33. Rockefeller entered into retirement with Standard Oil still largely intact
In 1902 Carnegie Steel was purchased by a consortium led by J. P. Morgan, and with it the new company, US Steel, acquired Rockefeller’s interests in iron and the iron ore transportation business. Rockefeller traded his iron investments for share of stock in the new US Steel in a deal brokered by Henry Clay Fricke, and between him and his son John D. Rockefeller Jr, walked away with memberships in the controlling board, allowing John Sr. to fully retire from the operations of Standard Oil at the age of 63. Despite Rockefeller’s removal from the operations of Standard Oil, and his more public acts of charitable donations and endowments, he continued to be attacked in newspapers and magazines condemning his monopoly of the oil industry and his personal wealth and power.