The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

"To this day, there is little evidence on the University of Chicago campus that it has anything to do with Rockefeller." ...except may be for the campus centerpiece known as the Rockefeller Chapel where all the school ceremonies take place? (depicted in the photo right above the quoted sentence) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Chapel

I'll second that book. It's an excellent read, covering his rise from almost nothing to oil monopolist, and everything in-between (eg there are fascinating parts in there about Standard Oil's collision with the first Russian oil gushers, which significantly threatened Standard's international expansion).

What do you think people in 1885 would think of the internet, where you can read some random grade school student's term paper without even leaving your desk?

It's shocking that they present this story as a tale of virtue. If being an entrepreneur is a noble calling, then we should be ashamed of Rockerfeller for his ruthless tactics, not praising him for it. If we want to praise capitalists and capitalism, then we should be villifying Rockerfeller for his monopolistic tactics. He was too clever by half as a CEO, since his tactics eventually brought down the ire of the government. And he felt the need to atone for his horrific business practices by charity, assuming that one of them would cancel out the other. He deserves to have the ruthless, terrible reputation the article laments him having.