Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist who drove the growth of the American steel industry in the late 1800s and became one of the wealthiest people in U.S. history.

Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, Carnegie moved with his parents to what is now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1848, when he was 12. His first job was in a cotton mill, and he later worked as a telegrapher. By the 1860s, he had invested in railroads, sleeping cars, bridges, and oil derricks, and he made more money as a bond salesman raising funds for American ventures in Europe. He built the Carnegie Steel Company in Pittsburgh, which he sold to J. P. Morgan in 1901 for $303,450,000—a deal that formed the core of U.S. Steel. After that sale, he surpassed John D. Rockefeller as the richest American at the time.

Carnegie then spent the rest of his life on large-scale philanthropy, focusing on building local libraries, promoting world peace, education, and scientific research. He funded Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Peace Palace in The Hague, and he founded the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carnegie Institution for Science, the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, the Carnegie Hero Fund, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, among others. In his 1889 article "The Gospel of Wealth," he urged the rich to use their money to improve society, supported progressive taxation and an estate tax, and sparked a wave of giving. Over the last 18 years of his life, he gave away roughly $350 million (about $6.9 billion in 2025), nearly 90 percent of his fortune, to charities, foundations, and universities.

Carnegie was born to William and Margaret Carnegie in a weaver's cottage in Dunfermline, a single-room home shared with another family. He was named after his paternal grandfather. His father ran a successful weaving business with several looms. In 1836, the family moved to a larger house on Edgar Street, following demand for heavy damask. Carnegie attended the Free School in Dunfermline, a gift from philanthropist Adam Rolland of Gask. His maternal uncle, Scottish political leader George Lauder Sr., introduced him to Robert Burns’ writings and Scottish heroes like Robert the Bruce, William Wallace, and Rob Roy. Lauder’s son, also named George Lauder, grew up with Carnegie and later became his business partner in the U.S.

When Carnegie was 12, his father’s handloom weaving business failed, and the country faced starvation. His mother supported the family by helping her brother and selling potted meats from her shop, becoming the main breadwinner. The family borrowed money from George Lauder Sr. and moved to the U.S. in 1848, heading to Allegheny, Pennsylvania, for work. It was Carnegie’s second trip outside Dunfermline; the first was a family outing to Edinburgh to see Queen Victoria.

In September 1848, the Carnegies arrived in Allegheny. Carnegie’s father struggled to sell his goods alone, but both father and son got jobs at Anchor Cotton Mills, a Scottish-owned factory. Carnegie’s first job was as a bobbin boy, changing thread spools in a Pittsburgh cotton mill for 12 hours a day, six days a week, earning $1.20 per week (about $45 in 2025). His father soon quit the mill and returned to his loom, losing his role as a major earner. Carnegie then caught the attention of John Hay, a Scottish bobbin manufacturer, who offered him $2.00 per week (about $74 in 2025). In his autobiography, Carnegie described the hardship of running a small steam engine and firing the boiler in the bobbin factory’s cellar, often waking at night to check steam gauges, worried the pressure was too low for the workers above or too high and might burst the boiler.

In 1849, following his uncle’s recommendation, Carnegie became a telegraph messenger boy at the Pittsburgh Office of the Ohio Telegraph Company. He worked hard, memorized the locations of Pittsburgh businesses and the faces of important men, and built many connections. He also learned to distinguish incoming telegraph signals by ear, translating them without paper slips. Within a year, he was promoted to operator. His education and love of reading got a boost from Colonel James Anderson, who opened his personal library of 400 volumes to working boys each Saturday night. Carnegie was a regular borrower.