Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) rose from bobbin boy in a Pittsburgh cotton mill to founder of Carnegie Steel, the largest steel manufacturer in the world, which he sold to J. P. Morgan in 1901 for $480 million - a deal that left him one of the richest men who had ever lived. He spent his remaining eighteen years giving the fortune away: more than 2,500 free libraries, Carnegie Hall, and the great foundations that still bear his name. By his death he had distributed over $350 million. The Gospel of Wealth is the argument behind it all.