John D Rockefeller started the Standard Oil Company in Cleveland in the year 1870. Standard Oil Company had success right away and with that Rockefeller moved quick. He started an aggressive expansion and within two years had control of a large majority of Cleveland oil refineries. Over the years Standard made deals with Railroad companies and even purchased their own pipelines, which gave them more control in the transportation of their products. Standard Oil eventually expanded to other regions in the US and nearly had a monopoly. At the height of his wealth John D Rockefeller was worth approximately $1.5 billion, which adjusted for inflation would be about $26 billion today.
10/21/2019, 12:50:31 AM