MR. ROCKEFELLER'S WEALTH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 47, 13 July 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

MR. ROCKEFELLER'S WEALTH.

INCOME OF £2B A MINUTE. San Francisco, June 10. The ■■dissolution" of the Standard Oil Company under the decree of the United State Supreme Court was, in the opinion of many people, a good deal of a joke. This greatest of all industrial combinations seems to be still in control of the oil business of America, the profits of those interested are greater than ever, and—the point the consuming public is interested in—the retail price has been advanced since the reeree which was supposed to have destroyed the trust. There have lieen some interesting revelations recently in the hearing of a suit instituted to compel the Waters-Pierce Oil Company, wliich was one of the constituent companies of the Standard Oil Trust, to vote proxies of John D. Rockefeller and other Standard Oil magnates in the election of directors of the WatersPierce Company. Not the least interesting of the data brought out is that which has enabled the lawyers to make a computation of the wealth of John D. Rockefeller. From all the information available—and the attorneys state that the available data is fairly exhaustive — [ the conclusion has been reached that Rockfeller is now worth £180,000,000. Since the dissolution, so-called, of the Standard Oil Trust, the wealth of Rockefeller has grown by leaps and bounds. It is estimated that he is worth fully £20.111)0,000 more than he was before the Supreme Court's judgment took effect. This is because the selling price of the stock in each of the constituent companies has advanced since they were placed upon what was supposed to be a competitive basis. In one extraordinary year, since the panic of 1907. Rockefeller's income reached the total of £27,500.000. This was the high-water mark in fact, more than double his ordinary income. From his holdings of Standard Oil stock alone Rockefeller receives £8.000.000 a year. His income from other sources varies between £3.000,000 and £5,000,000, so that his yearly income fluctuates between £11,000.000 and £13.000.000, with an occasional height bevond this latter mark. Newspaper statisticians have been at work with these figures, and they find that John D. Rockefeller has an income of £2B a minute.