Carnegie Essay, Research Paper

THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD

In the cottage where the millionaire benefactor was born in 1835 is told the family s story prior to their emigration to the United States.

Adjoining the birthplace cottage is the Memorial Hall endowed by Mrs Louise Carnegie to chart the meteoric business career of her husband, Andrew from bobbin boy, telegraph operator and railroad developer to Steel King of America. The empire he forged in the steel furnaces of Pittsburg was sold in 1901 for $400 million and Andrew Carnegie retired from business life as the richest man in the world.

However, this man of steel had a heart of gold for he believed that the rich were merely trustees of their wealth and should distribute it for the elevation and benefit of humanity. Andrew Carnegie, the archetypal local boy made good, lavished his bounty on his native town. He threw open to its toiling masses the gates of Pittencrieff Park, from which he was debarred as a boy.

By the time of his death in 1919 he had given away over $350 million to provide free libraries, church organs, schools and colleges.