Standard Oil Company was established in January 1870 by John D. Rockefeller, William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, Iliver B. Jennings, Samuel Andrews and Stephen V. Harkness.
Standard Oil was without doubt one of the most powerful company in history. Never before or after has one single company been able to create a worldwide market for oil products and controlling the whole production chain from the oil wells to the consumer. It dominated the oil product markets for many years through aggressive horizontal integration in the refining sector, then, in later years through vertical integration. It was also an innovator in the development of the business trust formed in 1882 to create a series of standard oil companies throughout America. It streamlined production and logistics, lowered costs, and undercut competitors. Its controversial history as one of the world’s first and largest multinational corporations ended in 1911, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that Standard was an illegal monopoly and had to be dissolved into 34 “smaller” companies. Two of these companies eventually became Exxon and Mobil. With the dissolution of the Standard Oil, Rockefeller became the richest man in the world.