How John D. Rockefeller Built a System the World Still Lives In

What if the modern economy wasn’t shaped by Silicon Valley… but by one man in the 1800s? John D. Rockefeller didn’t just build Standard Oil. He built the system that today’s biggest corporations still use: vertical integration, crushing competitors, regulatory influence, and philanthropic cover. When Standard Oil was broken up in 1911, the monopoly didn’t die — it multiplied, evolved, and spread into every major industry. From Amazon and Google to Big Pharma and Wall Street, the same blueprint keeps showing up. Different companies. Same methods. This isn’t conspiracy. It’s corporate design. In this video, we break down: • How Rockefeller built the first true monopoly • Why breaking up Standard Oil made him richer • How the trust became the modern holding company • How regulation became part of the business strategy • Why today’s economy still follows a 150-year-old playbook You don’t live in Standard Oil’s world anymore. You live in Rockefeller’s system.