John D. Rockefeller: A Robber Baron Or the Efficient Businessman John Davison Rockefeller has been accused by many as being a Robber Baron over the past century. He created the most powerful corporation the United States had ever seen: The Standard Oil Company. He began Standard Oil in 1865 and by 1881, it was comprised of more than forty other companies. In 1882 Rockefeller created the Standard Oil Trusts, and his company had become the most efficient corporation, …showed first 75 words of 1132 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1132 total…America to become the greatest of industrial nations. When WW I began in 1914, it was through the rapid industrialization that was spurred by men like Rockefeller that America was able to produce and maintain such an immense amount of supplies. He had organized the petroleum industry from chaos to extreme precision and created thousands of jobs and lasting industries. Rockefeller was not an uncaring destructive man; he was a ruthlessly efficient businessman, industrialist, and philanthropist.