John D. Rockefeller was an intelligent businessman who became America’s first billionaire. In 1870, Rockefeller founded Standard Oil Company, which eventually became a dominant monopoly in the oil industry. Rockefeller’s leadership in Standard Oil brought him great wealth as well as controversy, as many opposed Rockefeller’s business practices. Standard Oil’s nearly complete monopoly of the industry was eventually brought to the U.S. Supreme Court, who ruled in 1911 that Rockefeller’s titanic trust should be dismantled. Though many disapproved of Rockefeller’s professional ethics, few could devalue his substantial philanthropic events, which led to him donating $540 million (over $5 billion today) in his lifetime to humanitarian and charitable causes.