The winding journey from Standard Oil to the modern oil industry

Standard Oil’s impact on the business world can be clearly seen today in oil giants like Exxon and Chevron. But the journey from the Rockefellers’ trust to the modern firms was a windy road. After the Supreme Court ordered Standard Oil’s break up, the first step saw it separate into many state-based companies like Standard Oil of California and the Ohio Oil Company. Visualize it here.

Standard Oil used vertical integration to create an empire

“Vertical integration” is a modern business phrase that refers to a company taking on multiple stages of production—but John D. Rockefeller pioneered it with his Standard Oil company, employing its own plumbers and handling its own oil transportation.

Modern antitrust law was created to combat the Standard Oil Trust

John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust enabled him to evade laws against a single corporation buying stock in another. His centralized board of directors held stock in many different oil companies under his control, allowing Rockefeller to eventually monopolize the oil refining industry. Efforts to regulate and prevent the Standard Oil Trust's monopoly became known as "antitrust" laws.

Find out how airline mergers created some of today's largest airlines

Four airlines dominate the US commercial airline industry: Delta, United, Southwest, and American. Many of these large companies secured their top spots in the industry via a series of mergers and acquisitions starting in the 1970s, when American acquired Trans Caribbean Airlines.

The Seven Sisters were a dominant midcentury Western oil consortium

Amid the fallout of World War II, Western multinational corporations expanded their control of the production of oil across the oil-rich Middle East, earning the pejorative nickname of the Seven Sisters. In the 1970s, the group’s role diminished as nationalist movements pursued sovereign control of the oil.

How the Rockefellers' wealth evolved over time

The Rockefellers built one of the most powerful business empires in US history. By the early 1900s, their company, Standard Oil, controlled over 90% of the US oil market.

Standard Oil's predatory business practices included temporarily operating at a loss to drive competitors out of business

Rockefeller's oil monopoly had a dark side, including cutting oil prices so low that Standard Oil was sometimes temporarily operating at a loss in order to drive competitors out of business.

The ins and outs of oil refining

The oil industry is broken up into the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments, and oil refining is part of the latter. “Downstream” refers to companies like Standard Oil that are converting crude oil into a finished product.

Even iconic companies can get dropped from the Dow

The Dow’s lineup evolves as the economy changes. General Electric, part of the original 1896 index, was removed in 2018, after 122 years. ExxonMobil, once the world’s largest company, was replaced by Salesforce in 2020.

Read about the history of the Sherman Antitrust Act, the first law to ban monopolistic behavior

In its later years, Standard Oil formed a business trust that reflected the company's exponential growth. Politicians wanted to prevent such trusts and used the Sherman Antitrust Act to force Standard Oil to break up.

The 'Big Three' and 'Big Four' consulting firms have grown more similar in recent years

The “Big Three” consulting firms—McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company—and the “Big Four”—Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, and EY—actually have a lot in common these days. But it wasn’t always that way.

How John D. Rockefeller became the world's first billionaire

From a young age, John D. Rockefeller knew he was interested in business. He worked as a bookkeeper and sold candy prior to starting the business empire that would help cement the Rockefeller name in history: Standard Oil.

Large oil companies knew about the impact of carbon emissions since the ’70s

PBS Frontline’s The Power of Big Oil reveals how industry giants like Exxon and Shell were researching climate change in the 1970s but then funded denial campaigns—using internal science to sow public doubt for decades.

The 'Big Four' consulting firms specialize in accounting

The "Big Four" refers to Deloitte, PwC (also known as PricewaterhouseCoopers), KPMG, and EY. They more recently built out their business consulting practices in addition to accounting services.

The history of the Rockefellers in 60 seconds

John D. Rockefeller—the world's first billionaire—once controlled 90% of the US oil refining market, built Standard Oil through vertical integration, and used his fortune to fund universities, museums, and landmarks like Rockefeller Center.

The original 'four horsemen' of tech were Intel, Dell, Microsoft, and Cisco

These companies became known as the "four horsemen of tech" for the influence the companies had both on other businesses and investors in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The expansion of internet infrastructure throughout the 1990s and the dot-com bubble lifted these companies to incredible heights.

How famed investigative journalist Ida Tarbell took on Standard Oil

After watching her father lose his oil refining business to Standard Oil, Ida Tarbell began to focus on unfair business practices in the US, writing a series on the oil giant's transgressions.

Today’s Rockefellers have become climate activists

The Rockefeller Family Fund has been engaged in more than 40 lawsuits against ExxonMobil, a company that John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil created.

The first lithium-ion battery was invented at ExxonMobil

Initially a side project that became a priority due to the 1973 oil crisis, the battery's flammability risks and manufacturing challenges, along with the waning crisis, led the company to shut down its battery program. Other researchers would gradually improve upon published prototype designs in the next decade.

OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) has grown from five to 12 members since 1960.

The separation of crude oil into petroleum products begins by boiling it in a distillation tower, where constituent hydrocarbons are separated into layers based on the temperatures at which they boil.

To use the various chemicals in crude oil, they must often be cracked—broken down into smaller molecules—to make their processing easier in everyday machines.

See a timeline of the consolidation of the television and film industry, beginning with Vaudeville theatre traditions from the 1880s.

The Coca-Cola Company also owns Sprite, Smartwater, and many more brands

The parent company owns lots of beverage brands, from sodas to water, including Dasani, Minute Maid, Topo-Chico, and more. You can see all of the roughly 200 brands it owns on its website.

The Big Three consulting firms are McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company

Some also refer to this group as “MBB.” As a nearly century-old company that’s well known for its prestige, McKinsey has some famous alumni—including Chelsea Clinton and Sheryl Sandberg. The other two consulting firms in the Big Three have employed some famous faces over the years, too.

The Dow now tracks 30 major US companies across various industries

Since 1928, the DJIA has included 30 firms. Today's group spans technology, healthcare, and finance—with Apple, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer, and Coca-Cola among its most recognized components.

The US shipped nearly 4 billion barrels of oil abroad in 2024

More than half of the US’s oil is exported as the country produces mainly light, sweet crude but has many refineries that handle heavy, sour types.

Coca-Cola operates under an asset-light, divided structure

The "company" manages the brand itself, as well as its secret formula and syrup production. The capital-intensive "system" of independent bottlers, on the other hand, handles manufacturing and distribution.

Explore the brands owned by Estée Lauder Companies

While Estée Lauder remains the flagship brand and namesake of the cosmetic conglomerate, the company owns more than 20 premier brands. Some of the brands—like Clinique and Origin—were created in-house, but others—like Tom Ford and Jo Malone—are a result of the company's acquisition strategy, which often targets companies with high-end retail products.

The 'Big Three' asset managers—Vanguard, State Street, and BlackRock—collectively manage more than $30T in assets and are the largest shareholders in roughly 88% of all the companies listed on the S&P 500.

How crude oil is split across oil markets based on geographic origin

Brent, West Texas Intermediate, and Dubai are the three crude oil classes and differ in terms of typical refinery uses, density, sulfur content, and suitability for financial benchmarking. Brent, which originates in the North Sea, is traders' go-to benchmark, in part, because it is easily shipped and politically stable, and used to price most of the crude sold internationally.

In 2016 OPEC and 10 major producers—including Russia—launched OPEC+

OPEC+ emerged in 2016 when 10 additional producers, including Russia, joined to stabilize markets amid U.S. shale growth. In 2022, OPEC alone supplied 38 % of global crude oil, but combined with OPEC+, output reached nearly 59 % of world production—significantly amplifying its market power.

Hear Steve Ballmer explain how US gas prices are affected by the global price of oil.

Oil shocks, war, and the 1970s crisis that remade American energy and economics

The oil crises of the 1970s—fueled by Middle East conflict and OPEC's dominance—triggered inflation, price controls, and policy failure. But they also accelerated fracking, alternative energy, and the rise of free-market economics.

An overview of crude oil, including its constituent hydrocarbons and refinement outputs

The mixture is primarily composed of molecules of carbon and hydrogen atoms bonded into a variety of shapes and lengths, giving each different chemical properties, such as boiling points. Refining can remove elemental impurities—such as sulfur—after hydrocarbons are separated, ensuring the resulting products can be used effectively in other machines, such as car engines.

A 1948 Supreme Court ruling realigned the film industry

1948's landmark United States v. Paramount Pictures found that the "Big Five" studios violated antitrust laws, effectively ending the reign of the vertically integrated system and the golden age of Hollywood.

Oil's legacy: fueling industrial growth and shaping imperial strategies

This episode of The Rest Is History podcast traces oil's pivotal role—from fueling industrial growth to steering imperial power. It also examines how access to oil shaped US politics, World War II, and sparked the creation of OPEC following the Suez Crisis.

GE’s removal marked the end of an era for the Dow

General Electric, the last surviving original Dow component, was dropped in 2018, after years of decline. Its exit symbolized the fading dominance of industrial giants and the index’s shift toward technology and healthcare.

The recorded history of crude oil use dates back about 5,000 years, with the Babylonians using it to waterproof their boats and as mortar in the construction of structures.