The Obituary
John D. Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil in Ohio in 1870 and built a monopoly through secret rebates, ruthless price wars, and the absorption of rivals. By the 1880s it refined around 90% of American oil. Its dominance triggered the muckraking era and the Sherman Antitrust Act. In 1911 the US Supreme Court ruled it an illegal monopoly and broke it into 34 separate companies, including the ancestors of Exxon, Mobil, and Chevron. Ironically, the split made Rockefeller’s holdings worth far more than the unified trust had been.
Worth remembering
- At its peak it refined roughly 90% of all oil in the United States, making Rockefeller the richest man in modern history.
- Ida Tarbell's 19-part investigation in McClure's Magazine helped turn public opinion and fuel the antitrust case against it.
Sources
- Standard Oil was dissolved into 34 companies by the US Supreme Court in 1911 under the Sherman Antitrust Act Wikipedia
- Standard Oil controlled about 90 percent of US oil refining at its peak Encyclopaedia Britannica
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.