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Andrew Carnegie
An American industrialist who amassed a fortune in the steel industry then became a major philanthropist. In the early 1870s, he entered the steel business, and over the next two decades became a dominant force in the industry. In 1901, he sold the Carnegie Steel Company to banker John Pierpont Morgan for $480 million. Carnegie then devoted himself to philanthropy, eventually giving away more than $350 million. -
Henry Frick
Henry Clay Frick was an American industrialist, financier, union-buster, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel manufacturing concern. -
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs organized the American Railway Union, which waged a strike against the Pullman Company of Chicago in 1894.Late in life, Debs was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his opposition to the United States’ involvement in World War I. Debs entered politics as a Democratic candidate for city clerk in 1879. First elected over Republican and Greenback-Labor party candidates, Debs was overwhelmingly reelected in 1881. -
John D. Rockefeller
founder of the Standard Oil Company, became one of the world’s wealthiest men and a major philanthropist.Critics accused Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices, such as predatory pricing and colluding with railroads to eliminate his competitors, in order to gain a monopoly in the industry.In 1911 the U.S. Supreme Court found Standard Oil in violation of anti-trust laws and ordered it to dissolve. During his life Rockefeller donated more than $500 million to various philanthropic causes.
