ExxonMobil is a colossus of the energy industry. The company traces its roots back to the audacious ambition of John D. Rockefeller in the late 19th century, who saw a huge opportunity where others only saw chaos and uncertainty, and went on to build the biggest oil company in the world. From its controversial birth amid the chaotic early oil market, ExxonMobil has risen to become a global behemoth. Its beginnings forced the US government to pass a law against trusts as powerful as the one it was born from, and its triumphs and scandals shaped the world's reliance on fossil fuels.