Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

The Rockefellers move to New York City and purchase a mansion at 4 West 54th Street. On May 1, 1885, Standard Oil offices move to 26 Broadway. The Standard Oil executive committee—including Rockefeller, Flagler, Archbold, and Charles Pratt—meets on the top floor for lunch each day at noon.

Even before moving its operations to New York City, Standard Oil had undergone structural changes exemplified by the Standard Oil trust agreement of January 2, 1882. State laws of incorporation often prevented companies from owning property beyond state borders, so this trust agreement created “a union not of corporations but of stockholders, ensuring that the companies could behave in concert without running afoul of the law” (226). The Standard Oil executive committee in New York then functioned as a board of trustees, holding in trust the stocks of constituent companies—Standard Oil of New York, Standard Oil of New Jersey, etc.—while dispensing trust certificates in values equal to the amount of the original holdings and then paying dividends. This structure paved the way for consolidation in other industries, as corporations “moved from freewheeling competition to loosely knit cartels to airtight trusts” (227). The Standard Oil trust also pioneered a committee system, headed by the executive committee, which oversaw everything from 26 Broadway, and featuring lesser committees for purchasing, exports, pipelines, etc.