Andrew Carnegie may not be a well-known figure anymore but there's a very good chance that his name is decorating perhaps more than one building in your city. At least, that's the case for most major towns in the U.S.

Although he's far better known as a philanthropist now, Carnegie built a fortune from the ground up—a fortune that he gave away later in life.

In this article, 🐻we explore the life and legacy of industrialist Andrew Carnegie.

Early Life and Education

Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, on Nov. 25, 1835. His parents were in the weaving and sewing trade. Never well off, the family saw their meager income dry up as the invention of power looms took over the🐼 industry.

When Carnegie was 13, the family moved to the U.S. in search of ♉better opportunities, which was someth🐟ing young Andrew had a knack for finding.

Carnegie worked at a cotton mill in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now Pittsburgh)𝓡, before moving on to a job as a telegraph messenger a yea🍌r later.

He made up for his lack of formal education with self-study by reading and teaching himself to translate telegraph signals by ear. This latter ability was the reason for Carnegie's next promotion to telegraph operator.

Carnegie's able mind and charm advanced him quickly up the ranks until he found himself serving as the secretary for the Pennsylvania Railroad superintendent, Thomas A. Scott.

Introduced to Investing

Under Scott's tutelage, he learned valuable lessons about management and investing. He became the assistant division superintendent by age 21. Three years later, he became the division superintendent, out-ranking Scott.

Carnegie began investing in railroad companies and the industries that supported them. By 1863, he made thousands of dollars a year from 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:dividends. In 1865, Carnegie founded the Keystone Bridge Company, which was the first big step towards Carnegie Steel.

Business Accomplishments

Carnegie's investments and partnerships gave him a controlling interest in several diverse businesses.

For instance, he owned sleeping cars used by the railroad, a portion of Keystone, several iron works supplying Keystone, an oil company, and a steel-rolling mill. Carnegie thought iron would tie together his businesses, and he 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:consolidated his ownership through 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:vertical integration.

Other Acquisitions

Carnegie bought his biggest competitor, Homestead Works, and a controlling interest in Henry Frick's coke empire. Carnegie required coke for the steel-making process.

The two men had very different personalities. However, Carnegie saw in Frick someone with the skills to manage his businesses. In 1892, Carnegie created Carnegie Steel and Frick became the board chair.

Frick's Handling of Homestead Strike

Steel prices dropped the year Frick became chair. To maintain a profit, Frick intended to reduce wages. The union disagreed and workers at the Homestea𒁃d plant went on strike.

Carnegie was out of the country at the time. Frick was determined to keep the plant operating and hired guards from the Pinkerton Detective Agency to protect non-union workers who were brought in to reopen the plant.

About a dozen people were killed in a fight between the strikers and guards. The militia was called in and the plant went back into operation with the non-union workers. However, the fight between the company and striking workers continued.

Shortly after the fighting began, an assassin with no connection to the union shot and stabbed Frick. He not only survived but returned to work a few days later.

Ultimately, the union gave up the fight and accepted reduced wages so workers could return to their jobs. The Homestead strike marred Carnegie's image because onlookers felt he had supported Frick throughout by silent consent.

Wealth and Philanthropy

Building More Wealth

On one of his trips to raise capital by selling bonds to European investors, Carnegie noticed that the demand for steel was growingꦬ and might outpace that of iron. As a result, he changed his strategy and began to focus on steel holdings🐷 in 1873.

Carnegie and his partners built new mills with modern innovations that would out-produce the competition. 𝐆It was around this time that Ca▨rnegie created two basic business rules to guide him:

• Profits would take care of themselves if costs were carefully monitored
• The presence of gifted managers was worth more than the actual mills they ran

His mills ran more ef♚ficiently than the competition,♍ so he was in the best position to buy when the economy hit a six-year slump in 1873. He snapped up competing mills and companies operating at other levels of production.

He renovated the older mills up to modern standards and was back to outproducing and out-earning his remaining competitors when the economy recovered.

The economy would hit another rut by 1884. Around that time, Carnegie made a few acquisitions that would both cement his empire and harm his reputation. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Contrarian investors find value in the worst market condi🐈tions.

In 1901, Carnegie sold his company for $492 million to a group of investors headed by 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:J.P. Morgan. Carnegie Steel became the centerpiece of U.S. Steel, a trust controlling 60% of the country's steel production.

Thus, Carnegie began the philanthropic phase of his life with one of the world's largest personal fortunes.

Philanthropy

Carnegie began to focus on writing and philanthropy after the Homestead strike. In 1889, he wrote an article called "The Gospel of Wealth" in which he stated that an industrialist's life should have two phases. In one phase, he accumulates as much wealth as he can. In the other, he gives it all away to benefit society.

From 1901 until his death in 1919, Carnegie focused on giving away the modern equivalent of billions of dollars. He established a $5 million pension fund for his former employees. Perhaps recalling how vital books were to his education as a youth, he provided the money that would establish over 2,500 public libraries in the U.S. and abroad, all bearing the Carnegie name.

He also financed Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Institution for Science, The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, The Carnegie Foundation, and more.

Legacy

Carnegie, along with 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:John D. Rockefeller, represented a new breed of industrialist, one driven to build a fortune, and then to give it away. Ver♔y few people of extreme wealth disperse their entire for💫tunes.

Carnegie was able to replace his image as one of the hard-nosed 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:robber barons with that of a modern-day Santa Claus, an image reinforced by his white beard and twinkling eyes. His considerable business and investment expertise may be forgotten over time, but thanks to his philanthropy, his name will not be.

Carnegie is commonly referred to as a pacifist and spent millions to help end World War I. This included supporting the establishment of the Peace Palace in The Hague in 1903 and giving $10 million to start the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1910.

Personal Life

Andrew Carnegie lived as a bachelor for most of his life. That changed when he was in his early-50s. He married Louise Whitfield a year after his mother died.

The two signed a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:prenuptial agreement that stated Carnegie would give away the vast majority of his fortune during his lifetime but maintain an annual income of $20,000 that went to Louise.

The couple had one child, Margaret, who was born in 1897. Andrew Carnegie died in August 1919. Margaret continued her father's philanthropic legacy. She died in 1990.

The Bottom Line

People may not know much about Andrew Carnegie, but his name is prominent in many cities across the U.S., whether it's above the doorway of a public library, related to the arts, education, science, and business communities, or attached to organizations that strive for world peace.

The young man who arrived in America in the mid-1800s became one of the biggest names in the country's steel industry, making major investments and acquisitions. His vision allowed him to diversify his holdings in many parts of the industry, including steel production, rail cars, and railroads.

Once he'd built his great wealth, Carnegie donated vast amounts of his fortune to a range of different causes, including universities in the U.S. and abroad, churches, and to trying to end the First World War.