The Second Richest Man In Rockefeller's Time Was ...

The second richest man in Rockefeller’s time was Andrew Carnegie (car-NEGG-ee). He spent the first 66 years of his life accumulating wealth, and then spent the last 18 giving as much of it away as he could. He said, “I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution.”

He also said, “The man who dies rich dies disgraced.”

Carnegie established public libraries in the United States and other English-speaking countries. He started the Carnegie Institute of Technolgy and other scholls that are now part of Carnegie Mellon University; he was a large benefactor of the Tuskegee Institute under Booker T. Washington for African-American education; he established large pension funds for his employees; he created Carnegie Hall for musical performances in New York City; he founded the Carnegie Hero Fund; he established a laboratory at a medical college; and had many other philanthropic efforts.

By the time he died, Carnegie had given away $350,695,653 (about $4.3 billion adjusted to 2005 dollars). His remaining $30 million was donated to various foundations, charities, and retirees.