Even though it's satisfying to think of the breakup of Standard Oil this way, perhaps "metastasized" would be more appropriate. Those 34 companies often acted in concert, bought each other up, and ultimately each became worth almost as much as the original progenitor. Meanwhile, the Rockefeller family gave up none of its equity interest in any of them, in fact achieving diversification of sorts by continuing to hold them over the years. I also notice that Ron Clarke just bought a huge mansion in Florida a few days ago. He doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.