Standard Oil Part 1

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

September 22, 2021

Duration

2h 36m

Channel

Acquired

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

We dive into original American capitalist mega winner, Standard Oil, and its legendary founder John D. Rockefeller. This company and man almost defy characterization — Elon, Bezos, Gates, Buffett... they've got nothing on old John D. Not only was Rockefeller the wealthiest person in modern human history, his company wrote the blueprint for today's corporations and everything we now know about business and capitalism. Pull up a chair and get ready to hear how this hillbilly, nobody kid from the sticks grew up to became the richest person in the world, creating a legend along the way that would become the American Dream... If you love Acquired and want more, join our LP Community for access to over 50 LP-only episodes, monthly Zoom calls, and access for live events and discussions with episode guests. We can't wait to see you there. Join here at: https://acquired.fm/lp/ Sponsors:

• Thank you to Pilot for being our presenting sponsor for all of Acquired Season 9! Pilot takes care of startups' bookkeeping, tax and CFO services so busy founders can focus on what matters. To paraphrase Jeff Bezos's AWS analogy: bookkeeping and tax don't make your product any better — so you should let Pilot handle them for you. Pilot is in fact backed by Bezos himself, along with other all-star investors including Sequoia, Index, and Stripe. They are truly the gold standard for startup bookkeeping, and many of the companies we work with run on them. You can get in touch with Pilot here: https://bit.ly/acquiredfmpilot , and Acquired listeners get 20% off their first 6 months! (use the link above)

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Links:

• Titan by Ron Chernow: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400077303/
• Episode sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X7oskTGkPX_rIKqZFlN49USR20Ii6C9p2SJCGzEXHLU/edit?usp=sharing

Carve Outs:

• There Will Be Blood: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469494/
• Deadwood: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348914/
• SB Nation's Secret Base Atlanta Falcons series: https://youtu.be/Lx_ORMhpmoU

‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Ben Gilbert

  host

• David Rosenthal

  host

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Acquired, featuring Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, Standard Oil Part 1 explores How Rockefeller built Standard Oil’s kerosene empire and monopoly machinery The episode traces John D. Rockefeller’s formation—part Baptist duty-driven morality, part “Devil Bill” money instinct—and how those traits shaped an obsessive, numbers-first approach to business.

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