Standard Oil Co. Inc

The Standard Oil Company was the frost major industrial monopoly in the United States. At its peak, it controlled as much as eighty-five percent of oil refining in America.

In 1863, Rockefeller and his partners founded Rockefeller, Andrew and Flagler. When the partnership split, Rockefeller and Andrews bought out their partners for $72,500.

By 1868 this oil refining business was the world’s largest and in 1870 Rockefeller created Standard Oil Company of Ohio, capitalized at $1 million, which began integrating horizontally by buying out the competition, consolidating all oil refining into Standard Oil.

It had acquired Ohio Oil Company, which produced crude oil in 1889, an action that complemented its original nature as a combination of refineries in Cleveland.

At its height, its operation accounted for over 9 percent of all the oil produced and refined in the United States. Under the control of its principal shareholder, John Rockefeller (1839-1937), the company as one of the first and most powerful “trust” in American history, drawing the ire and criticism of Progressive Ear reformers who claimed that it was an illegal monopoly.

By the time Standard Oil Company dissolved in 1911, it had already operated as an integrated company in the four functions of producing, transporting, refining and marketing.
Standard Oil Co. Inc