Andrew Carnegie is, to this day, one of the richest American men who ever lived. Adjusting for inflation, Carnegie's net worth is more than $4.8 billion, $1 billion more than Donald Trump's. Because Andrew Carnegie is best known for his ownership of the Carnegie Steel monopoly and his enormous wealth, many people see Carnegie as simply another big businessman who mistreated workers and manipulated the market. However, Carnegie is much more than a wealthy entrepreneur. In fact, he started from nothing and built himself from scratch. A Scottish immigrant, Andrew Carnegie, despite common misconceptions about his work, embodies the American dream through his strong work ethic, determination to improve his knowledge, and desire to dedicate his earnings to advancing the education of others. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay As an immigrant, Andrew Carnegie built himself from nothing. Carnegie grew up in Dunfermline, Scotland, but as economic and working conditions worsened, his parents decided to sell all their possessions to finance a better life in America. Carnegie and his family chose to settle in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, where Carnegie soon found work as a journeyman, earning little more than a dollar an hour (“The Andrew Carnegie Story”). The following year, Carnegie found a better-paying job at a telegraph company, delivering letters to the Pittsburgh theater ("The Story of Andrew Carnegie"). Thanks to this job, he could sometimes watch a show from the upper balcony. While Carnegie worked to provide for his family, in his free time he spent hours using the public library. He read everything he could, subsequently catching up on the education he had missed when he moved from Scotland. Carnegie's work ethic would soon promote him to operator at the telegraph company. As his skills improved, Carnegie found work with the Pennsylvania railroad and, within a year, was promoted to superintendent (“The Andrew Carnegie Story”). In just eleven years, Carnegie had become superintendent of one of the fastest growing industries of the Industrial Revolution. With nothing more than a middle school education, Carnegie gained skills and knowledge as he advanced in his employment status and continued to gain knowledge at the public library. The American Dream embodies not only seizing opportunities, but also working hard to build a more desirable life, and Carnegie did just that. Although Carnegie's triumph over the challenges he faced as an immigrant is an admirable success, Carnegie's greatest opportunity was yet to come. Come. Working on the Pennsylvania Railroad exposed Carnegie to many industries, and as a result, he began investing in several areas, especially the oil industry. He made his purchases wisely and made a large profit on these investments ("The Andrew Carnegie Story"). He soon left the railroad to start what would become one of the largest businesses of the 19th century. In 1870, Carnegie co-founded a steel company in Pittsburgh. In 1892, this company would become Carnegie Steel, a multimillion-dollar company and a major industry of the time, along with Rockefeller Standard Oil. By 1900 Carnegie Steel would produce the vast majority of US steel, as well as producing more than British Steel combined (448). Only thanks to Carnegie's tenacity in seizing the opportunities presented by America.