Switzerland-based Nestle has a market capitalization of US$239 billion (May 2014), offering Baby foods under the brands Cerelac, Nestum, Gerber Graduates and Gerber; Bottled Water under the brands Perrier, Poland Spring, S.Pellegrino and Pure Life; and many more. The biggest food company in the world and owns more than 8,000 different brands worldwide, chances are you may grew up and continue to consume their products till you die.

Netherlands-based Unilever – market capitalization of US$124 billion (May 2014) – operates four segments: namely Personal Care, Foods, Refreshment and Home Care. While you may not heard of Unilever before, you certainly have use their brands – Dove, Lux, Rexona, Sunsilk, Duschdas, Neutral, Suave, Clear, Lifebuoy, Vaseline, Cornetto, Magnum, Carte D’or And Solero, Walls, Kibon and whatnot.

 

Warren Buffett’s Proctor & Gamble has a market capitalization of US$217 billion (May 2014) and is the largest advertiser in the United States. While Unilever serves 2 billion people around the world, Proctor & Gamble serves a whopping 4.8 billion people throughout its brand networks. It produces everything from medicine to toothpaste – brands such as Head & Shoulders, Olay, Pantene, Gillette, Oral-B.

Just like how the world’s fortune and wealth are owned and controlled by the top 5% – 10% richest persons, our lives are depending on 10 corporations that control almost everything we buy daily. Together with other giants such as Kraft, Coca-Cola, Kellogs, Johnson and Johnson, General Mills, Mars, PepsiCo, the 10 Super Companies amazingly create a chain that influence what you buy, and eat every day.

 

In reality, this is not surprising considering the multi-mergers that had gone through all these years. Companies on top of the chain get bigger and bigger by acquiring smaller competitors. The same happened in the financial industry. In 1990, United States’ 10 largest financial institutions hold 20% of the Americans total assets. By 2009, they control over 54% of the country’s total financial assets.

In a little over two decades, 37 American banks have merged to become four – JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and CitiGroup. The media industry got even “better” – 90% of the media is now controlled by just six companies, down from 50 in 1983. Now, before you start demonstration and boycott certain company, think again. Can you really afford to boycott them, considering how their brands influence your lives?

 

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July 8th, 2014 by financetwitter

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