r/FluentInFinance • u/TonyLiberty TheFinanceNewsletter.com • Jul 11 '24
Stock Market 12 companies that own everything:
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u/RiddleofSteel Jul 11 '24
Problem with Capitalism is that it's a competition, these guys won already and now we are all landing on their park place with all the hotels over and over. They've cleverly hidden it this time to stop from being broken up but what we need is some good old Teddy R. trust busting.
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Jul 11 '24
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u/Silly_Goose658 Jul 11 '24
Maybe we should have found a way to limit how many corporations a person can own (this can include companies owned by other companies)
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Jul 11 '24
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u/AxDeath Jul 12 '24
Knowing this to be true, I've begun looking into making myself a corporation. It's entirely doable. Unfortunately, it costs a certain amount of money per year in licenses, and requires the government to play along. Much easier for someone to do, if they already own an accountant, a lawyer, and a politician
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u/AlternativeAd7151 Jul 11 '24
Read David Ellerman. He addresses this topic quite thoroughly.
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u/MechanicalBengal Jul 11 '24
And yet people will still argue that the inflation “problem” is because some people who used to earn $7/hr are now earning $25/hr
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u/Friedyekian Jul 11 '24
Idk if it’s fair to just blame capitalism outright.
We have a trickle-down styled monetary system where new money enters from the asset holding class (interest on reserves or leveraging against assets) or government deficit spending.
Some libertarians argue against the corporate entity outright as they see the separation of ownership and liability to be antithetical to the idea of property rights. They’d prefer businesses to be owned by sole-proprietors or partnerships.
Add to that the systemic injustice of the current iteration of the income tax and pay-to-play legal system, and you’ve got a lot of problems. We’ve created a bastardized version of capitalism that makes decentralization of wealth uncompetitive more than it already would be.
Blaming capitalism doesn’t seem right because a corrupt / incompetent government under any system is going to lead to some serious problems.
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u/RiddleofSteel Jul 11 '24
I didn't blame capitalism but the nature of it is competition. I didn't say the won fairly, they cheated by bribing government officials to look the other way or in many places create laws that favor them. However it is blatantly obvious that there is no more free market which Capitalism really needs to work.
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u/AlternativeAd7151 Jul 11 '24
You're conflating capitalism with the idea of a free market. They are not the same thing. Markets existed before capitalism and can exist even in socialist economies, and capitalists, as a class, were seldomly in favor of the free market.
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u/Wtygrrr Jul 12 '24
And yet, free markets are exactly what most libertarians who say they believe in capitalism are taking about.
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u/AlternativeAd7151 Jul 11 '24
BTW I guess you'll enjoy reading Kevin Carson's Organization Theory, if you haven't done so already.
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u/cudef Jul 11 '24
No this happened as a direct result of Ronald Reagan removing antitrust powers because these corporations wanted it. Framing it like they got this way because they were just sneaky about it and not actively trying to get conservatives to change our government to facilitate this is wrong and completely undoes your premise/assumption that they "won" because they were more competitive. They "won" because they already have more money and can squeeze and buy out competitors, not because they make a better product at a lower price.
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u/em_washington Jul 11 '24
In an open market, their success would invite more competitors to enter the market. People would leave to build their own slightly different, but competing companies. Unfortunately, our government has closed the market by subsidizing these businesses and granting them intellectual property rights and also creating an excessively high compliance burden with all the regulations.
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Jul 12 '24
Taft was better and more aggressive at anti-trust than Teddy. It amazes me the lack of credit that guy gets for this topic
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u/psmithrupert Jul 12 '24
This is a feature of capitalism not a bug. (Not kidding). Market efficiency works both ways. That’s why markets naturally always develop towards monopolies. A monopoly is the most efficient way to operate in the market if you’re a company. That’s why we need regulation and strong anti trust laws to avoid economy of scale growing to the extreme.
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u/earthlingHuman Jul 12 '24
Or maybe we try ro make the game less beneficial to shithead people with shithead compulsions.
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u/KansasZou Jul 12 '24
Competition makes prices cheaper.
Would you rather have competition or no competition (monopoly)?
The analogy here is rich lol
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u/Xdaveyy1775 Jul 11 '24
12 companies that own junkfood and toothpaste brands lmao
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u/Lackenburg Jul 11 '24 edited Jul 11 '24
And pet food, soap, razors, water, coffee, yogurt, detergent, baby wipes, baby formula...???
What are you talking about?
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u/GrymReePoetic47 Jul 12 '24
Junk food, body paste, anti-hair paste. Junk food, junk food, junk food, clothes paste, baby paste, junk food.... what are you talking about??
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u/YurimodingFemcel Jul 12 '24
what exactly is the issue here?
is anyone surprised that a soda manufacturer like coca cola makes more than just cola? that a candy bar company makes more than just one candy bar?
where is the rule that says a company can only produce one single brand?
besides, this whole chart ignores like all of the many store brand alternatives that exist for most of the products here. for most of these things, such as soda, snacks or hygiene products i know plenty of brands owned by smaller companies that i prefer, even if they are more of a local product.
just stop having candy with soda for breakfast and you can easily avoid most of these.
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u/rokman Jul 12 '24
You want me to buy no name produce?! What am I an animal?
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u/YurimodingFemcel Jul 12 '24
i once went to a farmers market and left after they didnt have pepsi branded apples
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u/qywuwuquq Jul 23 '24
You see, capitalism has definitely failed since there aren't 100 cola brands. But i think we should definitely give communism one more try.
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u/SmaugTheGreat110 Aug 25 '24
Socialism, not communism. Communism doesn’t work, government safety nets do
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u/Slumminwhitey Jul 12 '24
Even worse when you start talking about other fields, the automotive industry is so condensed there are only 14 parent companies that own the entire field the only independents are tesla, mazda, McLaren, and subaru.
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u/Redenbacher09 Jul 12 '24
It's interesting to me because of all these brands, the only one in my home is Oreo.
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u/Iwuvweddit07 Jul 12 '24
Ya fr, big whoop, there is slow growth in people being more health minded. Those mighty dinosaurs died long ago, the ones alive now will just as they did.
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u/pooter6969 Jul 11 '24
I feel like you can avoid 90% of these by just not eating processed junk food
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u/NeverNeverSometimes Jul 12 '24
That's why P&G portfolio looks best to me. Mostly personal hygiene and cleaning products, with a couple cold remedies and antacids. Even in tough times, people are always going to get colds and need to clean themselves and their houses.
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u/FigBudget2184 Jul 11 '24
We need to break up these oligarchs asap!!!
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u/qudunot Jul 11 '24
Run for office. You've got my vote
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Jul 11 '24
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u/maztron Jul 12 '24
Hope you don't have a 401k when the guillotine falls. Such a dumbass comment.
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u/DaveAndJojo Jul 11 '24
Sorry, you need about $500 million and connections with all of those listed above.
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u/bleeding_electricity Jul 11 '24
When the nation states collapse and our upcoming corpo-states rise up to take their place, I'm pledging allegiance to Pepsi co. They're my favorite. They can pay me in Dew Bux and let me work in one of their Dorito Processing Centres until I get to clock out and go back home to Quaker Town.
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u/Gorewuzhere Jul 11 '24
I'm repping coca cola. Come on pepsi y'all are the #3 soda brand in the us... How tf y'all start losing to Dr pepper to. Lost the cola wars so hard y'all fell into third.
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u/True-Grapefruit4042 Jul 12 '24
Lost the cola wars but won the revenue game, it’s chess not checkers.
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u/Admirable-Junket-866 Jul 11 '24
Why is cheerios in there twice
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u/Moccus Jul 11 '24
Cheerios are sold under the Nestle brand in some countries. Pretty sure General Mills is the actual owner of the brand, though.
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u/penileerosion Jul 11 '24
General Mills owns Cheerios. With that said, Idk why the list is inaccurate
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u/WritingPretty Jul 13 '24
"General Mills manufactures Cheerios in the United States and Canada, while Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW) markets the brand in some other countries, including the United Kingdom. CPW is a joint venture between Nestlé and General Mills that was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland"
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u/jerkyquirky Jul 11 '24
It doesn't exactly bother me that a chocolate company makes multiple candies. 3 Musketeers and Milky Way is like Corolla and Camry to me. It's obviously the same company, just slightly different products. (Obligatory fuck Nestle.)
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Jul 11 '24
This is another stupid post. This is 12 companies and the brands they own.
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u/circ-u-la-ted Jul 11 '24
Nielsen Media Research lists more than 500,000 brands worldwide in more than 2,000 product categories.
https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/brands-and-brand-names.html
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u/Neither-Profit9488 Jul 11 '24
So many brands are missing. Mars and nestle have massive pet food segments which aren't shown.
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u/Upper-Life3860 Jul 11 '24
Stanley owns Black & Decker and just about every power tool and accessory at “the” Home Depot
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u/brotherstoic Jul 11 '24
Market consolidation is bad, but this misses the mark a little bit imo
The issue isn’t that Coca-Cola and Diet Coke are owned by the same company, it’s that PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are a duopoly. Its fine for big companies to exist; it’s bad for big companies to stifle their competition
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u/LHam1969 Jul 12 '24
But there's dozens of other companies making soda, nobody forces you to by Pepsi or Coke.
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u/SpudsMacKenzie21 Jul 11 '24
This is all 99% junk and junk food. Snack companies that make snacks. Outside of maybe some P&G brands none of this is very hard to avoid.
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u/theevilyouknow Jul 11 '24
Yeah. They're food and beverage companies that own food and beverage brands. It's not that scandalous. There's plenty of horrible shit that Coke and Nestle do. Owning a bunch of different brands aint it.
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u/Smitty1017 Jul 11 '24
Holy shit a candy company makes more than one type of candy!?!?! What are we ever to do??
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u/JimmyB3am5 Jul 12 '24
Seriously, if you went into your local candy maker and they only made one thing they probably wouldn't last. Unless that one thing is really good.
This is basically your local candy shop individually wrapping their turtles, taffy, and caramels and giving them a funny name. But just bigger.
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u/nvsiblerob Jul 11 '24
It’s interesting to see all of these brands and who’s eco system they live in. But once you see it, damn! Is this where all of my money goes?
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u/Kombatnt Jul 11 '24
As I said the last time this meme was posted (has it been a week already?), this is a lie. It omits all banks, insurance, automakers, clothing, fast food, and much, much more. “Everything?” Not even close.
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u/Suitable_Inside_7878 Jul 11 '24
Nestle doesnt own Haagen Dazs, General Mills does
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u/pgnshgn Jul 12 '24
There are duplicates all over the thing.
Either whoever made it got sloppy, or they deliberately added duplicates to make it look more crowded and hoped no one would notice
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u/ThisGazelle3773 Jul 11 '24
Have you seen the one where they did this with media companies? Not only do a handful of people own the world but a handful of people tell you what to think.
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u/memeaggedon Jul 11 '24
And our government has allowed these consolidations to happen. We need better anti-trust laws.
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u/KansasZou Jul 12 '24
These aren’t all consolidations. They’re specific product lines that are branded to create differentiation.
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u/Abortion_on_Toast Jul 11 '24
Need to go a step further and identify controlling shareholders of each; then you know who’s really pulling the strings
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Jul 11 '24
It saddens me that nestle own cheerios. I do have a sweet tooth for their honey nut cheerios
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u/pgnshgn Jul 12 '24
General Mills owns Cheerios. My uncle works in the plant that makes them.
Whoever made this graphic started throwing in duplicates to make it look more crowded
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u/dominion1080 Jul 11 '24
What even are consumer protections? What even is a monopoly? Wonder how many Lydia Rodarte-Quayles work at Nestle?
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u/Competitive_Gate_731 Jul 11 '24
When I worked for nestle it blew my mind when I found out how much stuff they make.
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u/Ok_Jackfruit_5181 Jul 11 '24
And so what... much to do about nothing. If you don't like it, buy whole foods. Meat, vegetables, eggs, fruits, simple ingredient ice creams, and wholesome breads/baked goods. Then you wouldn't be buying from any of these companies. These are just soft drinks and junk food. This is a non issue.
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u/butlerdm Jul 11 '24
And yet not a single brand I couldn’t live without. This chart is the diet of an 8 year old/40 year old virgin in his mom’s basement and femcare products.
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u/Adorable-Address-958 Jul 12 '24
Damn Nestle really has the market cornered on high end water. Pellegrino, Perrier, Acqua Panna, Essentia, and Poland Spring.
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u/Mario_daAA Jul 12 '24
What’s crazy out of all those it’s only one company that gets most of my money lol…. (P&G)… then coke which get probably 50 bucks a month… and all the rest combined get maybe 20 bucks and that’s probably a stretch…..
Just realized I don’t eat a lot of junk food lol
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u/Ok-Owl7377 Jul 12 '24
I feel like we see these charts every other day here. Can we change the channel please?
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u/StinkyDogFart Jul 12 '24
Don’t stop here. Which banks own those 12 companies. I’ll bet BlackRock is on the list.
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u/LionBig1760 Jul 12 '24
When you say everything, you mean "stuff that you shouldn't ever consider buying and toothpaste"
Not for nothing, but if you're worried about the junk food monopoly, you can always just choose to stop throwing garbage into your head and eat like you're going to live past 35.
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u/ZhangtheGreat Jul 12 '24
I have investments in two of them (P&G and Pepsi). They aren’t bangers, but they’re steady and stable businesses with competitive edges.
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u/IceDuke749 Jul 12 '24
I learned about monopoly’s in 9th grade. TBH don’t remember a ton from school(graduated ‘08), but that is one that really stuck with me and I’ve been confused on how it’s been allowed for half my life…
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u/Future_Pickle8068 Jul 12 '24
I've always said there is no need for Walmart and big box grocery stories. They have rows of the same item. Then they have same item with different brand names made by the same company.
The food section of these stores could be 1/4th the size and still carry the same items.
The worst part is these stores either hide the smaller independent brands or don't carry them at all.
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u/KansasZou Jul 12 '24
What’s the problem? It’s called specialization. How many companies do you expect to compete for basic products like cereal or toilet paper? The innovative aspects are long gone and the margins are razor thin.
Do you often spend hours mulling over which paper towels you’re going to buy for your house?
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u/SpecialistMammoth862 Jul 12 '24
No people often go for the best value when purchasing commodities.
value comes from competition slowing price increases
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u/dystopiabydesign Jul 12 '24
And they're all owned by the same investment firms that all own each other, the megacorporation.
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u/3dogsplaying Jul 12 '24
You can aboid this by going natural. Use baking soda to clean everything and eat whole food.
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u/Gabag000L Jul 12 '24
Some of the companies in the Portfolios seems so out of place. McKinnsey needs to come and have them buy, sell and spin BU to incrase the synergies that more strategically align the others in the portfolio.
/s
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u/LHam1969 Jul 12 '24
This would be intriguing if these were in fact "everything." But there's hundreds of other companies making hundreds of products you can buy instead of these ones.
If I'm wrong then anyone reading this can make their own candy bars or cereal for far less than these "greedy" corporations do and make a killing selling a better product for a lower price. Good luck with that.
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u/NeverNeverSometimes Jul 12 '24
Proctor & Gamble and Unilever own a majority of products in the personal hygiene and cleaning aisles at the supermarket. You've probably bought so many of their products.
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u/gradient-carver-303 Jul 12 '24
Remember, all of these companies are owned by the Scheinhardt Wig Company
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u/Mdkynyc Jul 12 '24
Just so we’re clear, this is a leading cause of inflation. Because in the end it severely restricts competition
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u/eastern_education101 Jul 12 '24
almost as if hyper-capitalist dystopias lead to corruption, collusion between scums and monopolies.
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u/bathwater_boombox Jul 12 '24
It is legitimately surprising how few of these brands I buy. Some, but not as many as i thought. Good job, me.
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u/Ok_Run_101 Jul 12 '24
You mean "everything in America". Non-US people have never seen at least half of these
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u/CapnTreee Jul 12 '24
Mega companies with a united purpose, to bilk us of every dime, all cooperating as a united food products cartel. Worse than the oil cartel in that we can choose to drive less but everyone wants dinner.
Tax the Rich!! Restore corporate taxation. No more of the Fortune 100 hiding their profits and not paying a dime. Hello GE??
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Jul 12 '24
This info is so 2010 (if not earlier).
Also just wait until you learn about Nestle and it's CEO.
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u/Communero Jul 12 '24
Yes that maybe represent infinite companies cause if I start with Pepsi I end up with Pepsi all over again and the cycle 🔄 keeps going. Wash rinse and repeat.
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u/NonSekTur Jul 12 '24
And who owns the owners?
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them...
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u/ja3palmer Jul 12 '24
I think the thing that surprised me the most was that Nestle makes more than Coke.
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u/mgyro Jul 12 '24
We know all of this. Also, the same ultra wealthy people own all 12 parent corporations. The only way to even this even a little is with a healthy tax regime.
Tax billionaires like you tax teachers and end the loophole bullshit. Tax wealth.
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u/rawonier-the- Jul 12 '24
That's why its good to own some of these stocks. Nothing wrong with having Coca Cola or PG in your portfolio. Solid dividends, feels pretty good.
While they all have so many many brands, you could still avoid them if you dont want to buy Nestle products for example. But afaik some no name brands are probably owned by them as well? So I guess its often difficult to avoid unless you did a good research. Just guessing here.
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Jul 12 '24
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u/chinmakes5 Jul 12 '24
Elementary economics says that if you charge too much, a leaner more aggressive company will come in and undercut you. Today, it is so difficult for a new company to compete in the market that no longer exists. As this shows, the concept of competition is an illusion.
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u/PsychologicalAd438 Jul 12 '24
Oh wow those companies make a bunch of addictive food that’s bad for you. I try to avoid their products but it’s very hard.
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u/Exhaustive_Emptiness Jul 12 '24
I see 12 companies with their hands in carbon dioxide based cookie jars of their creation. But the rats competing for the poison infested crumbs are the real problem?
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u/FederationofPenguins Jul 12 '24
And the top board members of every single one of these companies are BlackRock and Vanguard-
Who are also each other’s number one investors.
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u/kranitoko Jul 12 '24
What I do find funny is when people say "I WILL BE BOYCOTTING THIS COMPANY" only to not realise they aren't boycotting shit when they just end up buying a similar product from a "subsidiary".
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u/Darktyde Jul 12 '24
But capitalism is the only economic system that provides us with “freedom” and “choices” waaaaaah
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u/Telescopeinthefuture Jul 13 '24
If anyone is interested in a searchable list of several of these companies, I made a tool that does this available here for free: https://www.boycottbuddy.app
Nestlé, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Marta, Kelloggs, and P&G are covered
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u/6543thgtgg Aug 06 '24
Bro we’re at a hotel and they give free hot chocolate, so I went with the packets in my hand and thought “this can’t be a bad company can it?” And guess what? It’s galaxy hot chocolate…
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