Binging on the documentary Men Who Built Amerca.
Few interesting facts/insights that were unknown to me. 1/n
Few interesting facts/insights that were unknown to me. 1/n
Cornelius Vanderbilt was the 19th century American business magnet who built his wealth in the transportation industry. He first built his fortune in inland water trade and later sold everything to get into railroads. At one point he controlled 40% of US railroads. 2/n
During the rail bubble there were more than 350 railroad companies in America. Side note: During automobile bubble there were more than 2000 car companies in the US. 3/n
John D. Rockefeller saw that real money wasn’t in oil exploration but in oil refining and he launched standard oil. It was marketed as very safe for domestic use as compared to normal kerosene. 4/n
To capture the upcoming growth from oil transportation and fill up the rail capacity, Vanderbilt cut an exclusive deal with Rockefeller. 5/n
Rockefeller depended on Railways to transport oil from different oil fields to his refinery. 6/n
The railroad bubble caused over capacity and most railroad companies went bankrupt. Vanderbilt and Tom Scott were two big railroad operators in the country. So they joined hands to negotiate better rates with Rockefeller for oil cargos. 7/n
Rockefeller saw this demand from railroads as a threat so he started building his own oil pipelines and reduced his dependency on railroad. 8/n
Andrew Carnegie was Tom Scott’s protege. Scott asked him to to build a rail bridge across Mississippi river. He figured that iron wouldn’t be strong enough to build such a long bridge. That’s when he found a way to mass produce steel. 9/n
To allay people's fear of a bridge made from a new material (steel), Carnegie staged a show and made an elephant walk across the Mississippi bridge. Soon steel started being used for rails and Carnegie began supplying steel to the whole railroad industry. 10/n
When railroad bubble burst, the demand for steel dried up which made. Carnegie spotted the trend of migration of huge population to large cities like New York and Chicago. Which created demand for buildings to house these people. These buildings needed steel. 11/n
The world’s first skyscraper, built in Chicago, was constructed on Carnegie’s steel. America started growing up vertically on Steel and that laid the foundation of Carnegie’s steel empire. 12/n
Carnegie put Henry Frick in charge of his operations. Frick raised working hours and cut wages. To squash the union resistance Frick hired Pinkertons (a private security company known to have more men than America’s national army at that time). 13/n
The conflict turns bloody resulting in 9 workers being shot dead by Pinkertons. Carnegie fires Frick. 14/n
Backstory on JP Morgan’s rise to power. Morgan's father was a wealthy banker notorious for consolidating industries and making profits from the transaction. His modus operandi had a name — Morganization. 15/n
While his father specialized in low risk deals, J P Morgan’s fancy was caught by a new invention — the light bulb. Morgan funds Edison to set up a small power plant at Morgan’s backyard and lay 4000 feet of wiring to install 400 light bulbs in the house. 16/n
Morgan’s home becomes the first private residence in the world to be powered by electricity. The countries’ elite are invited to Morgan’s house to showcase the new invention. Edison gets more business. 17/n
Against his father’s advice, Morgan invests $83 million (in today’s money) to create Edison General Electric Company. 18/n
In American homes, as electricity starts replacing the most dominant source of light (the kerosene) a threat of disruption looms on the the most powerful man in America - John Rockefeller. 19/n
Rockefeller launches a targeted PR campaign against electricity, painting the new technology as dangerous and deadly. 20/n
While Edison is going full out on his DC electricity, his apprentice, Nichola Tesla, after failing to persuade Edison about superiority of AC electricity, resigns from Edison's office. An investor George Westinghouse agrees to fund Tesla. 21/n
Pressured by Morgan to crush Tesla, Edison publicly electrocutes an elephant to demonstrate that AC is dangerous. He doesn’t stop there. 22/n
Edison invents the electric chair for the state prisons based on AC power. That move backfires when the first electric chair execution ends up roasting the man and all public remember is that electricity was used and Edison was involved. 23/n
To help Westinghouse get more funding, Tesla dissolves his royalty contract. Which means, even if Tesla’s company succeeded, he would never be rich. 24/n
