During the Gilded Age, one man was known for his enormous wealth, it was John D. Rockefeller. He began working as a clerk for a Cleveland merchant and grew to dominate the oil industry. He drove rivals out of business through tough competition. He arranged secret deals with railroad companies and fixed prices and production quotas. Rockefeller bought out other competeting pol refineries. He established a monopoly on all aspects of oil distribution and production.

       Rockefeller rose from a modest background and gained success through inventive genius and smart business sense. However, his dictatorial attitude and methods led to freats that he was undermining political and economical freedom. Henry Demarest Lloyd exposed in his book how Rockefeller`s oil company made a mockery of economic competion and democracy. He is criticized for manipulating the market and bribery.  Lloyd concluded that “liberty and monopoly” cannot coexist.