John D. Rockfeller (July 8, 1839–May 23, 1937), the founder of Standard Oil, was once the richest man in the world. He was the world’s first billionaire. He amassed a net worth of at least $1 billion in 1916. When Rockefeller died in 1937, his net worth was estimated to be approximately $340 billion in today’s dollars.
By the age of 25, he had one of the largest oil refineries in the United States. He was 31 when he became the world’s largest oil refiner. At 38, he controlled 90% of the oil refined in the United States. At fifty, John was America’s richest man. As a young man, every action, attitude, and connection was crafted to establish his wealth.
But at the age of 53, he fell unwell. His entire body became wracked with pain, and he lost all his hair. In total anguish, the world’s lone millionaire could buy anything he wanted but could only eat soup and crackers.
According to an associate, “He couldn’t sleep, wouldn’t smile, and nothing in life meant anything to him”. His personal, highly trained physicians indicated that he would die within the year. That year passed painfully slowly. As he approached death, he awoke one morning with the faint understanding that he would not be able to bring any of his fortune with him to the next world.
The man who could dominate the commercial world suddenly realised he had no control over his personal life. He informed his solicitors, accountants, and management that he intended to devote his assets to hospitals, research, and charity work. John D. Rockefeller started his foundation.
The Rockefeller Foundation financed Howard Florey and his colleague Norman Heatley’s penicillin research in 1941. But arguably the most astounding aspect of Rockefeller’s narrative is that when he began to give back a fraction of all he had gained, his body’s chemistry changed dramatically, and he recovered.
He was expected to die at the age of 53, but he survived to reach 98 years old. Rockefeller learnt gratitude and returned the great bulk of his money. This made him whole. It’s one thing to be healed. It is another to become fit. He was a devout Baptist who attended the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio.
Before he died, he wrote in his diary: “God taught me that everything belongs to Him, and I am merely a conduit to carry out His will. My life has been one long, happy holiday since then; full of work and play, I let go of my worries along the road, and God was wonderful to me every dayThe Bible verse that reads, “Whoever seeks to gain his life shall lose it, but whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Luke 17:33), aptly fits for the life of this Billionaire who found God and chose to lose it all to find the life eternal in the greater plans of God designed for him. The Bible verse Luke 9:24 says, “For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world by losing his own will for God’s will] for the sake of Jesus Christ, he is the one who will save his life [from the consequences of sin and separation from God]”.
