Background
Sinclair was born on July 6, 1876, in Benwood, West Virginia, the son of John Sinclair, a pharmacist, and Phoebe Simmons. In 1882 his father moved to Independence, Kansas, where he operated a successful drugstore.
founder Industrialist oil producer
Sinclair was born on July 6, 1876, in Benwood, West Virginia, the son of John Sinclair, a pharmacist, and Phoebe Simmons. In 1882 his father moved to Independence, Kansas, where he operated a successful drugstore.
Sinclair had an uneventful childhood; he attended the local public schools, and during 1897-1898 he studied pharmacy at the University of Kansas. He then returned to Independence to take over his father's shop.
Sinclair's career as a druggist was unsuccessful; by 1901 he had spent most of the money left by his father and he was forced to close the store. Many of his neighbors felt that Sinclair lacked a business sense.
He drifted for a few months before embarking on a new career. While hunting rabbits he accidentally discharged his rifle, and had to have one toe amputated. He was able to collect $5, 000 from his insurance policy, and with this he purchased "mud silles, " big logs that were used as foundations for oil derricks in the area. The venture proved profitable and he began to negotiate leases on oil-bearing lands.
Sinclair became an oil lease broker and soon bought wells himself. In 1905, on the advice of a friend, he invested all his money in the Kiowa Pool in Oklahoma. This turned out to be a big bonanza that netted him more than $100, 000. By 1910 he was a millionaire, one of the most important independent oil producers in the Mid-Continent region. With strong financial backing from partners, he bought into such lucrative fields in Oklahoma as the Glenn Pool, Wann Field, Ponca City, and Flat Rock, and extended his operations to include the refining and marketing of petroleum.
Sinclair, however, dreamed of organizing his own integrated oil company. Differences with some of his partners also persuaded him to strike out on his own. In 1916 he went to New York City to secure financing. Combining all his producing properties, refineries, and a pipeline, he persuaded Wall Street bankers to float a $16 million bond issue for the new Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation. This was one of the first large public offerings of corporate securities. With assets of $51 million the enterprise emerged as one of the new giants in the petroleum industry.
In April 1917 Sinclair was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson as a member of the subcommittee on oil of the Committee on Raw Materials attached to the Council of National Defense. After World War I, Sinclair did much to build his company into one of the nation's largest integrated oil corporations. Although he delegated authority extensively, his was a paternalistic enterprise in which he made all major decisions.
His business judgments were usually impeccable. He beat out competitors in securing concessions in Costa Rica, Panama, Angola, and Portuguese West Africa, and he developed aggressive marketing strategies that bolstered his company's fortunes. He owned a large estate on Long Island, a townhouse in New York, a racing stable that trained Kentucky Zev (winner of the Kentucky Derby in 1923), and a share of the St. Louis Browns baseball club.
In the 1920's, Sinclair attracted most notoriety by his alleged involvement in the scandals surrounding Teapot Dome. In 1923 a Senate investigating committee headed by Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana revealed that Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall had leased, without competitive bidding, the oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, to Sinclair, and the reserves at Elk Hills, California, to Edward L. Doheney, a friend. The moneys transferred were either loans or bribes. When Sinclair was called to testify, he refused to answer the questions of committee members and was held in contempt of the Senate. He was tried with Fall on a criminal conspiracy charge in 1927, but the case resulted in a mistrial. Later in the year Fall was tried separately, convicted of receiving a $100, 000 bribe from Doheney, sentenced to prison, and fined $100, 000. Sinclair was tried on criminal charges in 1928, but the jury acquitted him of attempted bribery although he again refused to testify. Moreover, in this trial he was accused of shadowing jurors and was held in contempt of court. Consequently, during 1929 he served nine months in prison for contempt of the Senate and for contempt of court. President Herbert Hoover ignored his plea for clemency. Yet neither Teapot Dome, nor a jail sentence, nor the Great Depression diminished Sinclair's vigor, or his business or social status.
In 1930 he made a reputed $28 million in a pipeline venture with John D. Rockefeller, Jr. He also increased his share of ownership in the Richfield Oil Company. With assiduity and skill he guided his own company through problems of the depression. The outbreak of World War II inaugurated another spurt of growth for the Sinclair Oil Company. Sinclair enjoyed good repute, as evidenced by his appointment to the Petroleum Industry War Council in 1942, an important industry voice that helped to guide the secretary of the interior.
In his later years Sinclair transacted much of his business from his Park Avenue apartment in New York City, where he worked long and irregular hours. He left active management in 1949 and the company's board of directors five years later. Upon retirement he moved to Pasadena, California, where he died on November 10, 1956.
President of Sinclair Oil and Gas Company (1910-1949)
Sinclair's personal characteristics helped him to build a corporate empire. He was aggressive, ruthless, hard-working, and determined. Somewhat shy, and loath to step into the public limelight, he preferred to wield power from behind the scenes. In many ways he was like John D. Rockefeller, who personified big business leadership of the previous generation. His life-style was fitting for a business tycoon of the era.
On July 20, 1903, Sinclair married Elizabeth Farrell; they had two children.