Family in the News: The Rockefellers

By Chrystia Freeland 2008-10-15

When a Rockefeller turns 21 he or she publicly introduces him or herself to the wider Rockefeller clan at one of the bi-annual family gatherings – in June at the Playhouse on the grounds of the historic family estate in New York's Hudson Valley or in New York City over Christmas. “They tell a little about themselves and people ?welcome them,” Peter Johnson, a longtime family consigliere says. “The idea is to say you are part of the family.”
This coming-of-age ritual – you might call it a Wasp Bar Mitzvah, although there are now, six generations on, Jewish Rockefellers, too – is part of a broader tribal culture that has allowed the Rockefellers, more than 70 years after their founding patriarch's death, to remain a powerful force in US civil society.
“There's no family like the Rockefellers in American life,” says Richard Holbrooke, former US ambassador to the United Nations and chairman of the Asia Society, which was founded by a Rockefeller. “They have a very developed sense of reticence and responsibility. What's amazing is how many institutions they have touched through their multiple efforts.”
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As America's new gilded age starts to sputter, the Rockefeller family is the most influential ?living extension of its first gilded age: the raw, revolutionary decades after the civil war that laid the foundations of modern US capitalism. The family's forefather, oil mogul John D. Rockefeller, is described in Titan, Ron Chernow's biography, as “an amalgam of godliness and greed”, who was both the nation's “fiercest robber baron” and its “foremost philanthropist”. Standard Oil, the mighty trust he created was broken up by a Supreme Court ruling in 1911. But by then, Rockefeller was already devoting most of his time to giving his money away.
Today, Mr Chernow says, that “oil is ancient history” for the Rockefellers. The family had been more concerned with good works, not business. Yet this week, the usually low-key family grabbed the spotlight by bringing their philanthropic concerns to bear on ExxonMobil, the biggest of the corporate beasts spawned by Standard Oil. Led by Neva Rockefeller Goodwin, a 63-year-old economist and the great-granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller, who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Peter O'Neill, a 45-year-old social worker and great-great-grandson, who lives in New York, the Rockefeller family threw its weight behind shareholder resolutions aimed at changing the corporate governance of the world's largest non-state oil company. They also urged it to devote more attention to renewable energy and global warming.
One of the striking aspects of the effort is the sophisticated Rockefeller family networks it has revealed. So far, 66 of the 78 living adult descendants of John D. Rockefeller have backed the resolution calling for the splitting of the chairman and chief executive roles. Mr O'Neill thinks the final tally will be higher. “The reaction from the family is right on,” he says. He sent out the ballots less than a fortnight ago and not all the votes are in.
He is in a position to canvas his relatives because, according to Mr Johnson, Mr O'Neill chairs the family committee on socially responsible investing, one of dozens of family structures created to help each Rockefeller be an effective philanthropist and steward of his or her personal wealth.
Six generations on, the Rockefellers no longer dominate America's plutocracy: only David Rockefeller Snr, the sole surviving grandson, made it on to the latest Forbes rich list. But the Rockefeller clan – there are 242 of them, including spouses and minors – has endured as a powerful force in causes ranging from promoting the environment and championing civil society to patronising science and the arts. Jay Rockefeller represents West Virginia in the Senate and 92-year-old David Rockefeller Snr – described as “New York's first citizen” by his close friend, ?private equity billionaire Pete Peterson – remains the city's premier philanthropist and an example to its nouveaux riches. Last week he gave $100m to Harvard, the largest gift from an alumnus in Harvard's history.
“They have not only conveyed wealth in their family, but they have conveyed values, and that is a real achievement,” says Mort Zuckerman, the publisher and property tycoon and friend of the two David Rockefellers.
Mr Johnson believes one reason for the Rockefellers' enduring influence is that the history of their fortune spared them the big decisions over how to run the family company, or when to sell it and divide the proceeds, which have riven other dynasties. “The Rockefellers never had a company to fight over,” he says. “They never had to quarrel about who owned what. I can't tell you how important a factor that is.”
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Henry Kissinger, a friend of the grandsons, says: “Sometimes there has been rebellion against the older generation but it has always been in terms of being more progressive or more liberal. I have never known a playboy Rockefeller.”
Indeed, the Rockefellers make a conscious effort to teach their children to preserve their money and use it to improve the world. A key lesson, says Mr Johnson, is that “touching capital is a cardinal sin and you should try to live on your income”.
An NGO activist who has done work for the Rockefellers called them “earnest, hard-working people” with smart habits for getting along; for example, the informal non-solicitation rule that ?prohibits family members from tapping each other for their personal charities.
At ExxonMobil, the Rockefellers face an unaccustomed challenge – to be taken seriously. They describe themselves as the oil company's oldest continuous shareholders but no Rockefeller has been on the board since 1911. ExxonMobil stock is the single biggest holding of some family members, including Mr O'Neill, but Mr Johnson estimates that collectively the family owns only between 0.5 per cent and 1 per cent of the company's stock.
Mr O'Neill says they are hoping that by speaking out they will rally other shareholders to their cause at the May 28 shareholder meeting. They are not starting from zero: last year, 40 per cent of shares supported a motion to separate the role of chairman and chief executive. As Rex Tillerson, the man who holds both jobs, prepares to fight that effort again, the irony is irresistible. The biological descendants of America's toughest robber baron are rallying the hoi polloi to force the man running the company John D. Rockefeller founded to loosen his control.
闪光灯下的美国最具影响力家族
作者：英国《金融时报》克里斯蒂娅•弗里兰(Chrystia Freeland) 2008-10-15
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当洛克菲勒(Rockefeller)家族成员到了21岁，他或她会在一次家族聚会上公开把自己介绍给更大的洛克菲勒家族。这种聚会每年举行两次，一次是在每年的6月，在纽约哈德逊山谷(Hudson Valley)该家族故居的Playhouse举行，一次是在圣诞期间的纽约市。“他们会讲一些自己的故事，其他人会欢迎他们，”该家族长期顾问彼得•约翰逊(Peter Johnson)表示，“仪式的目的是表示你是这个家族的一员了。”
这种成人礼——你可以称之为白人的犹太成人礼，尽管如今洛克菲勒家族已进入第6代，该家族成员中也有了犹太人——是更广泛的部落文化的一部分。在该家族创始人逝世70多年后，这种文化让洛克菲勒家族依然成为美国民主社会的一支强大力量。
“在美国历史上，没有像洛克菲勒这样的家族了，”前美国驻联合国大使、Asia Society董事长理查德•霍尔布鲁克(Richard Holbrooke)表示， “他们十分低调，有着高度的责任感。令人吃惊的是，他们通过自己的不懈努力影响了那么多机构。” Asia Society由洛克菲勒一家族成员创建。
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随着美国新镀金时代的兴起，洛克菲勒家族成为最具影响力的依然健在的美国第一个镀金时代的产物。美国镀金时代指美国内战后赤裸裸、革命性的那个年代，它奠定了美国现代资本主义的基石。在罗恩•切诺(Ron Chernow)的传记《巨人》(Titan)中，洛克菲勒家族的祖先、石油大亨约翰•洛克菲勒(John D. Rockefeller)被称为“虔诚与贪婪的结合体”，他既是美国“最凶狠的强盗贵族”，也是该国“最重要的慈善家”。1911年，一项最高法院裁决将洛克菲勒创建的强大企业联合标准石油(Standard Oil)支解。但在此之前，洛克菲勒已将其大部分时间用于捐赠。
如今，切诺写道，对于洛克菲勒家族，“石油已成为古老的历史”。该家族已将更多的注意力放在了优秀作品上，而非企业。然而，本周，该家族将他们的博爱瞄准了埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)，这个通常低调的家族因此成为了世人关注的焦点。埃克森美孚是标准石油派生出来的众多企业巨擘中规模最大的一家。在涅瓦•洛克菲勒•古德温 (Neva Rockefeller Goodwin)和彼得•奥尼尔(Peter O'Neill)的领导下，洛克菲勒家族支持一项旨在改革这家全球最大的非国有石油公司的公司治理的决议。他们还敦促该公司将更多注意力放在可再生能源和全球变暖问题上。古德温63岁，是一位经济学家，是约翰•洛克菲勒的曾孙女，居住在马塞诸赛州的剑桥；奥尼尔45岁，是一位社会工作者，是该家族第五代成员，现居纽约。
这一努力引入关注的一点是，它暴露出了洛克菲勒家族的复杂网络。迄今为止，在约翰洛克菲勒在世的成人子孙中，有66位支持要求董事长职位和首席执行官职位分离的决议。奥尼尔认为，最后的票数将更高。他表示，“该家族的反应非常好。”不到两周前，他寄出了选票，并非所有选票都寄到了收件人手中。
他能够有机会彻底研究他的亲戚们，因为根据约翰逊的说法，奥尼尔担任该家族社会责任投资委员会的主席，这是该家族众多组织之一，创建这些组织是为了帮助每一位洛克菲勒家族成员都成为真正意义上的慈善家以及他或她个人财富的管理者。
已进入第六代的洛克菲勒家族不再主宰美国的富豪阶级：只有唯一在世的第三代成员老大卫•洛克菲勒(David Rockefeller Snr)跻身《福布斯》(Forbes)最新富豪榜。但洛克菲勒家族——共有242名成员，包括配偶和未成年人——一直是一支强大的力量，从推动环保和支持民主社会到资助科学和艺术等领域。杰伊•洛克菲勒(Jay Rockefeller)在参议院代表西弗吉尼亚，一位密友——私人股本亿万富翁皮特•彼得森(Pete Peterson)——称92岁高龄的大卫是“纽约第一市民”。大卫仍是纽约最重要的慈善家，也是纽约新富的楷模。上周，他向哈佛大学(Harvard)捐赠1亿美元，这是哈佛历史上最大一笔校友善款。
出版人、房地产大亨、两位大卫•洛克菲勒的朋友莫特•祖克曼(Mort Zuckerman)表示：“他们不仅传播着他们家族的财富，还传播着他们的价值观，这是真正的成就。”
约翰逊认为，洛克菲勒家族影响力不朽的原因之一是，他们的财富历史让他们在如何管理家族企业、或者何时出售以及何时进行收入分配的问题上做出重大决定，收入分配问题一直困扰着其它家族。“洛克菲勒家族从未因为一家企业而争斗过，”他表示，“他们从未争论过谁是公司的所有者。我不能告诉你这一点有多重要。”
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洛克菲勒第三代成员的朋友亨利•基辛格(Henry Kissinger)表示：“有时，会出现反抗上一代人的情况，但这种反抗一直是更为进步或更为自由的。我从来不知道这个家族出过什么花花公子。”
实际上，洛克菲勒家族成员有意识的在努力教育他们的子女，留住自己的钱，用它让世界变得更美好。约翰逊表示，重要的一课是“接触资本是最大的罪过，你应努力靠自己的收入生活。”
曾为洛克菲勒家族工作过的一位非政府组织(NGO)的维权主义者称他们是“认真、工作努力的人”，他们有着与人融洽相处的优良习惯；例如，该家族有一条非正式的杜绝拉拢(non-solicitation)的规定，禁止家族成员为个人的慈善组织互相拉拢。
在埃克森美孚，洛克菲勒家族面临着一项非同寻常的挑战——得到认真对待。他们称自己为该石油公司一直以来的最年长股东，但自1911年以来，该家族没有一人进入过该公司董事会。埃克森美孚的股票是一些家族成员的最大单一持股，包括奥尼尔，但约翰逊估计，该家族总计持有该公司0.5%至1%的股权。
奥尼尔表示，他们希望，通过大声呼吁，他们能在5月28日的股东大会上召集其他股东加入他们。他们并非从零开始：去年，占公司40%股权的股东们支持一项将董事长和首席执行官职位分离的动议。目前身兼这两职的雷克斯•蒂勒森(Rex Tillerson)准备再次反对这一努力，其中的讽刺性不言而喻。美国最强大的强盗贵族的嫡系子孙正集合力量，迫使这个经营着约翰•洛克菲勒一手创建的公司的人放松其控制权。
译者/梁艳裳