be shocked by the size of their wealth.

震驚於他們的財富規模。

But none of their wealth could possibly come close to John Rockefeller's one.

但他們的財富都不可能接近約翰-洛克菲勒的一。

His wealth was so significant that he was wealthier than Jeff Bezos, bill gates, Warren

他的財富非常可觀，比傑夫-貝佐斯、比爾-蓋茨、沃倫都要有錢

Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk combined.

巴菲特、馬克-扎克伯格和埃隆-馬斯克合計。

John Rockefeller was the richest American to ever live with an estimated wealth of 400

約翰-洛克菲勒是美國有史以來最富有的人，他的財富估計有400元。

billion dollars.

萬億美元。

So, today we will take a look at how exactly he made that fortune.

那麼，今天我們就來看看他到底是如何賺到這筆錢的。

But first, let's take a look at how he got into business in the first place.

但首先，我們先來看看他當初是如何入行的。

He grew up in a large and controversial family, with a con man father and an extremely religious

他生長在一個充滿爭議的大家庭裡，父親是個金光黨，而他的宗教信仰極強

mother, he was so desperate to take care of his mom that he got a job as a bookkeeper

母親，他為了照顧母親，不惜找了一份記賬的工作。

at the age of 16.

16歲的時候，

This job played an essential role in his life.

這份工作在他的人生中起到了至關重要的作用。

In fact, it was so vital that he later ascribed all of his success to his first job, because

事實上，這一點至關重要，以至於他後來把自己的成功全部歸功於第一份工作，因為...。

there he learned how business works, from negotiating to collecting debts.

在那裡，他學會了如何做生意，從談判到討債。

And his goal was to make a hundred thousand dollars (2.63 million) and live a hundred

而他的目標是賺取十萬美金（263萬），過上100

years.

年。

By the age of 19, he already mastered the game and decided to start his own business

19歲時，他已經掌握了遊戲的技巧，並決定自己創業。

and began selling everything he possibly could from meat to grains and got a commission on

並開始出售一切可能的東西，從肉到穀物，並得到佣金的

every deal.

每次交易。

Although that he was doing pretty good, his business only soared with the outbreak of

雖然他的生意還算不錯，但他的生意只是隨著

the civil war because the demand for food only increased.

內戰，因為對糧食的需求只會增加。

But his ambitions were more significant than that, with the discovery of oil in 1859 (Titusville,

但他的野心比這更重大，1859年發現了石油（Titusville。

Pennsylvania.)

(賓夕法尼亞州)

He realized the potential opportunity.

他意識到了潛在的機會。

Of course, oil wasn't such a big deal then as it as today, since cars and planes weren't

當然，那時候的石油不像現在這麼重要，因為汽車和飛機還沒有出現過

yet invented, but it still could be used to produce kerosene which was widely used to

但它仍可用於生產煤油，而煤油被廣泛用於

warm up homes and light up lumps.

溫暖了家園，點亮了疙瘩。

While most people risked their lives to find where oil could be extracted, John had a deeper

當大多數人冒著生命危險去尋找可以開採石油的地方時，約翰卻有更深的體會

understanding of the business.

對企業的理解。

He realized that oil by itself wasn't useful, it could only be used after its refined, so

他意識到，油本身沒有用，只有經過提煉後才能使用，所以。

he built his first refinery in 1963.

他在1963年建立了第一個煉油廠。

Since the industry was still at its initial phase, most refiners could only turn 60% of

由於該行業仍處於初始階段，大多數煉油廠只能將60％的

the oil to kerosine while dumping the rest into rivers.

將石油轉化為煤油，其餘的則傾倒到河流中。

It was clearly a waste of resources for John, so he operated at a higher efficiency.

這對約翰來說顯然是一種資源浪費，所以他的操作效率更高。

In fact, he was so eager to be ahead of the competition that he did everything possible

事實上，他很想走在競爭的前面，所以他盡了一切可能。

to lower the cost at every stage of the production.

以降低生產的每個階段的成本。

And in less than 2 years, the business was worth over a million dollar, adjusted to inflation(

而在不到2年的時間裡，生意的價值就超過了百萬美元，調整後的通貨膨脹率(

72 500 at its time).

72 500在其時）。)

By 1970, there were too big for a partnership, so he incorporated it into Standard Oil of

到了1970年，有太大的合夥公司，所以他把它併入了標準石油公司。

Ohio.

俄亥俄州。

With its massive size and tremendous resources, the company started growing at an incredible

憑藉其龐大的規模和巨大的資源，公司開始以驚人的速度增長。

speed.

速度。

He would buy the least efficient competing refineries, throw money into it to improve

他會買下效率最低的競爭性煉油廠，投入資金來改進

their efficiency, use his power and network to get the highest possible discounts on oil

他們的效率，利用他的權力和網絡獲得最高的油品折扣。

shipments and get rid of his competitors.

運，擺脫他的競爭對手。

Those who refused to sell (competing refiners), John threatened to start a price war until

那些拒絕出售的人(競爭的煉油商)，約翰威脅要發動價格戰，直至

they would run of cash and go bankrupt and then he would buy their assets cheaply at

他們會用盡現金和破產，然後他將購買他們的資產便宜，在

an auction.

拍賣會。

That's how he took control of the entire industry (90%).

他就是這樣控制了整個行業（90%）。

Rockefeller realized that pipelines can easily replace the railroads to transport oil, so

洛克菲勒意識到，管道可以很容易地取代鐵路來運輸石油，所以。

he began to built and acquire them.

他開始建造和收購它們。

The railroads saw that as a threat that standard oil will take over the transportation industry

鐵路公司認為這是一個威脅，標準油將接管運輸業。

as well.

也是。

At this point, Rockefeller was so big that there were many journalists, politicians and

此時，洛克菲勒的勢力大得驚人，有許多記者、政客和。

other businessmen who attacked him to bring him down.

其他攻擊他的商人將他打倒。

Even the Congress saw him as a threat.

連國會都把他視為威脅。

Although that he broke down the company into 41 entities under the banner of Standard Oil

雖然他把公司分解成41個實體，打著標準石油的旗號。

Trust.

信任。

It didn't save him, and by 1911, The US supreme justice department found Standard Oil guilty

這並沒有挽救他，到了1911年，美國最高司法部門認定標準石油公司有罪。

in violation of antitrust act ( Sherman Antitrust Act) and broke it down in 34 different companies.

違反反托拉斯法（謝爾曼反托拉斯法），並將其分解到34家不同的公司。

While John still kept his share.

雖然約翰還是保留了他的那份。

It might seem like it was a disaster for him, but it turned out to be immensely profitable.

這對他來說，看似是一場災難，但結果卻是巨大的收益。

Each of these companies individually were worth more which further increased Rockefella's

這些公司中的每一家都有更高的價值，這進一步增加了洛克菲勒的。

net worth to 400 billion dollars.

淨資產達到4000億美金。

Over time these companies either worked together or simply merged such as Chevron or Exxon

隨著時間的推移，這些公司要麼合作，要麼乾脆合併，如雪佛龍或埃克森。

Mobil who are still leading the industry today.

美孚公司至今仍在行業中處於領先地位。

If you have enjoyed this video, make you hit that subscribe button and the bell beside

如果你喜歡這個視頻，讓你打，訂閱按鈕和旁邊的鐘聲

it.

它。

By the way, recently we have created a patreon page in case if you want to support us to

順便說一下，最近我們已經創建了一個贊助頁面，如果你想支持我們的情況下，到

make more videos, the link is in the description.

製作更多的視頻，鏈接在描述中。

Thanks for watching and I will catch you in the next one.

謝謝你的觀看，下期再見。