In 1859, the first oil field was discovered in the United States. The “oil rush” that arose in the country was not much inferior to the “gold rush”. Having shrewdly assessed the prospects of the market, successful young businessman John Rockefeller (1839-1937) began to buy small oil companies one after another. Ruthlessly eliminating competitors, he persistently made his way up the ladder leading to the elite of world business. Before reaching the age of forty, Rockefeller and his company became the leader of the oil industry and the largest oil transporter in the United States. The Standard Oil trust created by Rockefeller, strictly following in the wake of any changes in federal or local legislation, maintained the profitability of its operations even during the economic depression caused by the total collapse of the stock market. At the beginning of the 20th century, Rockefeller became richer than the entire North American state. If the US federal budget in 1913 was $715 million, the tycoon's fortune was estimated to be close to one billion. Therefore, it was not at all accidental that at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries the introduction of a whole series of antitrust laws, as well as progressive taxation, which “removed” the nouveau riche from their insane excess profits. Rockefeller found his bearings in the new situation and became involved in charity work. According to American laws, this activity was not subject to taxes, and therefore the creation of charitable foundations in practice was nothing more than a form of tax evasion. Non-profit structures created by the oil magnate - in 1901, the Institute of Medical Research, in 1902, the General Educational Council, in 1913, the Foundation Rockefeller - pursued this goal above all. Over time, attitudes towards Rockefeller began to change: from a semi-criminal element who amassed a fabulous fortune through fraud and crime, in the eyes of the American public he turned into a living embodiment of the American dream, into a hard worker who achieved prosperity thanks to his perseverance and perseverance , into a selfless philanthropist who spent enormous amounts of money to help those in need. Be that as it may, the history of the emergence of the United States as a superpower cannot be considered in isolation from the development of the oil industry and the contribution to it made by John Rockefeller.