In 1911, the U.S. Courts Forced the Breakup of Standard Oil. John D. Rockefeller Emerged Richer and More Influential Than Ever.

A look back at the story of the breakup of the Rockefeller empire.

“The facts establish beyond question that this organization was born for the purpose of illegally acquiring wealth and that it has, to this end, oppressed the public and destroyed the rights of its competitors...”

On May 15, 1911, after its chief justice's closing argument, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil, the oil empire built by John D. Rockefeller. “Come on, gentlemen, let's get on with it,” said the tycoon, perfectly in control of himself, to his golfing partners when he heard the news. If he fully satisfies public opinion, the breakup of Standard Oil is not bad news, neither for him nor for the American oil industry. On the contrary ...

John D. Rockefeller was 72 years old. With his parchment-like face and piercing eyes that breathed intelligence, he was one of the most hated men in America. “The most criminal of his time,” an American newspaper said of him at the turn of the century. The “Mummy,” as his fiercest opponent, the journalist Ida Minerva Tarbell, called him. Some churches and religious associations even refused his donations - which were considerable - because his money was “corrupt.”