12. Andrew Carnegie built one of history’s great fortunes from scratch
Andrew Carnegie began his professional career working as a bobbin boy in a mill, performing the mundane task of replacing spent spools of thread. He worked as a telegraph messenger boy, became a telegraph operator, made investments in railroads and telegraph companies, and eventually became a magnate in the manufacturing of iron and steel. The Carnegie Steel Company became one of America’s largest, and by 1889 America led the world in steel production. In 1901 J. Pierpont Morgan purchased several steel companies, including Carnegie’s, and created U. S. Steel, the first billion-dollar company (in terms of capitalization) in the United States. The deal made Andrew Carnegie, at the age of 66, one of the richest men in the world.
Carnegie’s story, a true Horatio Alger tale of rags to riches, would be enough, but an equally impressive part of the steel magnate’s story deserves to be remembered. For the rest of his life, Carnegie gave his money away. Besides donations to foundations and endowments to schools, Carnegie built libraries across the United States and the United Kingdom, many of which remain in operation in the twenty-first century, and provided funds for books as well. He wrote an article entitled Wealth (The Gospel of Wealth when reprinted in the UK) in which he argued that the first obligation is the creation of wealth through industry, and the second obligation is its redistribution to causes which improve society. Carnegie followed his own advice. By the time of his death, he had given away more than 90% of the fortune he accumulated during his business career. His will redistributed what remained to charitable causes.