Titans of the Twentieth Century Essay

The oil and gas business is highly competitive in the exploration for and acquisitions of reserves, the acquisition of oil and gas leases, equipment and personnel required to find and produce reserves, and in the gathering and marketing of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids. The competitors include national oil companies, major integrated oil and gas companies, other independent oil and gas companies, and participants in other industries supplying energy and fuel to industrial, commercial, and individual consumers.

1. What did John D. Rockefeller believe was the key to stabilizing the oil industry? He believed that centralizing the administration, hard-working people that applied themselves and work together, and a monopoly – owning as much as they can – would stabilize the oil industry.

Rockefeller went out and did all he could do to buy out as many oil companies as he could, he started in Ohio and from there business started booming for the Standard Oil company. I believe that the government should not break up the Standard Oil company’s monopoly, this is because John Rockefeller worked hard to get where he was. And although, it might have not benefited the everyday American, how would you feel if your everyday hard work was being taken away from you? John Rockefeller had been working hard since he was a teenager to live his American dream and he ended up accomplishing his dream, and he worked hard to get there so I think the monopoly shouldn’t be broken up for

Folsom, Burton. "John D. Rockefeller and the Oil Industry." Fee.org. N.p., 1 Oct. 1988. Web.

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

Oil policies went deep into the personalities and early experiences of Rockefeller and his colleagues. They had heightened uncertainty and speculation about their activities by their secrecy in building the alliance and by their evasive and legal testimony on the witness stand. There tended to be aroused antagonism because the very

John D. Rockefeller was a “robber baron” while Andrew Carnegie was a “captain of industry” in the time period of the Industrial Revolution in America. Rockefeller, like other robber barons, used questionable tactics to make a profit. However, Carnegie, as a captain of industry, helped the nation industrialize in a positive way. Both these men helped modernize America in the late 1800’s and led America to be the leader of industrialization by 1880. John D. Rockefeller was more of a robber baron than a captain of industry in our history.

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 railroad 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 his oil on their lines. Another one of Rockefellers earlier mentioned but not explained tactics was his horizontally integrated monopoly. Rockefeller used this horizontal monopoly to set prices and force his competitors to merge with him. (All with Doc. J) Document J shows that Rockefeller had his tentacles, or his influence and power around every piece of the oil industry. That, also, includes the politicians and their support.

No wonder that only a handful of people can’t distinguish that this old man was a crock and deserves to rot in hell! With all this positive media attention, the public had been fed lies! In real life, this money hungry, greedy villain is the prime reason why the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed. Rockefeller’s dream was to monopolize the oiling industry, and he so successfully did. Because of his great empire (the Standard Oil Co.)

     Chevron Texaco, or Texaco Shell, is the leading competitor to ExxonMobil. Texaco is in the same areas of business as Exxon. Their petroleum products and lubricants are sold in the same markets, stores, and in many cases opposite street corners from each other. The two companies are very similar, but Exxon’s recent petroleum deals in the Middle East and Africa have allowed its stock price to jump ahead for the time being (1). In the industry, the two companies mainly compete for the ability to negotiate for new production. The competition is not made at the pump or at the local auto store. It seems that it’s more important to control oil than it is to sell it quickly. Because oil has so much value and power in the world, the industry is made of semi-friendly companies. Surviving and making as much profit as possible, is more important than trying to put people out of business.

Throughout the Gilded age, men like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and John Pierpont Morgan shaped America during the early parts of the 20th century to the present. All three of these men became the top owner of each of their companies during there lifetimes. Rockefeller became the first billionaire in American history through his company Standard Oil and owned ninety percent of the world’s oil. Carnegie became a wealthy businessman through steel and J.P. Morgan succeeded through banking. Of these three men, Rockefeller had the most impact on the American people not only through Standard Oil, but his philanthropically work. Rockefeller turned a small oil mill in Cleveland, Ohio into the most successful business known to man. Many

Standard Oil’s sales continued to increase, and the company began to acquire smaller companies to continue their rapid growth. When Rockefeller would acquire smaller companies, he would completely shut down the ones he believed were inefficient and keep the ones that he thought he could bring up to his caliber of quality. Unfortunately for the workers from the companies that were shut down, they were put out of work. Rockefeller also began to warehouse oil products in order to have more control over the oil market by having the ability to possess large amounts of oil. Rockefeller had the ability to send in oil, or hold the oil in the warehouses which could cause a riff in the oil market. In order to acquire more business from customers Rockefeller struck a deal with Lake Shore Railroad, to give Standard Oil a 71% discount in return for a promise to ship at least 60 carloads of oil daily and to handle the loading and unloading. This move cut the throats of smaller refineries because they could not produce enough oil fast enough to be able to be offered discounts by railroad companies like Rockefeller did. These deals that Rockefeller had in place allowed

The United States has come to be known as a major world superpower throughout history. One of the main parts of America that has contributed to its renowned strength has been its economy. The United State’s economy has been growing ever since it began. Credit for its strength and progress in development can be attributed to the financial geniuses of their time. John D. Rockefeller became an economical giant during his time when he changed the face of business by developing ground-breaking new strategies to ensure financial success. Rockefeller dramatically changed the business field during The Gilded Age. He did so through the use of his social Darwinistic philosophy of capitalism, inclusion of vertical and horizontal integration,

American was a prosperous country with incredible economic growth between the end of Reconstruction and the Great Depression. It was during this time that "industrial expansion went into high gear because increasing manufacturing efficiencies enabled American firms to cut prices and yet earn profits for financing still better equipment (Henretta 488)." During this era, the manufacturing of steel, the construction of railroads, factories, and warehouses, and the growing demand for technological advancements, increased greatly. Philanthropists, such as Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller, took advantage of the situation they were in by investing large sums of capital into the growing economy. Carnegie constructed

John Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York on July 8, 1839. At the age of just 14 he moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio. At the age of 16 he got a job as an assistant bookkeeper with Hewitt & Tuttle, commission merchants and produce shippers. By the age of 20, Rockefeller went out on his own with a friend of his, working as a merchant in hay, meats, grains and other goods. At the close of the company's first year in business, it had grossed $450,000.