With enormous funds at hand, Carnegie never ran out of money and was, at times, frustrated in his inability to give it all away. His highly organized office staff not only distributed the funds (in periodic, not lump-sum payments), but also performed research and oversaw the creation of hundreds of boards and advisory panels. Devoting the remainder of his life to giving away his fortune, he quickly realized the necessity of systematizing what he came to call “industrial philanthropy.” Carnegie moved to New York City in 1901 and laid out his essential principles of business and philanthropy in The Gospel of Wealth that “he who dies rich dies thus disgraced.” He was to retain this remarkably consistent vision for his remaining 29 years and urged the rich to give away their wealth during their lifetimes and in doing so to apply the same entrepreneurial skills and focus that they used in its accumulation. It is instructive in this current Age of Riches to study the father of modern philanthropy, who made his riches in the Gilded Age.īorn of modest means, Carnegie emigrated from Scotland to western Pennsylvania in 1848 at the age of 13 and with precocious speed became well connected and well positioned, eventually controlling a major portion of the US steel business and becoming the wealthiest individual in America.
As engagingly chronicled in David Nasaw’s new biography, the “Star-Spangled Scotsman’s” achievements as a philanthropist remain astonishing a century later: he founded the predecessor of a major university, Carnegie-Mellon endowed the Carnegie Institution funded museums and concert halls created pension systems for teachers that evolved into TIAA-CREF provided scholarships for the poor most famously, provided funds to build nearly 3,000 free libraries worldwide and funded more than two dozen major American think tanks, foundations and other institutions, all of which continue to confer significant benefits on society.
Having built America’s greatest fortune on iron, steel and muscle, Andrew Carnegie retired from active involvement in business in 1901 to begin a second career as the first modern philanthropist.
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