Andrew Carnegie
A self-made steel magnate who amassed a colossal fortune, then deliberately gave almost all of it away to build libraries and promote world peace.
1835–1919 (age 84)·American industrialist and philanthropist·Birthday: November 25
Biography
Andrew Carnegie's story is the archetypal American immigrant saga, distilled into ruthless business and radical philanthropy. Arriving in Pittsburgh from Scotland as a poor boy, he climbed from bobbin boy to telegraph operator, leveraging his connections and foresight to invest in railroads, oil, and, most pivotally, steel. His Carnegie Steel Company, employing the revolutionary Bessemer process, came to dominate American industry, making him the richest man in the world. Then, in 1901, he sold his empire to J.P. Morgan for a staggering sum and embarked on a second, more ambitious career: giving his money away. Guided by his 'Gospel of Wealth,' which argued the rich had a moral duty to distribute their wealth for public benefit, he funded over 2,500 public libraries worldwide, believing in self-education. He also endowed universities, established pension funds for teachers, and built institutions like Carnegie Hall and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, aiming to literally institutionalize his vision for a better, more educated, and less warlike world.
#1 When Andrew Was Born
The biggest hits of 1835
Andrew's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1835Born
1840Started school
1848Became a teenager
1851Could drive
1853Could vote
1856Turned 21
1865Turned 30
President: Andrew Johnson
1875Turned 40
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1885Turned 50
Karl Benz builds the first gasoline-powered automobile
President: Grover Cleveland
1895Turned 60
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1905Turned 70
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1915Turned 80
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1919Died at 84
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
Key Achievements
- Built Carnegie Steel Company, which he sold to form the core of U.S. Steel, the world's first billion-dollar corporation.
- Funded the construction of 2,509 public libraries across the English-speaking world, known as 'Carnegie Libraries.'
- Established the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1910 to advance the cause of diplomacy and conflict resolution.
- Authored 'The Gospel of Wealth,' a seminal essay that laid out his philosophy of philanthropic responsibility for the ultra-rich.
Did You Know?
He was one of the first major philanthropists to advocate for a wealth tax and estate taxes.
Carnegie paid a substitute $850 to fight in his place during the American Civil War, a legal practice at the time.
He offered to buy the Philippines from the United States for $20 million after the Spanish-American War to grant the islands independence.
Despite his pacifism, his steel plants were major suppliers to the U.S. military and navy.
“The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”
