$5 billion foundation started with oil money divests of fossil fuel

The Rockefeller name is associated with two things, above all: wealth and oil. =

John Davison Rockefeller Sr. became the richest person in America through Standard Oil, the forefather of some of the world's largest oil and gas corporations today, including Exxon Mobil and Chevron. More than a century later, his family remains one of the richest in the United States despite having given billions away to charity.

But times have changed, and today the Rockefeller Foundation is committing to divesting its $5 billion endowment from existing fossil fuel interests and refraining from future fossil fuel investments. Once considered liquid gold, oil is now one of the main culprits of the climate crisis as companies search for cleaner forms of energy. Environmental advocates have long pushed for divestment from fossil fuels and even nuclear energy, which the foundation has a long history with dating back to the development of the atomic bomb.