{"id":48985,"date":"2025-09-29T18:27:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T18:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T18:27:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T18:27:52","slug":"rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockefeller became the first billionaire over a century ago. Here&#8217;s what to know about America&#8217;s wealthiest today."},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>On Sept. 29, 1916, <a href=\"https:\/\/timesmachine.nytimes.com\/timesmachine\/1916\/09\/29\/issue.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">it was front page news<\/a> that a surge in Standard Oil&#8217;s stock price likely made oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller America&#8217;s first billionaire.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More than a century later, the United States is home to hundreds of billionaires whose fortunes increasingly come from technology and financial markets. Together, they control a growing share of the country&#8217;s wealth \u2014 approaching the percentage held by Gilded Age industrialists who built monopolies in railroads, oil and steel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/af53c20d-b329-4b6f-b442-b52ab6a5091a\/thumbnail\/620x486\/eb5567d31040e9d85d15f2a34ddbd630\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg#\" alt=\"John D. Rockefeller around 19000 \" height=\"486\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/af53c20d-b329-4b6f-b442-b52ab6a5091a\/thumbnail\/620x486\/eb5567d31040e9d85d15f2a34ddbd630\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/af53c20d-b329-4b6f-b442-b52ab6a5091a\/thumbnail\/1240x972\/fac92698da32b8a146f483bb0ef7bc12\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">John D. Rockefeller surrounded by journalists and photographers at his arrival in New York around 1900.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Imagno \/ Getty Images \/ brandstaetter images<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Here&#8217;s what research tells us about America&#8217;s billionaire class today.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>American billionaires number over 900, according to researchers\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>There are a few different estimates of the number of American billionaires, but researchers tend to agree that the billionaire class exceeds 900 and is growing.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/sylvanlebrun\/2025\/04\/01\/the-countries-with-the-most-billionaires-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Forbes<\/a>, which has produced a list of billionaires since the 1980s, counted roughly 900 in early 2025 \u2014 up from 813 in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the wealth-data firm <a href=\"https:\/\/altrata.com\/reports\/altratas-billionaire-census-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Altrata<\/a> pinned the number of U.S. billionaires at 1,135 in 2024, an uptick from 1,050 in 2023 and up more than 80% from levels in 2016, when they began releasing yearly reports.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div style=\"min-height:470px\" id=\"datawrapper-vis-v4acB\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/v4acB\/full.png\" alt=\"Number of U.S. billionaires (Column Chart)\"\/><\/div>\n<p><amp-iframe width=\"100\" height=\"100\" layout=\"responsive\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin\" resizable=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/v4acB\/2\/\"> <\/amp-iframe><\/div>\n<p>And JP Morgan Chase Private Bank <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/finance\/investing\/what-we-know-about-americas-billionaires-1-135-and-counting-98d22268\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">estimated<\/a> the number at roughly 1,990 in 2024 \u2014 about 15% more than its 2023 estimate.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the reason <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/04\/07\/magazine\/billionaires.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">estimates vary<\/a> is that the ultra-wealthy are not required or incentivized to disclose their net worth. The SEC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/resources-small-businesses\/going-public\/officers-directors-10-shareholders\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">requires<\/a> investors to report ownership of more than 5% of a company&#8217;s shares, but valuations fluctuate with the market, complicating wealth estimates.<\/p>\n<p>Adjusted for inflation, the number of billionaires with a Rockefeller-sized fortune is a much smaller set.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His $1 billion in 1916 would be worth <a href=\"https:\/\/www.minneapolisfed.org\/about-us\/monetary-policy\/inflation-calculator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">roughly $30 billion today<\/a>. By that measure, only about 30 American billionaires have a similar fortune, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/billionaires\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Forbes<\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/billionaires\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a>. Among them are Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Tesla founder Elon Musk, with net worths above $300 billion. Other tech titans also top the list, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos \u2014 both with fortunes of over $200 billion each, as of Sept. 29.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Christopher Nichols, a professor of history at Ohio State University said, &#8220;The billionaires of the Gilded Age and the multimillionaires were involved in what we think of as blue chip industries, where there are lots of jobs and stuff produced. The billionaires of today&#8217;s world are mostly working in tech sectors and places that very often don&#8217;t employ many people.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Billionaires have roughly $6.8 trillion in wealth in 2025<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Together, America&#8217;s billionaires had an approximate total net worth of $6.8 trillion in the spring of 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/sylvanlebrun\/2025\/04\/01\/the-countries-with-the-most-billionaires-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Forbes<\/a> estimates, which is a jump of more than a trillion compared to last year after a strong year of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.schwab.com\/learn\/story\/it-was-very-good-year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">growth for U.S. stocks<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In the 20th century, Scottish journalist B.C. Forbes, who founded the eponymous magazine, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/chasewithorn\/2017\/09\/19\/the-first-forbes-list-see-who-the-richest-americans-were-in-1918\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wrote<\/a> that if Rockefeller&#8217;s wealth &#8220;could be turned into cash and distributed equally\u2014which it couldn&#8217;t\u2014[it] would give every man, woman and child in the United States $10 each.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Today, if that estimated $6.8 trillion held by U.S. billionaires could be turned into cash and divided equally among roughly 340 million Americans, it would amount to about $20,000 per person.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Another way to think about that sum is that it could theoretically be used to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/09\/04\/cnbcs-official-nfl-team-valuations-2025.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">buy every NFL team<\/a>, pay off Americans&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs-product\/IF10158\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">student loan<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthsystemtracker.org\/brief\/the-burden-of-medical-debt-in-the-united-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">medical debt<\/a>\u00a0and purchase 9 million homes at the current <a href=\"https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/series\/MSPUS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">median sales price<\/a>, with hundreds of billions left over.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The ultra rich own an increasingly large share of the nation&#8217;s wealth<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Data from the <a href=\"https:\/\/wid.world\/country\/usa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">World Inequality Database<\/a> shows that the share of wealth held by the top 1% and the ultra-rich top 0.001% has been rising for decades \u2014 toward the record levels observed in the Gilded Age.<\/p>\n<p>The share of the national wealth held by the top 1% peaked at nearly 50% in 1929 before tumbling during the Great Depression, according to the data.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div style=\"min-height:371px\" id=\"datawrapper-vis-JRl8e\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/JRl8e\/full.png\" alt=\"Share of national wealth held by top 1% (Line chart)\"\/><\/div>\n<p><amp-iframe width=\"100\" height=\"100\" layout=\"responsive\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin\" resizable=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/JRl8e\/4\/\"> <\/amp-iframe><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;What happened with the Great Depression was that large fortunes were lost in the stock market. And then the New Deal rebuilt the economy around workers and around small businesses,&#8221; said Jeremi Suri, a professor of history and public affairs at University of Texas.<\/p>\n<p>But in the early 1980s, the top 1% began regaining ground, as union jobs declined and traditional industries like manufacturing shrunk, according to Suri. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By 2023 the top 1%, or those with over $4.6 million in assets, controlled more than a third of the nation&#8217;s wealth \u2014 up over 10 percentage points from 1980.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Data collected by the same researchers shows that the trendline looks similar for those in the top 0.001% of people in the country \u2014 or those who owned more than $1.5 billion in 2023.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div style=\"min-height:453px\" id=\"datawrapper-vis-NUbTD\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/NUbTD\/full.png\" alt=\"Share of national wealth held by top 0.001% (Line chart)\"\/><\/div>\n<p><amp-iframe width=\"100\" height=\"100\" layout=\"responsive\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin\" resizable=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/NUbTD\/2\/\"> <\/amp-iframe><\/div>\n<p>The hundreds of billionaires in this category owned about 1% of the nation&#8217;s net wealth in 1980 and 5% in 2023.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Most billionaires are males with self-made fortunes, but a significant number inherited their money<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Demographically, the billionaire class still resembles J.D. Rockefeller in many ways.<\/p>\n<p>The vast majority of the world&#8217;s billionaires are men \u2014 about 86.5% in 2025, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/isjgE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Forbes<\/a> \u2014 and most make rather than inherit their wealth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rockefeller himself was the son of a traveling salesman and a housewife. While his family helped him launch his career, Rockefeller built the majority of his fortune on his own, according to Nichols, an editor of &#8220;A Companion to the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He came from enough middle class wealth that he could get a loan from his dad to start that business, which so often is the story for business folks,&#8221; Nichols said. &#8220;But he made his billions through his business acumen and hard work, and then also his ruthless competitiveness in an under-regulated time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Research suggests inheritance plays a significant role for many wealthy people today. Roughly 30% of the world&#8217;s billionaires have inherited their fortunes, according to a 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ubs.com\/global\/en\/wealthmanagement\/family-office-uhnw\/reports\/billionaire-ambitions-report.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">report<\/a> by UBS, a wealth management company in Sweden. And the share in the U.S. is about a third, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/finance\/investing\/what-we-know-about-americas-billionaires-1-135-and-counting-98d22268?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAiX8PDbEIekVAn9nB3dlMNOzQbuniS15QofRW44s4VS2FXe3qRUA-pMojooS00%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68bb26c9&amp;gaa_sig=AeZYBYSZRXCqG4TCDNE6YM_jBM4T6yw5wO5Sa2lk6a8D1ziXOpipy52_MVjpw5jY9kmVDUrRFQDAbMTyh6xkdw%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Altrata<\/a> data.<\/p>\n<p>Some of America&#8217;s wealthiest heirs include Walmart&#8217;s Alice, Rob and Jim Walton, and Jacqueline Mars, who owns roughly one third of the candy giant Mars founded by her grandfather.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rockefeller and his son gave away a significant amount of their money to charity but it continues to live on. And descendants of the family share a fortune valued around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/profile\/rockefeller\/?list=families\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">$10.3 billion<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation \">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>    <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-author\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/team\/laura-doan\/\" class=\"content-author__name\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Laura  Doan<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-author__bio\">\n<div class=\"content-author__full-information\">\n<p class=\"content-author__text\">Laura Doan is a fact checker for CBS News Confirmed. She covers misinformation, AI and social media.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/rockefeller-first-billionaire-america-wealthiest-people-today\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Sept. 29, 1916, it was front page news that a surge in Standard Oil&#8217;s stock price likely made oil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[6791,8059],"class_list":["post-48985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money-watch","tag-billionaire","tag-wealth-gap"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rockefeller became the first billionaire over a century ago. Here&#039;s what to know about America&#039;s wealthiest today. - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Newspapers announced John D. Rockefeller as the first U.S. billionaire 109 years ago. Today there are more than 900 American billionaires.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rockefeller became the first billionaire over a century ago. Here&#039;s what to know about America&#039;s wealthiest today. - World News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Newspapers announced John D. Rockefeller as the first U.S. billionaire 109 years ago. Today there are more than 900 American billionaires.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-29T18:27:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg\" \/><meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"998\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2\"},\"headline\":\"Rockefeller became the first billionaire over a century ago. Here&#8217;s what to know about America&#8217;s wealthiest today.\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-29T18:27:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-29T18:27:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/\"},\"wordCount\":1062,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,538&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Billionaire\",\"wealth gap\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Money Watch\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/\",\"name\":\"Rockefeller became the first billionaire over a century ago. Here's what to know about America's wealthiest today. - World News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,538&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-29T18:27:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-29T18:27:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Newspapers announced John D. Rockefeller as the first U.S. billionaire 109 years ago. Today there are more than 900 American billionaires.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,538&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,538&ssl=1\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":538},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rockefeller became the first billionaire over a century ago. Here&#8217;s what to know about America&#8217;s wealthiest today.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/\",\"name\":\"World News\",\"description\":\"World News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization\",\"name\":\"World News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png\",\"width\":581,\"height\":581,\"caption\":\"World News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2\",\"name\":\"News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rockefeller became the first billionaire over a century ago. Here's what to know about America's wealthiest today. - World News","description":"Newspapers announced John D. Rockefeller as the first U.S. billionaire 109 years ago. Today there are more than 900 American billionaires.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rockefeller became the first billionaire over a century ago. Here's what to know about America's wealthiest today. - World News","og_description":"Newspapers announced John D. Rockefeller as the first U.S. billionaire 109 years ago. Today there are more than 900 American billionaires.","og_url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/","og_site_name":"World News","article_published_time":"2025-09-29T18:27:52+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""},{"url":"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg","width":1920,"height":998,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/"},"author":{"name":"News","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2"},"headline":"Rockefeller became the first billionaire over a century ago. Here&#8217;s what to know about America&#8217;s wealthiest today.","datePublished":"2025-09-29T18:27:52+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-29T18:27:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/"},"wordCount":1062,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,538&ssl=1","keywords":["Billionaire","wealth gap"],"articleSection":["Money Watch"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/","name":"Rockefeller became the first billionaire over a century ago. Here's what to know about America's wealthiest today. - World News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,538&ssl=1","datePublished":"2025-09-29T18:27:52+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-29T18:27:52+00:00","description":"Newspapers announced John D. Rockefeller as the first U.S. billionaire 109 years ago. Today there are more than 900 American billionaires.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,538&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,538&ssl=1","width":1024,"height":538},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/rockefeller-became-the-first-billionaire-over-a-century-ago-heres-what-to-know-about-americas-wealthiest-today\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rockefeller became the first billionaire over a century ago. Here&#8217;s what to know about America&#8217;s wealthiest today."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/","name":"World News","description":"World News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization","name":"World News","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png","width":581,"height":581,"caption":"World News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2","name":"News","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1","medium":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=300&resize=300,300&ssl=1","medium_large":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=768&resize=768,0&ssl=1","large":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,1024&ssl=1","1536x1536":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1536&resize=1536,1536&ssl=1","2048x2048":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=2048&resize=2048,2048&ssl=1","colormag-highlighted-post":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=392&resize=392,272&ssl=1","colormag-featured-post-medium":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=390&resize=390,205&ssl=1","colormag-featured-post-small":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=130&resize=130,90&ssl=1","colormag-featured-image":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=800&resize=800,445&ssl=1","colormag-default-news":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1","colormag-featured-image-large":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1400&resize=1400,600&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-block-extra-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1155&resize=1155,480&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-grid-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=600&resize=600,417&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-grid-small-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=285&resize=285,450&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-grid-medium-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=575&resize=575,198&ssl=1"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"News","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e85cf08852547781a5f631f3713dbb5197ed4b54e32ae19c7d5769b8c8504897?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":false,"magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"On Sept. 29, 1916, it was front page news that a surge in Standard Oil&#8217;s stock price likely made oil","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["Money Watch"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":16,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":6,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,538&ssl=1",1024,538,false],"medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=300&resize=300,300&ssl=1",300,300,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/29\/71ee4ce5-6995-433a-93d1-ffd5b79aac95\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/af03d872f56a053e84106ce7d879263b\/gettyimages-82091682.jpg?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1",150,150,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"News","author_link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/author\/admin\/"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e85cf08852547781a5f631f3713dbb5197ed4b54e32ae19c7d5769b8c8504897?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-37\">Money Watch<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}