As ExxonMobil battles it out with Apple to be the biggest company in the U.S., we take a look at how the oil giant got to be such a heavyweight.

Author Steve Coll explains the company’s political and international policies over the years, how it has dealt with scandals, and what BP could learn from ExxonMobil’s past mistakes.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steve Coll has just written an extensive profile of the company called “Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power.”