Why Did Rockefeller Become The Wealthiest Man In American History

How did John D. Rockefeller become the wealthiest man in American history? A simple question student may ask themselves, but a simple answer. Primarily, John D. Rockefeller was an American oil industry magnate, born July 8th, 1839, in Richford, New York. Rockefeller built his first oil refinery near Cleveland and established an oil company named Standard Oil in 1870, an oil-based company with top oil refineries in America. By 1882, Rockefeller earned a monopoly of the oil business in the U.S. Rockefeller is considered the wealthiest person in modern American history. Majority of students recognize John D. Rockefeller’s wealth and power, him being the richest person of all time in American history, and his great success with oil and railroads

Rockefeller earned a monopoly in the booming oil industry by discovering a new method of refining oil at cheaper costs, ruthless business tactics and establishing the Standard Oil trust during the 1800’s.
The discovery of new methods of refining oil at cheaper costs made by Rockefeller heavily contributed to him controlling a large share of the American economy. Reducing costs can be broken into two sections, the first category focuses on Standard Oil’s relationship with railway companies and the advantages the company gains from this. The second category focuses on lowering the average costs of production within the boundaries of the company.
Lowering average costs with cooperation with other companies, the main companies Standard Oil co-operated within railway companies that transported Standard Oil kerosene. “Using its large and growing volume of oil shipments to negotiate an alliance with the railroads that gave it secret rebates and thereby

“Rockefeller and his associates decided to move Standard Oil from Cleveland to New York City and to form a new type of business organization called a ‘trust’...When the Standard Oil Trust was formed in 1882, it produced most of the world's lamp kerosene, owned 4,000 miles of pipelines, and employed 100,000 workers” (CFR). After the trust was formed in New York City, the company started exponentially growing and expanding to different states across the nation, especially in the area of kerosene, workers, pipelines, etc. The trust killed off even more competition with predatory pricing and was able to sustain the process because of such high numbers in 1882. Additionally, the Standard Oil Trust also has railroad discounts, the company blocked pipelines from a rival, etc. The issue with this trust, however, is that Supreme Court ordered Standard Oil to disband due to the violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, formally ending in 1911. The Sherman Antitrust Act states "Every contract, or combination, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is hereby declared to be illegal” (CRF). Standard Oil may have violated the law with the Standard Oil Trust, but it certainly was a massive contribution to Rockefeller’s monopoly in the oil industry as it expanded the company across the nation,