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10 Corporations Control Almost Everything You Buy — This Chart Shows How

by Munu | Nov 5, 2013 | Archives

Ten mega corporations control the output of almost everything you buy; from household products to pet food to jeans.

According to this chart via Reddit, called
“The Illusion of Choice,” these corporations create a chain that begins
at one of 10 super companies. You’ve heard of the biggest names, but
it’s amazing to see what these giants own or influence.

(Note: The chart shows a mix of networks. Parent companies
may own, own shares of, or may simply partner with their branch
networks. For example, Coca-Cola does not own Monster, but distributes the
energy drink. Another note: We are not sure how up-to-date the chart
is. For example, it has not been updated to reflect P&G’s sale of Pringles to Kellogg’s in February.)

Here are just a few examples: Yum Brands owns KFC and Taco Bell. The
company was a spin-off of Pepsi. All Yum Brands restaurants sell only
Pepsi products because of a lifetime deal with the soda-maker.

$84 billion-company Proctor & Gamble — the largest advertiser
in the U.S. — is paired with a number of diverse brands that produce
everything from medicine to toothpaste to high-end fashion. All tallied,
P&G reportedly serves a whopping 4.8 billion people around the world through this network.

$200 billion-corporation Nestle — famous for chocolate, but which is the biggest food company in the world — owns nearly
8,000 different brands worldwide, and takes stake in or is partnered
with a swath of others. Included in this network is shampoo company
L’Oreal, baby food giant Gerber, clothing brand Diesel, and pet food
makers Purina and Friskies.

Unilever, of soap fame, reportedly serves 2 billion people around the world, controlling a network that produces everything from Q-tips to Skippy peanut butter.

And it’s not just the products you buy and consume, either. In recent
decades, the very news and information that you get has bundled
together: 90% of the media is now controlled by just six companies, down
from 50 in 1983, according to a Frugal Dad infographic from last year.

It gets even more macro, too: 37 banks have merged to become just
four — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and CitiGroup in a
little over two decades, according to this Federal Reserve map.

The nation’s 10 largest financial institutions hold 54% of our total financial assets; in 1990, they held 20%. As MotherJones reports, the number of banks has dropped from more than 12,500 to about 8,000.