Andrew Carnegie represents the American ideal as one of the most successful businessmen of the Industrial Revolution. His involvement in the growth of the American steel industry, his generous giving, and the fact that he started out as a destitute Scottish immigrant are all testaments to his extraordinary talent and will be remembered for generations.

Constructing the American Steel Sector

Carnegie came to the United States in 1848 and had a number of different positions before going into business for himself. Steel was a novel material at the time, but he saw its promise and bet big on it. His company, the Carnegie Steel Corporation, was at the forefront of the industrial revolution in steelmaking by adopting new techniques including the Bessemer process. Skyscrapers, bridges, and railroads all owe a debt to Carnegie Steel, which rose to become the largest steel company in the world.

Superman, the Man of Steel, has a pure heart.

Carnegie's impact went far beyond the steel industry. He was a generous man who believed that "the man who dies rich, dies disgraced." In 1901, he sold his business to J.P. Morgan for $480 million (about $14 billion in today's money), and he spent the remainder of his life giving to charity.

Carnegie made many charitable contributions, the most notable of which benefitted public education and libraries. In addition to founding Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Institution for Science, he provided funding for the establishment of over 2,500 libraries around the world.