The Exposed Scheme That Still Made Rockefeller Rich

In 1872 a group of railroads signed a secret agreement with a handful of oil refiners. It gave them two things: a discount on their own shipping, and a cut of what their competitors paid to ship. Every barrel a rival shipped put money in John D. Rockefeller's pocket. The scheme was exposed within weeks. It never legally took effect. Not one shipment moved under it. And by the time it collapsed, Rockefeller had bought twenty-two of the twenty-six competing refineries in Cleveland — most of them at scrap value. This is how the first monopoly in America was actually built. Not by being bigger. By taking control of what everyone else's costs were. Chapters: 0:00 The refinery that wasn't for sale 1:11 The cheapest business in America 2:37 The thing he noticed 4:12 The deal 6:19 The third weapon 7:24 The Cleveland Massacre 9:50 Six weeks 11:03 Ninety percent 11:48 The machine 13:12 The trust 14:20 The bet nobody wanted 16:31 The woman with the notebook 17:44 1911 Some dialogue and scenes have been dramatized from historical accounts for narrative clarity. Quoted material is drawn from contemporary reporting and from Ida Tarbell's account. Terms of Power — money, power, and the deals behind them.