My Life
I was born on November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland emigrated to the United States with my parents in 1848. I led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. I started as a telegrapher and by the 1860's had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. I built further wealth as a bond salesman raising money for American enterprise in Europe. I built Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, which I sold to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for $480 million, creating the U.S. Steel Corporation. I devoted the remainder of my life to large-scale philanthropy, with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, education and scientific research. With the fortune I made from business, he built Carnegie Hall, and founded the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Carnegie Hero Fund, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, among others. My life has often been referred to as a true "rags to riches" story.