America is a country built on great businesses, but behind every booming company is a titan of industry. The face of the United States would look a lot different today if it wasn’t for powerhouses like John Jacob Astor and Stephen Girard – but if they were alive now, how much would they be worth?
It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of tech companies and successful start-ups when they’re all we read about in the news, but the simple fact is that some of America’s most prominent industries came to fruition years ago. Would the most influential people in U.S. history out-rank the likes of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and his $135 billion-dollar fortune?
Would Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $74 billion pale in comparison? In reality, savvy moves made by shrewd businessmen years ago paved the way for modern-day CEO’s to get their slice of the pie. Let’s take a look at how the Rockefeller’s and Ford’s shaped America – and how some present-day names compare.