Andrew Carnegie
Although Carnegie's family lacked material wealth, he grew up among an abundance of cultural and political enlightenment. Largely self educated, Carnegie had a love of learning which was fostered by his family. From modest beginnings in the U.S. as a factory worker and telegraph operator, he gradually built investments in railroad-related industries into a world-dominating empire based on steel. By the 1860s, he was wealthy; in the 1870s, he built Carnegie Steel, a company he later sold for more than $100 billion dollars. In his later years, his focus turned to philanthropy. The many educational and cultural institutions which bear his name are testaments to his lifelong commitment to learning and culture.
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