Why Is John D Rockefeller Unethical

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John D. Rockefeller appeared at a time when America was realizing the vastness and potential of its natural resources. John D. Rockefeller was determined to acquire them by any means necessary which lead to him eventually becoming the world’s first billionaire. Rockefeller was very attentive on choosing the location for his company. Rockefeller was all about efficiency and cost yet he craved great expansion. Rockefeller was very careful with money which made his company consistently profitable. Eventually critics accused Rockefeller of engaging in unethical practices, such as predatory pricing, vertical and horizontal integration, and colluding with railroads to eliminate his competitors, eventually creating a monopoly in the oil industry. Rockefeller gained control over more than ninety percent of the oil refining business in the United States creating a monopoly that controlled most of the economy. Rockefeller practiced many unethical techniques in order for him to…show more content…
Rockefeller had a large and growing volume of oil shipments which cost a lot of money to ship out using the railroad system. The railroad companies benefited by Rockefeller’s large shipments but he did not. Rockefeller eventually began to think of better ways to cut down his expenditures as he believed it was too much money to spend on shipments. Rockefeller began to make negotiations with railroad companies that gave him special rebates. These negotiations reduced his shipping costs far below the rates that his competitors were being charged. This was effectively another unethical method that Rockefeller used to get rid of his competitors and to create a monopoly in which he would be in charge

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