The Industrial Tycoons
Making Monopolies
Andrew Carnegie, tycoon, monopoly, steel
Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, two prominent figures in the Gilded Age, employed distinct strategies to dominate their respective industries.
Carnegie's Stock Market Strategy:
Carnegie began in the stock market at the age of 15 when he persuaded his mother to secure a loan against her boarding house for investing in steel companies.
Ownership Control: Realizing the significance of controlling a majority, Carnegie strategically acquired 51% ownership in multiple steel companies.
Formation of U.S. Steel Corporation: By merging these companies, Carnegie established the U.S. Steel Corporation, securing a monopoly on the steel industry.
Rockefeller's Monopoly through Price Wars:
Rockefeller began with considerable wealth, enabling him to initiate price wars in the oil industry.
Driving Competitors Out: Lowering oil prices significantly, Rockefeller forced other oil companies to the brink of closure.
Strategic Acquisitions: Rockefeller acquired these struggling businesses, consolidating his dominance in the oil industry and forming a monopoly.
How did Rockefeller create a monopoly of the oil industry?
by lowering his oil prices to drive the other oil companies out of business
by using his family fortune to buy all the oil companies outright
by taking all the oil from other companies and reselling it at his
own price
by acquiring struggling oil companies after forcing them into bankruptcy with price wars