................

Question 1 Do the actions of the Rockefeller Foundation justify or legitimate the past actions of John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil?