The Dark Angel: A Symbol of American Capitalism Dies

Even eight purported transplants couldn’t guarantee Rockefeller had a heart. The death of the world’s oldest billionaire on March 20 has been widely commented on in social media, with undisguised sarcasm and delight – even with calculated reference to fabricated reporting on a record number of operations.

The grandson and heir of the so-called father of the first modern monopoly, Standard Oil, and of the even more famous John D. Rockefeller clan, accumulated many enemies during his 101-year life. He advised American presidents, openly intervened in politics, and in spite of hundreds of millions [of dollars] in philanthropy, he remained the “devil,” epitomizing the worst of ruthless modern capitalism.

It was none other than David Rockefeller who famously convinced President Carter to admit the Iranian shah into the U.S. for medical treatment, in effect launching the Iranian Revolution. It was he who, along with advisers Zbigniew Brzezinski and Henry Kissinger, co-formulated the global policy of the second half of the 20th century. And he was also the one who brokered American government contacts with leaders ranging from Fidel Castro to Mikhail Gorbachev.

A confidant of Deng Xiaoping and Nelson Mandela, the leading man of the Bilderberg Group, a donor to the Club of Rome and other influential organizations, and along the way, president of Chase Manhattan Bank, he didn’t shy away from using the family name for what he himself called spreading “the gospel of American capitalism.”*

It’s therefore fitting that he outlived three of the worse crises of this philosophy and departed at a time when many question its foundational pillars. The very president of the U.S. is apparently turning his back on globalization and world trade, which Rockefeller ardently advocated his entire life. Nonetheless, Donald Trump has already named a fifth Goldman Sachs banker to his billionaire administration. David Rockefeller may thus rest in peace.

*Translator’s note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.