Texaco`s troubles began in February, 1984, when Pennzoil sued, accusing Texaco of obstructing its plans to buy Getty Oil Co. Texaco later declared the 8th largest bankruptcies in the U.S. history - $67.6 billion by total assets in 2010 dollars.
In November, 1985, a Houston jury awarded Pennzoil $7.53 billion in damages and $3 billion in punitive damages, rather than appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, allowing it to begin planning for its emergence from Chapter 11. Texaco was an independent company until it merged into Chevron Corporation in 2001.
In 87’ was Texaco the eighth-largest industrial company in the United States and was founded in 1902. It had 55,000 employees and operated in 140 countries. For many years was Texaco the only company selling gasoline in all 50 states.
Could we experience a similar battle today between Google, Microsoft, Apple or Amazon as we recently saw in the financial industry also?