The early 19th century was the time to live for a big-businessman. If you were wise enough to take advantage of the lack of legal restrictions, buy out your competitors, and control your product from start to finish you could become a very wealthy individual; John D. Rockefeller was one such individual. John D. Rockefeller was the founder of the late-19th century Standard Oil Company. Through this company John D. Rockefeller became known as the "wealthiest man who ever lived," as well as a cutthroat magnate who dominated oil from the ground to the barrel.
John D. Rockefeller was unique in his approach to business because he was one of the first business leaders to take advantage of both "horizontal" and "vertical" integration simultaneously. "Horizontal" integration is the idea of beating your competition in business by integrating their enterprise into your own. "Vertical" integration differs in that instead of buying out your competitors, you buyout the enterprises that process your product during the various stages of development. By integrating both "horizontal" and "vertical" integration Rockefeller was purchasing refineries, oil taps, and barreling warehouses all while monopolizing his competition who used those same companies he was purchasing. Nowadays the U.S. federal government has made laws to prevent Rockefeller's imperious approach to business. However Rockefeller was not bound by today's laws and dominated the oil industry from beginning to end.
Standard Oil Company's success only lasted throughout Rockefeller's life though. The company quickly begin to suffer only a few years after Rockefeller's death. Without the guidance of their genius founder, the company rapidly declined until it's failure in 1917.
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