Standard Oil an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act, Section II. It ordered Standard to break up into 34 independent companies with different boards of directors, the biggest two of the companies were Standard Oil of New Jersey (which became Exxon) and Standard Oil of New York (which became Mobil). Standard's president, John D. Rockefeller, had long since retired from any management role. But, as he owned a quarter of the shares of the resultant companies, and those share values mostly doubled, he emerged from the dissolution as the richest man in the world. The dissolution had actually propelled Rockefeller's personal
The History of the Standard Oil Company independents who became one of Rockefeller's colleagues, as well as others close to the inner workings of Standard Oil, that included one of the founders Frank Barstow as well. Eventually, Tarbell uncovered a crucial piece of evidence proving that Standard Oil was rigging railroad prices and preying on its competition. Public outcry erupted at the conclusion of Tarbell's 19-part exposure of Standard Oil published in "McClure's," eventually resulting in the expedited breakup of Standard Oil in 1911. Journalists, politicians, and citizens alike celebrated the accomplishments of Tarbell - a woman "outside" the inner workings of business and without significant money