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Rockefeller also may have been unique among oil executives for his understanding of distribution. Kerosene—illuminating oil—was arguably the first global consumer product. (Grain markets were global, of course, but grain was usually processed locally into flour or bread before being sold to consumers.) Rockefeller pursued tightly integrated marketi
... See moreCharles R. Morris • The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy
The Standard’s commitment to long-distance pipelines was the beginning of the end of the railroads’ dominant role in petroleum transport. Rockefeller began to negotiate what were effectively reverse-rebate arrangements, guaranteeing the roads minimum returns for maintaining their oil-shipping facilities whether or not he used them. The last step in
... See moreCharles R. Morris • The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy
The muckraker Ida Tarbell once dismissed Rockefeller as a man with the “soul of a bookkeeper,” an image that has stuck to him ever since. It was true that he loved the completeness and concreteness of good ledgers, and insisted that every entry, every tally, every invoice had to be right; but the “bookkeeper” label does not begin to capture the rea
... See moreCharles R. Morris • The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy
With a huge war chest and no public security holders, Rockefeller could fight a no-quarter war for as long as Scott and Potts chose to bleed. Characteristically, he kept the war very focused. As A. J. Cassatt, a later Pennsylvania president, told a House committee, “They simply insisted that they could not make any arrangement with us for the trans
... See moreCharles R. Morris • The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy
(Rockefeller borrowed aggressively from banks, but those were mostly cash flow loans that were quickly repaid, not long-term investment capital.)
Charles R. Morris • The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy
The Empire had begun life as a fast-freight forwarder, just one of the many companies that Scott and Thomson had created to pick the meatier bones left on the Pennsylvania’s table. Its superb chief executive, Col. Joseph Potts, had built it into a major transportation business in its own right, with a particularly strong position in petroleum. Besi
... See moreCharles R. Morris • The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy
A word on Rockefeller as a manager, for he has a claim to be not only the first great corporate executive but one of the greatest ever.
Charles R. Morris • The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy
Trustbusters thought they were slaying a dangerous monster when the Standard was broken up in 1911; instead, they were doing the shareholders, and especially John Rockefeller, a large favor. Once the stock of the individual companies were listed in their own names, and they could compete freely, their market values multiplied many times over, and R
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