Well, let's see. What industrialists of the boom years gone by do we remember today? Carnegie has Carnegie Hall and Carnegie-Mellon University, and his charities routinely sponsor shows on PBS. Jay Gould, his notorious oft-villainized railroad-operating contemporary, is largely forgotten to the general public. But then, Carnegie had more money, too, and lived longer.<p>R. J. Reynolds also bought out a university, but didn't name it after himself - he did leave the business named after himself behind, and that's lasted quite a while and been in the public eye (the Nabisco purchase helped, though the notorious tobacco-related lawsuits hurt). Alfred Nobel came up with a snazzy prize.<p>Eh. There might be something to it. Any other useful data points? Like someone who <i>didn't</i> do something big and charitable and has still retained renown?