Key ideas from John D. Rockefeller

• "To Rockefeller, business resembled a form of war" - he transmitted messages in code and covered operations with secrecy like a military general
• Rockefeller borrowed heavily early in his career to "get big fast," with partners calling him "the greatest borrower I ever saw"
• Transportation costs were Standard Oil's largest expense - Rockefeller's genius was negotiating railroad rebates that competitors couldn't match
• The Cleveland Massacre: Rockefeller bought 23 competing refineries in just four weeks, transforming competitors into collaborators
• "Sell everything you've got, even the shirt on your back, but hold on to that stock" - Rockefeller's wealth grew $100 million in retirement by never selling
• Rockefeller maintained an "unaggressive exterior" as a mask - patient and gracious publicly, but privately delivered "lethal judgments" about competitors
• "We will either get them or starve them" - Rockefeller would cut prices below cost until resistant competitors "become very sick"
• Standard Oil controlled 65% of Pennsylvania Railroad's oil traffic, giving Rockefeller leverage to force the railroad to sell him their competing subsidiary