John D. Rockefeller

Religion would continue to be a guiding force throughout his life and Rockefeller believed it to be the source of his success. As he bluntly stated later, "God gave me money", and he felt no apology was necessary for how he acquired it. He felt entirely at ease and righteous following John Wesley’s dictum, "gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can."

Rockefeller, at the age of 86, penned the following words to sum up his life:

“ I was early taught to work as well as play,
My life has been one long, happy holiday;
Full of work and full of play-
I dropped the worry on the way-
And God was good to me everyday ”

Rockefeller and his son continued to consolidate their oil interests as best as they could until New Jersey, in 1909, changed its incorporation laws to effectively allow a re-creation of the trust in the form of a single holding company. Rockefeller retained his nominal title as president until 1911 and he kept his stock. At last in 1911, the Supreme Court of the United States found Standard Oil Company of New Jersey in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. By then the trust still had a 70% market share of the refined oil market but only 14% of the U.S. crude oil supply.[55] The court ruled that the trust originated in illegal monopoly practices and ordered it to be broken up into 34 new companies. These included, among many others, Continental Oil, which became Conoco, now part of ConocoPhillips; Standard of Indiana, which became Amoco, now part of BP; Standard of California, which became Chevron; Standard of New Jersey, which became Esso (and later, Exxon), now part of ExxonMobil; Standard of New York, which became Mobil, now part of ExxonMobil; and Standard of Ohio, which became Sohio, now part of BP. Pennzoil and Chevron have remained independent.[56]

Rockefeller, who had rarely sold shares, held over 25% of Standard’s stock at the time of the breakup.[57] He, as well as all stockholders, received proportionate shares in each of the 34 companies. In the aftermath, Rockefeller’s control over the oil industry was somewhat reduced but over the next ten years, the breakup also proved immensely profitable for him. The companies’ combined net worth rose fivefold and Rockefeller’s personal wealth jumped to $900,000,000