Andrew Carnegie was a successful tycoon and philanthropist in the 1800s. He founded the Carnegie Steel Company and became one of the richest men in the world. He later invested in railway and steel industries and merged his companies to form the United States Steel Corporation. He retired from the steel industry and focused on philanthropy, including the establishment of Carnegie Libraries and the Carnegie Institute of Technology.
Andrew Carnegie is one of the most successful tycoons of the 1800s and one of the most prominent philanthropists of all time. He was the founder and owner of the Carnegie Steel Company, which helped him become one of the richest men in the world during the 19th century.
Born in Scotland in 1835, Andrew Carnegie moved with his family to the United States as a teenager. They settled in the city of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which is now incorporated into Pittsburgh as a North Side neighborhood. Andrew Carnegie’s first job was as a telegraph messenger, at a rate of $2.50 US Dollars (USD) a week. While doing this work, he proved to be very capable and hardworking, and he also developed a love of theatre, especially the plays of Shakespeare. He was often required to deliver telegraphs to a theater in the city and planned his arrivals so that he could watch the plays being performed there.
In 1853, Andrew Carnegie got a job with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, where he quickly worked his way up the ranks to become division superintendent of Pittsburgh. At this point, Andrew Carnegie began to invest part of his income in railway industries, which proved to be very profitable, especially during the Civil War years.
At the end of the Civil War, Andrew Carnegie decided to move from the railroad industry to the steel industry. In Pittsburgh he founded two steel-related companies: Keystone Bridge Works and Union Ironworks. Andrew Carnegie’s association with the steel industry made him one of the richest people in the world. He has purchased a large number of steel mills, ore mines and related companies in the United States; soon, thanks to Carnegie’s companies, the United States was producing more steel than the United Kingdom.
In 1901, Andrew Carnegie made the decision to merge his many steel companies into one company. The merger was organized by well-known banker JP Morgan and resulted in the formation of the United States Steel Corporation (USS), which had a market value of over $1 billion USD. At the time, USS was the most highly regarded company ever.
After creating the USS Corporation, Andrew Carnegie retired from active involvement in the steel industry and turned his interests to philanthropy and charitable work. One of Andrew Carnegie’s most famous philanthropic giving was the establishment of public libraries in English-speaking countries around the world, known as Carnegie Libraries. Andrew Carnegie also donated $2 million dollars to the establishment of the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, now called Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a number of other notable buildings including Carnegie Hall in New York City.
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