Oil Vs Standard Oil Essay

John D. Rockefeller owned Standard Oil. He used integration that was both horizontal and vertical in order to obtain control of the oil industry. Standard Oil developed companies that marketed and distributed its products and creations and also bought refineries that were rivals. Standard Oil became a trust given the fact that they forced smaller companies to surrender. During the beginning of Standard Oil, the reason for its success was because of the favorable industry and economic conditions and because of Rockefeller's desire and drive to streamline the company's operations. Even though Standard Oil provided the public with jobs, John D. Rockefeller's impact on this revolution was not too positive. The people and Congress eventually noticed and

By 1882 The Standard Oil Company had become the most efficient corporation, producing the highest quality products as well as charging the lowest prices. Rockefeller was philanthropic in his endeavors, incorporating his acquired companies into the ever enlarging Standard Oil. The Standard Oil Company helped to strengthen the American economy, created jobs, and was one of the leaders in making the United States the industrial giant that it is today.

John D. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil company, and became one of the wealthiest men in the world, propelling America into a new frontier. In the 19th century, kerosene was highly demanded, and there were small kerosene manufacturing companies all over the United States. Rockefeller’s early life was no near the upbringing of a billionaire. His father began as a peddler working to make ends meet as his mother raised his brothers and sisters. He was given a $100 loan to buy a small boat, but by 1870, he established the Standard Oil company. In only 10 years, Rockefeller owned 90% of the U.S’s oil refineries. During this time, many accused Rockefeller as participating in unethical business practices. He collaborated with major railroads to eliminate his competition and used predatory pricing as well as horizontal integration to monopolize the entire oil industry. In 1886, Rockefeller took out a loan to buy

The company thrived immediately from the beginning so they started buying out their competitors. The company made very quick moves, so they eventually controlled most of the refineries in Cleveland. Then, they started to make deals with railroads to ship their oil and they started purchasing terminals and pipelines to handle the transportation of their oil. The Standard Oil Company started to buy their own plots of land for drilling and for lumber. By doing this, they started owning every part of the oil business. Standard then started buying out other competitors on the east and west coast. Through this, they established a monopoly, and controlled around 90% of the United States’ oil

The Standard Oil Trust of Ohio was and American oil producing, refining, and transporting company. It was founded in 1863 by John D. Rockefeller and lasted until 1911. During 1868, Rockefeller expanded the oil company to become the largest oil refining company in the world. In 1870, the company was renamed Standard Oil Company. After it was renamed, Rockefeller purchased most of the oil companies that were currently in business to make one large company.

John Davison Rockefeller was the founder of Standard Oil Company in 1870 and ran it until he retired in 1897. Standard Oil gained almost complete control over the oil refining market in the United States by underselling its competitors. Rockefeller and his associates owned dozens of corporations operating in just one state.

- 1881, his company )Standard Oil Trust) controlled 90% of oil refinery business that put together consisted of the various companies that he got, all managed by a board of trustees that Rockefeller and Standard Oil controlled.

In a move that would transform the American economy, Rockefeller set out to replace a world of independent oilmen with a giant company controlled by him. In l870, begging bankers for more loans, he formed Standard Oil of Ohio. The next year, he quietly put what he called "our plan" -- his campaign to dominate the volatile oil industry - into devastating effect. Rockefeller knew that the refiner with the lowest transportation cost could bring rivals to their knees. He entered into a secret alliance with the railroads called the South Improvement Company. In exchange for large, regular shipments, Rockefeller and his allies secured transport rates far

1.2 million dollars. Now they were opening a second refinery and opened a third firm in New York to handle overseas sales. Although they had high income, the unstable ways of the industry worried Rockefeller. With new discoveries of oil sources, prices were dropping (Krasner). Producers, refiners, manufacturers, brokers, and shippers were all fighting to be on top. Within this chaos, Rockefeller had a brilliant plan. His plan would bring the organization and efficiency that he believed the oil industry needed to survive (Frost). In 1866, he formed the Standard Oil Company.

John D. Rockefeller also started at humble beginnings. By taking risks and investing he found himself engulfed in the rapidly expanding oil industry. Not yet in the business directly he started his own company, The Standard Oil Company of Cleveland. Rockefeller's stake in the oil industry increased as the industry itself expanded caused by the rapidly spreading use of kerosene. The Standard Oil eventually, in a few years, purchased and controlled almost all the refining firms in Cleveland, plus two refineries

In a move that would transform the American economy, Rockefeller set out to replace a world of independent oilmen with a giant company controlled by him. In l870, begging bankers for more loans, he formed Standard Oil of Ohio. The next year, he quietly put what he called "our plan" -- his campaign to dominate the volatile oil industry - into devastating effect. Rockefeller knew that the refiner with the lowest transportation cost could bring rivals to their knees. He entered into a secret alliance with the railroads called the South Improvement Company. In exchange for large, regular shipments, Rockefeller and his allies secured transport rates far lower than those of their bewildered competitors. John D. Rockefeller said, "The day of combination is here to stay. Individualism is gone forever, never to return" (Hawke 128).

"With reference to the levels and spheres of corporate power discussed in [chapter 3], how did the power of Standard Oil change society? Was this power exercised in keeping with the social contract of Rockefeller's era?"

Standard Oil was the United States’ first monopoly, and it was a rollercoaster of a ride for the company. Standard Oil started from the ground up and grew into a massive enterprise, that would eventually make John D. Rockefeller the richest man in the world. This would come at a price, the demise of Standard Oil, but multiple companies are born out of the demise of Standard Oil that become some of the largest oil companies today. Standard Oil even caused the United States of America to create a federal act to try and control monopolies from eliminating competition in unethical ways, and from becoming so powerful that they can control not just their markets, but other markets too, and from having the ability to change the price on consumers

Furthermore, Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry through his career. He found a way to effectively use horizontal and vertical integration and made gasoline available to the public for very low prices. Through these business techniques Rockefeller not only brought in huge profits, but also managed to help society by giving them high quality gasoline at an inexpensive rate.

At the mere age of 16 he went to work for a firm of farm-produce shippers. A couple of years later, he went into that business for himself. In 1862, he went into business with Samuel Andrews, the inventor of an inexpensive process for the refinement of crude petroleum. By 1870 the company had been superseded then in 1870 Rockefeller and his brother William and several associates took over the business. By the 1880’s the company was one of the largest and richest manufacturing concerns in the world. Rockefeller main concern wasn’t always business he married Laura Celestia Spelman in 1864. They had three daughters Bessie, Edith, and Alta and one son John D. Rockefeller, Jr. In 1862 Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Trust. This, the first corporate trust, was declared an illegal monopoly and ordered dissolved by the Ohio Supreme Court in 1892. Rockefeller retired as president in 1911. Also in 1911 the company was broken into separate corporations by an antitrust decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. At the peak of Rockefeller’s personal fortune was estimated at almost 1 billion dollars. Rockefeller founded the University of Chicago in 1892. Rockefeller died at the age of 97 on May 23, 1937, in Ormond, Florida. He was buried in Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio.