Companies that vanished: Standard Oil -- one giant becomes three

Posted Jun 9th 2008 12:50PM by Peter Cohan
Filed under: Competitive Strategy, Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron Corp (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP)

This post is part of a series on some of the most memorable companies that have disappeared.

Standard Oil (1870 - 1911) was the dominant oil company in the world until it was felled by the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. John D. Rockefeller was a business genius of the first order. He used his control over train routes and refineries to buy up oil wells and block competitors from taking market share.

Thanks to journalist Ida Tarbell, Rockefeller's rough business tactics got plenty of publicity. In 1911, the Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil had violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act through its tactics of using low prices to wipe out competitors. The result, as chronicled in one of my favorite books, Ron Chernow's Titan, was a breakup of the company into what is now Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP).

The lesson: What didn't kill Standard Oil made its offspring stronger.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

Let us know in the comments what you miss about Standard Oil. And be sure to check out other Companies That Have Vanished.

Tags: Chevron, ConocoPhillips, COP, CVX, Exxon, Exxon Mobil, Ida Tarbell, John D. Rockafeller, Ron Chernow, Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Standard Oil, Titan, XOM