In the crowded history of American wealth, few families have managed to keep a fortune intact and expanding over more than a century. The Rockefeller family is one of those rare exceptions. What started with oil and industrial grit evolved into a carefully engineered legacy—one that has survived wars, recessions, and social upheaval. The secret? Not just earning wealth, but protecting and growing it through a system that combined the waterfall method, permanent life insurance, and ironclad family trusts. The waterfall method is a structured financial distribution approach that directs mo