Event
Fight for Standard Oil of Indiana, 1929
After a Senate inquiry tied the chairman, Robert W. Stewart, to the Continental Trading Company’s profits, John D. Rockefeller Jr., a minority stockholder, demanded his resignation. The board and most small stockholders backed Stewart; on 7 March 1929 Rockefeller’s faction won the vote by shares.
- Dates
- 7 Mar 1929
The account used is a local historical society’s, which quotes the press of the day. It says the Rockefeller group claimed 57% of the proxies, an estimate in February put Rockefeller’s own direct control at 15%, and the holders for Stewart outnumbered those for Rockefeller roughly two to one, but the large blocks of shares on the Rockefeller faction’s side won.
Connections 5
involved
- John D. Rockefeller Jr. a minority stockholder who demanded the chairman’s resignation and led the campaign Scholarship & press 12
- Robert W. Stewart the chairman who refused to resign and lost the vote; tried twice after his Senate testimony and acquitted both times Scholarship & press 1345
- Standard Oil Company of Indiana the company whose stockholders voted; its board backed Stewart Scholarship & press 1
- Whiting, Indiana where the meeting was held Scholarship & press 1
- John D. Rockefeller the society says he backed his son and steered large blocks of stock Scholarship & press 1
Timeline 1 date
- 7 Mar 1929 Fight for Standard Oil of Indiana, 1929
Proof 5 sources
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“Battle of the Century” in Whiting, Whiting-Robertsdale Historical Society, Oct 2020.
Scholarship & press
Rockefeller declared war, and no longer requested, but now demanded that Stewart step down
It seems to me that I owe fully as much to the person holding ten shares of Standard Oil of Indiana
Stewart was to be tried by a jury composed of some 58,000 holders of Standard Oil stock at the company’s March 7, 1929 annual meeting
Standard’s board of directors and most of its individual stockholders held out for Stewart
he pledged to forcibly remove him at Standard’s next annual stockholders’ meeting, to be held in Whiting.
All the while John D. Rockefeller, Sr. had supported his son’s mission, using his powerful influence to steer large blocks of stock into the effort to oust Stewart.
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Business: Rockefeller vs. Stewart, Time, 11 Feb 1929.
Scholarship & press
the fight to a finish between John Davison Rockefeller Jr. and Col. Robert Wright Stewart, minority stockholder and board-chairman, respectively, of Standard Oil Co. of Indiana
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The Congress: Stewart Acquitted, Time, 25 Jun 1928.
Scholarship & press
was acquitted of contempt charges arising from his refusal to answer questions put to him by the Senate Committee on Public Lands
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National Affairs: Perjury, Time, 2 Jul 1928.
Scholarship & press
was last week indicted by the Federal Grand Jury of Washington, D. C., for perjury, in connection with his testimony before the Senate Teapot Dome Committee
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Notable Deaths: Robert Wright Stewart, Annals of Iowa, 1947.
Scholarship & press
Stewart's own senate testimony resulted in his being tried twice, first for contempt and then for perjury, in each case he was acquitted
Page history 3 changes
- Second revision of Too Big to Fail: the FTC's 1917 finding, the 1952 report's seven firms, the 1984 hearing record, and corrected cards for Spirit, beef, tickets, Google and the final verdict05663c47
- Revise Too Big to Fail after the skeptic's review: read to 2 November 2026, a verdict card that separates findings from shares, the 1929 fight with its scandal and the board's stand, and sources for every cardc819f2cb
- Add the story Too Big to Fail: Standard Oil's stockholders, the phrase's origin in 1984, and market-by-market cases to November 2026aa9c434d
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