Kohli Navtej Assortment of Biographies
Biography of Andrews Carnegie’s - Kohli Navtej
The industrialist and philanthropist, Andrews Carnegie’s life is a true rags to riches story. Once richest man of the world, he was born in an unfortunate Scottish family. Blame it on the economic depression of 1848, and to some extent his destiny, Carnegie immigrated to United States with his family. Here, he captained the industry of 19th century America and was crowned the virtual king of steel. He became an instrumental force in strengthening America’s steel industry.
Having made his fortune through Carnegie steel Industry, he later sold it and donated the proceedings for the betterment of mankind.
Andrews Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835 in Scotland. The son of a handloom weaver, he grew up to become America’s richest man. At the tender age of 13, he came to Pennsylvania with his family, where he earned his livelihood by working in a factory. A year later, he went to work as a telegraph messenger and was upgraded to telegraph operator rank by 1851.
In 1853, however, came the most crucial point when his life took its biggest leap. Carnegie got the job in Pennsylvania Railroad as the assistant and telegrapher to one of the railroad’s top officer. He then moved to the position of superintendent in 1856.
Working in Railroad turned out to be a great learning experience for Carnegie. He quickly picked up all ins and outs of the railroad industry and made investments in several ventures, primarily oil. Fortunately enough, the investments earned him good money.
Wanting to advance himself he left the railroad in 1865 to accomplish his entrepreneurial ambitions, including the Keystone Bridge Company.
For the next 10 years, Carnegie’s focus was on steel industry. His flagship business Carnegie steel company introduced a new genre in US steel industry. He installed several state-of-the-art steel production plants for quick and productive manufacturing of steel. An avant-garde in true sense, he adopted a distinct start-to-finish approach that eventually shoved him to the top. For every stage of production, he had exactly what he needed. From raw material to coal mines or ships to railroads, he acquired it all.
It was his dogged-persistence and rational-mindset that took Carnegie Steel Corporation to unconquerable heights. For every endeavor he made, wheel of fortune rolled in his favor.
At the age of 65, he sold his booming business to JP Morgan, founder of United States Steel Corporation. The sale earned him around $200 million, but Carnegie had some other plans. He decided to give away his fortunes. Since then, Carnegie devoted rest of his days to several philanthropic activities and helping others help themselves. For his philanthropic endeavors, he has to his credit, more than 2800 libraries, Carnegie-Mellon University (Pittsburgh), Carnegie foundation for the Advancement of teaching, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
This avid writer wrote several literary pieces, including his life story. Although, many industrialists have contributed to charity in some way or other, Andrews Carnegie was different. He was a prototype of morality, who gave away his fortunes to fulfill his obligations towards society.
During his lifetime, Carnegie donated over $350 million for the improvement of mankind. On August 11, 1919, this divine soul went to rest in heaven.
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