In the 1870s and 1880s, Rockefeller acquired more of his competition and expanded into new and profitable markets. By this time, in 1882, Rockefeller established what was known as the Standard Oil Trust which established itself to coordinate all oil exploration, production, and distribution activities throughout the nation. In reality the trust was a giant conglomerate of many small corporations. Having Standard Oil well established, by the 1890s, Rockefeller’s empire controlled almost 90% of all oil that was produced in America. His ventures also grew to encompass iron ore minding, shipping and various other industry services. Because Rockefeller’s trust had garnered so much attention as being an extreme success, other corporations and businesses began to emulate his model. By the end of the 1890s, corporate trusts had taken over as being dominant in many industries throughout the U.S.
It was not until about 1904 when political pressure was mounting did U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt approved a federal probe into Standard Oil’s business …show more content…
Rockefeller was a very shrewd and cut throat business man. His investments in the oil industry and ruthless business practices developed a model that many businesses emulated. Having a near stranglehold monopoly on the oil industry was a very unethical practice but what could be regarded as a necessary evil. In the way that because of the unification of oil production and refinement being under one house, there could be a balanced equilibrium of economics in an industry that prices were wildly fluctuating upon. Due to Rockefeller’s industry practices and company, it created a ripple effect upon other industries and helped be a catalyst for ensuring the survival of other companies such as the automotive industry. Without such a man as John D Rockefeller, many modern commodities and industries today such as the automobile may not be as easily accessible without