Over the course of this paper information regarding John D Rockefeller creation of the Standard Oil company will be showcased. First, information about Rockefeller’s entry into the oil industry will be presented. Second, how Standard Oil became the largest oil company in the United States. Next, the innovative products and procedures that Standard Oil creates to keep the company relevant. Lastly, how the dissolution of Standard Oil paves the way for a diverse oil market with companies specializing in different productions. Now, John D Rockefeller may have been a cutthroat businessman; however, Rockefeller’s vision for Standard Oil creates a period of innovation and advancement of the none existent oil industry that remains today.
John Rockefeller
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Rockefeller knows that by having the controlling interest in the company that he can drive the direction of the refinery. As a result, the Standard Oil company came to fruition just a few short years after achieving majority control with the help of his brother and Henry Flagler ( ). Now, with these three men running the Standard Oil company, the plan to take over the oil industry went into full effect. Rockefeller begins to use his railroad connection to strike shipping deals to get crude goods to market a lower price than the competitor. As a result of this deal Standard Oil drops the price point of crude products well below standard market price. Now, while this lower price is great for merchants and consumers, it does not fare well for other oil companies. The only possible way the smaller oil companies could compete with Standard Oil is to take a profit loss ultimately leading to the mass selling of company stock. Standard Oil immediately swoops in to buy the controlling share of the majority of oil industry’s companies. Thus, Standard Oil now owns ninety percent of the nation’s oil industry and distribution pipelines ( ). Now, that information regarding Standard Oil’s growth into an oil powerhouse is covered, let’s look at how product innovation helps to keep Standard Oil in the …show more content…
However, that changes rapidly with the passing of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Now, in the true spirit of capitalism, the governmental sought to make the oil industry a market that any entrepreneur could enter. Nevertheless, with the industry’s current structure it was in possible for anyone to come into oil without going bankrupt. Consequently, the government invokes Sherman Anti-Trust Act forcing the Standard Oil company to dissolve its oil trust into thirty smaller companies ( ). Now, the dissolution of Standard Oil aids in the creation of competitive market pricing for crude products. Additionally, the dissolution of Standard Oil aid in creating a diverse market in which different refiners specialize in the development of different crude products, ultimately creating different commodities with the oil industry. Now, that the contributions of the dissolution of Standard Oil are shown, let’s move
Rockefeller was America’s first billionaire, and he was the true epitome of capitalism. Rockefeller was your typical rags-to-riches businessman, and at the turn of the twentieth century, while everyone else in the working class was earning ten dollars max every week, Rockefeller was earning millions. There has been much discussion as to whether Rockefeller’s success was due to being a “robber baron”, or as a “captain of industry”. By definition, a robber baron was an industrialist who exploited others in order to achieve personal wealth, however, Rockefeller’s effect on the economy and the lives of American citizens has been one of much impact, and deserves recognition. He introduced un-seen techniques that greatly modified the oil industry. During the mid-nineteenth century, there was a high demand for kerosene. In the refining process from transforming crude oil to kerosene, many wastes were produced. While others deemed the waste useless, Rockefeller turned it into income by selling them. He turned those wastes into objects that would be useful elsewhere, and in return, he amassed a large amount of wealth. He sold so much “waste” that railroad companies were desperate to be a part of his company. However, Rockefeller demanded rebates, or discounted rates, from the railroad companies, when they asked to be involved with his business. By doing so, Rockefeller was able to lower the price of oil to his customers, and pay low wages to his workers. Using these methods,
Rockefeller was the co-founder of the stand Oil Company. His wealth grew and became the world’s richest man. By the early 1880s, he dominated the oil business with his Standard Oil Company, in which he accounted thirty percent of. In the overall U.S. refineries and pipelines, his company accounted for around ninety percent. John D. Rockefeller was also a major philanthropist.
The Gilded Age refers to a period in which things were fraudulent and deceitful; the surface was clinquant while underneath that lustrous coat laid corruption. During the Gilded Age companies recruited to corrupt methods to further increase profits, leading to an increase in power, rapid economic prosperity, and domination of industries, leading to monopolistic corporations. As a result, antitrust laws to regulate business began to emerge in the late 19th and early 20th century known as the Progressive Era. Among these companies was Standard Oil, which was founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller; in 1880, Standard Oil was responsible for refining 90 percent of America’s oil and between 1880-1910, dominating the oil industry (Marshall). The lack of intervention from the government and regulations impeding monopolistic practices allowed Standard Oil to
John D. Rockefeller as a Robber Baron A "robber baron" was someone who employed any means necessary to enrich themselves at the expense of their competitors. Did John D. Rockefeller fall into that category or was he one of the "captains of industry", whose shrewd and innovative leadership brought order out of industrial chaos and generated great fortunes that enriched the public welfare through the workings of various philanthropic agencies that these leaders established? In the early 1860s Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, who came to epitomize both the success and excess of corporate capitalism. His company was based in northwestern Pennsylvania. A major question historians have disagreed on has been whether or not John D. Rockefeller was a so-called "robber baron".
Many people consider Rockefeller a robber of industry because of his forcible ways of gaining his monopolies. Rockefeller was fond of buying out small and large competitors. If the competitors refused to sell they often found Rockefeller cutting the prices of his Standard Oil or in the worst cases, their factories mysteriously blowing up. Rockefeller was obsessed with controlling the oil market and used many of undesirable tactics to flush his competitors out of the market. Rockefeller was also a master of the rebate game. He was one of the most dominant controllers of the railroads. He was so good at the rebate that at some times he skillfully commanded the rail road to pay rebates to his standard oil company on the traffic of other competitors. He was able to do this because his oil traffic was so high that he could make or break a section of a railroad a railroad company by simply not running...
At the turn of the century there was a new law named “Capture” therefore; whoever produced the oil owned the oil. If you did not produce the oil then somebody else would be willing to produce the oil. The consequences if the production of the well ran dried out weight the reward. “Oilmen were not the only ones who knew that production was often short-lived; bankers quickly learned that no prudent lenders extended a loan on the basis of oil production. “ It was a reality that oil production started of strong and quickly dropped off within a matter of a couple months. The risk was not worth the reward for either party which is the bakers or the oilmen. The ferocious cycles from boom to bust, from having more than enough oil to not enough would swing the price for oil up and down like a roll coaster. When a new oil field came in, the local markets hand more than enough oil, pushing the prices lower, making oil more affordable. However, whenever the oil production dropped it would send the prices sky rocketing making it unprofitable to stay in business. Pattillo Higgins would be willing to take on this challenge head on of producing oil. [Who is Higgins, Ernest? By giving at least a short introduction the readers w...
One of the Gilded Age’s most prominent well-known philanthropist’s, John D. Rockefeller, had a lasting effect in the United States. He was America’s first ever billionaire. Rockefeller entered the oil business by first investing on an oil refinery in Cleveland, Ohio in 1863. He established his own oil company named “Standard Oil”, which controlled nearly 90 percent of America’s oil refineries by the 1880’s. At first, Rockefeller borrowed money from some of his buddy’s to buy out some stocks and take control of his first refinery in Ohio. He then formed the “Standard Oil Company” along with his brother William Rockefeller and other groups of men, John D. Rockefeller was the largest shareholder of the company. Standard oil was a monopoly in the oil industry for buying other refineries who were competition to Standard oil in order to distribute and market there oil around the globe. Standard oil even went as far as making their own oil barrels and employed scientists to develop other uses for kerosene and petroleum products. John D. Rockefeller was viewed as a target of “muckraking” by journalists, who viewed him as a monopoly giant setting up a monopolistic company in America which helped build his vast oil empire. Critics accused Rockefeller of engaging unethical practices such as competitive pricing when it came to products and negotiating with railroads to eliminate his competitors. The United States Supreme Court wou...
Rockefeller was an industrialist and philanthropist who made his fortune by founding the Standard Oil Company in 1870. Attempting to monopolize the industry and squeeze out the middle man, Rockefeller slowly gained almost complete control of the oil industry. He formed the powerful Standard Oil Trust in 1882, which united all of his companies and secured 95% of oil production in the United States for himself. Rockefeller was an industrialist who stamped out all of his competition with his trust, eventually leading to Congress intervention.
...ichest men in the world, monopolizing the oil industry, which played an important role in shaping the economy. In today’s oil business Rockefeller’s effect can still be seem in business strategies, values, and competitive logic. The oil business is now structured and very competitive. It also plays many important roles in the economy.
John D. Rockefeller: Standard Oil Company The world’s first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller, was born on July 8, 1839 in Richford, New York, the second of six children. His father was mostly a cheat in business and in life, and he was not a sincere father either since he had raised other children and even had started a family somewhere else. Despite all that John had learned from his father to set high goals and dream big and never to settle for anything less. The family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1853 where John graduated from high school and did pretty good at mathematics.
Rockefeller was the son of a trader, and began in the oil company when he was 20. He knew this was the area to invest in, because coal was being replaced by oil in the power industries. By 1870, he had his first oil business, called the Standard Oil Company. Like Carnegie, Rockefeller used horizontal integration and within two years, he had also created a monopoly. He made more money because he paid his workers extremely low wages and treated them poorly. Unlike Carnegie who offered his workers benefits and stock options, Rockefeller gave his workers poor conditions and even abused them at times. Even though Rockefeller was a philanthropist and gave a lot of his money away, that does not make up for how he treated other people and put people out of business to become wealthy. He is best known for a robber baron because he simply used his power to destroy other businesses. He did whatever he could to control the oil industry, even if that meant stepping on others on the way to his success. He reduced the costs of his company, and he was then able to drive other companies out of business, which is how he became one of the richest men in history.
Rockefeller was a leader who made an impact and was known for his devotion and intelligence. His impact towards the United States was shown to the countless citizens who paid their respect to him after his death. John D. Rockefeller was honored for his fortunes as a business man, and the importance of following through with each sector of the Standard Oil Company. It is known that there are several factors that led to the uprise of oil production in the United States, many of those relating to the works of Rockefeller. Even though it has been nearly 160 years since the Standard Oil Company was created, some of the questionable tactics and operations used by businesses are still present today.
In the United States Of America there was about 250 Competitors around. Standard oil was dropping the prices of their oil so that the other oil companies ran out of business or sold out to Standard oil. He bought up all the steel to make oil barrels that the other companies could not sell to the customers. By 1873 John D Rockefeller bought up to 80 percent of the refineries Standard Oil quickly took advantage of the situation to absorb refineries in the Pennsylvania oil region, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York. By 1878 Rockefeller had attained control of nearly 90 percent of the oil refined in the U.S., and shortly thereafter he had gained control of most of the oil marketing facilities in the U.S.
They were known for their political power as well and accused of political corruption. Many leaders at the time believed Standard Oil controlled the Pennsylvania legislature (Pratt, 2012). On the national political scene, they became a target for reform and even with the company broken up continued their market dominance. The legal aspects of Rockefeller’s actions forcing competitors out of business raised concern for the government and citizens.
finding new ways to drill for oil and also refine it more efficiently to ensure that