USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In June 1870, John D. Rockefeller amalgamated a number of his companies to create what would become one of the world’s most powerful and influential organizations in Standard Oil.

Detailed explanation-2: -Standard Oil (in full, Standard Oil Company and Trust) was an American company and corporate trust that from 1870 to 1911 was the industrial empire of John D. Rockefeller and associates, controlling almost all oil production, processing, marketing, and transportation in the United States.

Detailed explanation-3: -In 1882, Rockefeller ended competition in the oil industry by forming the Standard Oil Trust, where Rockefeller gained control of over 90% of the oil refining in the country! A trust is a group of corporations run by a single board of directors.

Detailed explanation-4: -Consequently, Rockefeller became the country’s first billionaire, with a fortune worth nearly 2% of the national economy. His personal wealth was estimated in 1913 at $900 million, which was almost 3% of the US GDP of $39.1 billion that year.

Detailed explanation-5: -John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company acquired pipelines and terminal facilities, purchased competing refineries, and vigorously sought to expand its markets. Those practices enabled the company to negotiate with railroads for favoured rates on its shipments of oil.