America's first billionaire, he revolutionized American Industry forever. His name was John D. Rockefeller, philanthropist, and oil tycoon. Rockefeller was well known in the Oil industry around the late 1800s. He started off small and worked his way up, using new tactics, like the forming of trusts and monopolies. Some thought of him as a "Captain of Industry" while others thought of him as a greedy, arrogant "Robber Baron". He started off in the Industry as a clerk for a shipping company in Cleveland, Ohio. As war broke out he took action and joined Oil Industry. He made sure not to waste products produced from refining oil, especially when Crude-Oil is made into Kerosene. Rockefeller sold Petroleum Jelly to medical companies; he didn't want to waste anything. He turned waste into profit basically. He shipped constantly, to the point where railroad companies gave him discounts and rebates (money back), Rockefeller expressed his business skills earning his wealth. However, no matter how impressive his tactics were, he forced smaller companies to give their stock over to him. This process is known as a trust, when a group of people of companies join together legally. Trusts dissolve any type of business competition, which forced many small businesses to close. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company was facing controversy after controversy, such as Ida Tarbell's History
of the Standard Oil Company, which started the whole Anti-Rockefeller movement. When Theodore Roosevelt became President, he swore to take down the Standard Oil Company and other trusts. That seemed to be a daunting task since over 198 trusts were formed. On May 15, 1911 the Supreme Court passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, the order of the termination of Standard Oil reached Rockefeller and angered him. Rockefeller believed he was above the law and acted like. The Department of Justice and the people who were against Rockefeller filed a lawsuit and it led to the end of his company. This decision forced the company to form a total of thirty-four different companies; one company that stemmed from this was ExxonMobil.
of the Standard Oil Company, which started the whole Anti-Rockefeller movement. When Theodore Roosevelt became President, he swore to take down the Standard Oil Company and other trusts. That seemed to be a daunting task since over 198 trusts were formed. On May 15, 1911 the Supreme Court passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, the order of the termination of Standard Oil reached Rockefeller and angered him. Rockefeller believed he was above the law and acted like. The Department of Justice and the people who were against Rockefeller filed a lawsuit and it led to the end of his company. This decision forced the company to form a total of thirty-four different companies; one company that stemmed from this was ExxonMobil.