Background
Blaustein was born in Lithuania to a Jewish family and immigrated to the United States in 1883 at the age of fourteen.
Businessman philanthropist peddler
Blaustein was born in Lithuania to a Jewish family and immigrated to the United States in 1883 at the age of fourteen.
In the United States, he took a job with the Standard Oil Company. At one point in his career, he was asked to lead a new Standard Oil in Germany. His wife, Henrietta, would not allow him to accept this opportunity because she knew the Jewish people were not liked by the Germans, rightfully fearing for their safety. Blaustein lost his job as a result.
Using his savings, he founded his own oil company in 1910, the American Oil Company (AMOCO) in Baltimore, Maryland. Despite the company's grandiose name, it originated from humble beginnings. He used a horse-drawn carriage to peddle oil in the streets of Baltimore.
His son, Jacob, studied mining engineering at Lehigh University. With his son's help, Blaustein grew his business into a considerable entity, eventually incorporating it in 1922. In 1924, the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company purchased a 50% interest in the company for $5 million in exchange for a guaranteed supply of oil. Before this deal, Amoco was forced to depend on Standard Oil of New Jersey, a competitor, for its supplies.
In 1925, Standard Oil of Indiana acquired Pan American beginning John D. Rockefeller's association with the AMOCO name. AMOCO pioneered the concepts of the drive-in gas station, the first metered gasoline pump (which showed the quantity and total price of fuel received), and the original anti-knock gasoline which allowed the development of the high-compression engine. AMOCO would expand vertically owning refineries, steamship terminals, and truck fleets in addition to its vast network of service stations.
Blaustein was a prominent philanthropist donating most of his money anonymously. The Louis & Henrietta Blaustein Family Foundation was dissolved in 2001 and replaced by the Jacob & Hilda Blaustein Family Foundation, the Alvin & Fanny B. Thalheimer Foundation, and the Henry & Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Family Foundation.
