The Rockefeller Foundation was established in 1913 by John D. Rockefeller, Sr. as a tax-
free “philanthropy” shortly after the legislation of income tax and a court order to dis-
solve the Standard Oil trust. The foundation was one of the many mechanisms the Rocke-
feller family and other Standard Oil families have utilized to retain control of the
various companies created out of the original Standard Oil trust, and to avoid heavy
taxes. The initial capital of the foundation, $36 million, was composed of large blocs
of stock in the main successor companies of the original oil trust.. By 1967, the foun-
dation’s capital had mushroomed to $805 million.
With over half the foundation’s (and presumably, the Rockefellers’) income generated by
U.S. oil companies which depend on foreign operations for half their profits, it is
understandable that the foundation would “spend fully 75 percent of its revenue on the
I-22-
creation of elites, modernization of infrastructures and purchase of goodwill over-
seas.” 1 In fact, the Rockefeller Foundation gives more grants for such overseas pro-
jects than any other U.S. foundation.
In Latin America, the foundation’s main focus is agricultural research, population con-
trol and university “modernization” (i.e., creation of Americanized elites). Two recent
articles in Ramparts (April and May 1969) have documented how the major American foun-
dations, particularly Ford, Carnegie and Rockefeller, have restructured American higher
education to service the needs of the corporate economy. Ramparts’ description is
equally applicable to the “university reform” programs financed by the Rockefeller and
Ford Foundations in Latin America over the last decade.
Colombia, a major producer of oil in Latin America and the proposed site for a new inter-
oceanic canal (a project David Rockefeller is particularly interested in), received the
largest Rockefeller Foundation grants of any country in Latin America in 1967 (see chart
below). Dr. Alberto Lleras Camargo, former president of Colombia (1945-46 and 1958-62)
and current editorial board chairman of Visi6n (the Time of Latin America), was named a
Foundation trustee in 1967. His cousin, Carlos Lleras Restrepo is currently president
of Colombia.
The Rockefeller Foundation functions as an important groomer of top policymakers of Amer-
ica. The foundation has provided two of the last four U.S. Secretaries of State. John
Foster Dulles was chairman of the foundation from 1950-52 before becoming Secretary of
State for seven years. Dean Rusk served as president of the foundation for nine years
before becoming Secretary of State for eight. Christian Herter, who filled the post in
the State Department for a short period between Dulles and Rusk, was also a representa-
tive of Rockefeller interests. He married into the Pratt family, descendants of one of
John D. Rockefeller Sr.’s original associates in Standard Oil. His son, Christian Her-
ter, Jr., was manager of Mobil Oil’s government relations during the 1960’s and is cur-
rently a Mobil vice-president. The current president of the foundation, J. George
Harrar, reportedly turned down the Secretaryship of State when President-Elect Nixon
offered it to him. On the other hand, Nixon’s science advisor, Leslie DuBridge, and
his Secretary of Agriculture, Clifford Hardin, were both trustees of the foundation in
1967.
For a listing (by organization) of all charitable, educational, religious, scientific
and public contributions by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., which aggregate $100,000 or over
between January 1917 and December 1959, see The New York Herald Tribune, May 12, 1960.
Source: The President’s Review & Annual Report, 1967.
THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION
As of December 31, 1967
Total Assets: $805 million.
Over half of these assets were held in stock of three companies formed from the ori-
ginal Standard Oil Trust:
Standard Oil (N.J.) $270 million (1.8 percent of outstanding stock)
Standard Oil (Ind.) 108.3 million (2.8 percent of outstanding stock)
Mobil Oil 25.6 million (.6 percent of outstanding stock)
TOTAL $403.9 million
Total 1967 appropriations: $39 million
Total appropriations to Latin America: over $5.5 million, or approximately 15 percent
of overall appropriations in 1967.-23-
ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION GRANTS IN LATIN AMERICA FOR 1967
Readers should bear in mind that the Rockefeller Foundation often, if not usually, gives
grants in collusion with other foundations, government agencies and international aid
organizations. The Ford Foundation, among others, has many joint projects with the
Rockefeller Foundation.
Totals represent figures as given in the Rockefeller Foundation Annual Report, 1967.
Fellowships, scholarships, cooperative programs and “other support” have been included in country totals. Bolivia, Nicaragua and Uruguay have been excluded from this tabu-
lation because of the small size of the grants to those countries.
Argentina – Total: $148,618
Nat’l Instit. of Agric. Technology.$ 854
Torcuato di Tella Instit. ………. 27,711
Univ. of Buenos Aires …………… 6,321
Univ. of Cuyo ………………….. 52,361
Brazil – Total: $463,088
Brazilian Society of Genetics ……. 9,700
Fed. Univ. of Minas Gerais ………. 57,695
Inst.
Rural
Univ.
Univ.
Univ.
Univ.
of Agronomy, Sao Paulo……
Univ. of Minas Gerais…….
of Bahia………………..
of Parana……………….
of Rio Grande do Sul……..
of Sao Paulo…………….
.. 19,484
.. 4,976
.. 3,500
.. 4,583
.. 12,495
.150,064
Chile – Total: $1,227,353
Agriculture Research Instit …….. 244,693
Catholic Univ. of Chile ………… 119,161
Cncil of Rectors of Chilean Univs.. 2,369
Univ. of Chile ………………… 456,237
Univ. of Concepcion ……………. 7,508
Colombia – Total: $2,037,819
Colombian Ass’n of Faculties of
Medicine …………………… 37,600
Colombian Instit. of Agriculture…214,334
Fundacion para la Educacion
Superior …………………… 7,000
Internat’l Center of Tropical Agric.66,295
Nat’l Univ. of Colombia ………… 18,700
Univ. of the Andes …………….. 54,500
Univ. of Antioquia …………….. 24,424
Univ. of Valle ……………… 1,117,456
Costa Rica – Total: $12,905
Univ. of Costa Rica……………. 120
Guatemala – Total: $16,416
Univ. of San Carlos ……….. $ 1,827
Guyana – Total: $6,611
Ministry of External Affairs… 2,254
Honduras – Total: $30,287
Pan Amer. Agricultural Instit..
Jamaica – Total: $72,850
Univ. of the West Indies…….
11,994
70,709
Mexico – Total: $918,791
Colegio de Mexico………….. 51,270
Internat’l Maize & Wheat
Improvement Center………. 164,483
Mexican Center of Writers…… 4,500
Nat’l Instit. of Agric. Resrch. 138,455
Nat’l Instit. of Nutrit’n Equip. 435
Nat’l School of Agriculture…. 67,363
Nat’l Univ. of Mexico………. 31,902
Technol. Instit. of Monterrey.. 119,438
Univ. of the State of Santa Cruz 19,347
Peru – Total: $317,315
Agrarian University…………
Agric. Resrch & Extension Serv.
Univ. of San Marcos…………
181,996
17,774
26,780
Trinidad – Total: $221,278
Univ. of the West Indies ……. 211,397
Venezuela funds-administered by Creole
foundation, AIA, and other
Rockefeller philanthropies).
Ecuador – Total: $144,281
Central University …………….. 2,246
Nat’l Agricultural Research Instit. 89,387
SCHEDULE 8.-ROCKEFELLER-CONTROLLED FOUNDATIONS-VALUE OF
ASSETS
Value of assets as of the end Value of assets as of last date
Value of assets as of earliest of calendar or fiscal year available, using market
date available 1960, using market value value of securities wher-
Foundation of securities wherever ever available
available
Amount Date Amount Date Amount Date
American International
Association for Economic
and Social Development,
New York ……..-….. $20, 000 July 3,1946
China Medical Board of
New York ……..-….. 21,258,515 Dec. 31,1928
Colonial Williamsburg,
Williamsburg, Va …….. 248,766 Dec. 31,1929
Agricultural Development
Council, Inc. (formerly
Council on Economic
and Cultural Affairs),
New York -…………… 58,160 Oct. 31,1954
Esso Education Founda-
tion, New York -…. . 1,452,146 Dec. 31,1955
Government Affairs Foun-
dation, Albany, N.Y ..- 131,851 Dec. 31,1953
Rockefeller Brothers Fund,
New York ..-…….. 164,635 Dec. 31,1941
Rockefeller Foundation,
New York -……………. 35,965,384 Dec. 31,1913
Rockefeller Institute,
New York …………… 8,686,345 June 30,1911
Sealantic Fund, Inc.,
New York ……………. 3, 787 Dec. 31,1939
Sleepy Hollow Restora-
tions, Inc., Irvington,
N. Y………………… 1,962,977 Nov. 30,1951
Standard O11l (Indiana)
Foundation, Inc., Chi-
cago, IL – .- . …………….. .May 21,1952
Rockwin Fund, Morrilton,
Ark …………. J……… . Jan. 26,1956
S748,206 Dec. 31,1960
48,030,088 June 30,1960
111,848,179 Dec. 31,1960
3, 925, 713 ..-.. do ……-
1,943,847 ..-. do……..
11,863 -… do…….
131,221,485 ….. do……..
536,022,187 ….- do….
198,991,880 June 30,1961
12,427,599 Dec. 31,1960
$413, 865
56, 538, 632
109, 222, 086
6, 338, 187
5, 784, 367
29,820
190, 967, 245
736, 222, 598
249, 182,875
9,368,160
Dec. 31,1966
June 30,1966
Dec. 31,1966
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Juno 30,1966
Dec. 31, 1966
14, 865,000 …. do ….. 20, 937, 722 Do.
24,103, 204 ….. do……
250, 790 …. do…….
44,927,493 Do.
30, 676 Do.
Total ………….. 69,952,566 …………. 1, 084, 390,041 ………….. 1,429, 963, 726
Source: “Tax Exempt Foundations and Charitable
Trusts: Their Impact on Our Economy,”
6th installment, Subcommittee Chairman’s
Report to Subcommittee No. 1 (Wright Pat-
man, chairman), Select Committee on
Small Business, House of Representatives,
90th Congress, March 26, 1968, pp. 32, 34.
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