1890s -1911 A Duke Monopoly:
American Tobacco Company
With automation the Duke company grew rapidly absorbing four rival companies: W. S. Kimball, Allen & Ginter, Kinney Bros. and Goodwin.
Within two decades, under the umbrella of his American Tobacco Company, Duke-led corporations controlled almost four-fifths of all tobacco product market shares in cigarettes, plug tobacco, smoking tobacco, and snuff produced in the United States.
Group of child workers at the gate of the American Tobacco Co. 1910.
The American Tobacco Company became one of the first giant holding companies in American history. With the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, American Tobacco would catch the eye of government regulators.