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Standard Oil was an oil refining company founded by John D. Rockefeller and partners in 1863. Borrowing heavily to expand his business, he drew five big refineries including the business concern of Henry Morrison Flagler into one firm, Rockefeller, Andrew & Flagler. By 1868 he headed the world's largest oil refinery.
On January 10, 1870 he formed the Standard Oil Company of Ohio and started his strategy of buying up the competition and consolidating all oil-refining under one company. By 1878 Standard Oil held about 90% of the refining capacity in the U.S. In 1881 the company was reorganised as the Standard Oil Trust. The three main men of "Standard Oil" were Henry H. Rogers, William Rockefeller, and, the most important, John D. Rockefeller.
This attracted attention from antitrust authorities in the 1890s, the Ohio Attorney General filed and won an antitrust suit in 1892 and the company was broken up after the United States Supreme Court declared the company to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act on May 15, 1911. However, the owners remained in charge of the smaller companies which made up four of the Seven Sisters.
Standard Oil was often not appreciated by the public. It developed a reputation among many for dubious business practices, including subduing competitors and engaging in illegal transportation deals with the railroad companies to ensure it could undercut its competitors' prices. Standard Oil, formed well before the discovery of Spindletop and a demand for oil other than for heat and light, was well placed to control the growth of the oil business. It was perceived that it did this by ensuring it owned and controlled all aspects of the trade.
During a massive strike by employees of the Rockefeller-owned Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, what was referred to as the Ludlow Massacre occurred on April 20, 1914. The state militia fired on a tent city inhabited by workers and their families, causing numerous deaths and a public relations disaster. John D. Rockefeller Jr. was forced to take action to bolster his public image to avert large-scale market losses. [1] (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/sfeature/sf_8.html)
Perhaps the most infamous action of Standard Oil was its involvement with IG Farben. The two organisations worked together to build a plant for the manufacture of synthetic rubber in Nazi Germany, using slave labour from Auschwitz.
The following quotation (from journalist Thomas Lawson's 1905 book, Frenzied Finance) perhaps epitomises the company as perceived by many of Standard Oil's detractors.
- "Standard Oil" has from its birth to present writing been responsible for more hell than any other trust or financial thing since the world began. Because of it the people have sustained incalculable losses and have suffered untold miseries.
There were eight distinct groups of individuals and corporations which made up the big "Standard Oil":
- The Standard Oil, seller of oil to the people, which was made up of many sub-corporations either by actual ownership or by ownership of their stock or bonds;
- Henry H. Rogers, William Rockefeller, and John D.Rockefeller, active heads, and included with them their sons;
- A large group of active captains and first lieutenants, men who conducted the affairs of the different corporations or sections of corporations in which some or all of the "Standard Oil" were interested;
- A large group of captains retired from active service in the Standard Oil army;
- The estates of deceased members of the wonderful "Standard Oil" family, which were still largely controlled by some or all of the prominent "Standard Oil" men;
- "Standard Oil" banks and banking institutions, and the system of national banks, trust companies, and insurance companies, of which "Standard Oil" had, by ownership and otherwise, practically absolute control;
- The "Standard Oil" army of followers, capitalists, and workers in all parts of the world;
- The countless hordes of politicians, statesmen, lawmakers and enforcers -- political structure -- and judges and lawyers.
Successors
Successor companies to Standard Oil include:
Other Standard Oils:
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