- A 1912 experiment by Conrad Schlumberger—kneeling in Normandy, sticking wired electrodes into the soil—led to electric well logging and eventually the global oilfield-services giant SLB.
- Nicknamed "Big Blue," SLB (109,000 employees) works in 100+ countries, rarely exits crisis-hit markets, and is poised to profit from Middle East supply shocks while diversifying into AI-driven services, data centers, geothermal and carbon-capture work.
- The Schlumberger family branched into art and film (the Menils in Houston and the Seydoux family in Europe), producing cultural figures like actress Léa Seydoux and Houston’s famed Menil Collection—an unexpected artistic legacy from an oil-tech dynasty.
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