27 companies that changed the world
27 companies that changed the world
1. Standard Oil
John D. Rockefeller established a monopoly on the most precious commodity in the world. By the time his trust—which included some 40 corporations—was broken up in 1911, petroleum products were on the way to being indispensable for transportation, agriculture, industry, warfare, and in many places even light. The story of petroleum was the story of the 20th century, and with the changes in climate, it could be the story of the 21st as well.
2. AT&T
The company would belong on this list just for providing ubiquitous phone service, a major step up from telegraphy and letters. But its most significant and game-changing contribution may have been its role in the development of the transistor, that key building block of all computing and electronic devices. Scientists at AT&T’s Bell Labs T 0.48% are credited with inventing the transistor in 1947. Crucially, the company did not patent this new technology, out of fear of antagonizing the Justice Department over the monopolistic nature of its business. (The government did, of course, break up Ma Bell in 1982.) That decision opened the gate to the information technology and gadget-saturated world we live in today.
3. McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.
Farmers reportedly laughed when they saw Cyrus McCormick’s horse-drawn mechanical reaper in the 1830s. With a whirling reel of wooden bars and a sharp blade, it looked simultaneously dangerous and ridiculous. But it instantly raised farm productivity by a factor of six (and much more after later improvements), with profound effects. In America and then globally, superfluous farm hands became an army of industrial workers. Food prices dropped, giving consumers better health and more disposable income. McCormick’s reaper faced plenty of competitors, but through superior marketing and management it swept the field.
4. G.D. Searle
The men who ran Searle initially didn’t think there would be a market for a drug that had to be
1. Standard Oil
John D. Rockefeller established a monopoly on the most precious commodity in the world. By the time his trust—which included some 40 corporations—was broken up in 1911, petroleum products were on the way to being indispensable for transportation, agriculture, industry, warfare, and in many places even light. The story of petroleum was the story of the 20th century, and with the changes in climate, it could be the story of the 21st as well.
2. AT&T
The company would belong on this list just for providing ubiquitous phone service, a major step up from telegraphy and letters. But its most significant and game-changing contribution may have been its role in the development of the transistor, that key building block of all computing and electronic devices. Scientists at AT&T’s Bell Labs T 0.48% are credited with inventing the transistor in 1947. Crucially, the company did not patent this new technology, out of fear of antagonizing the Justice Department over the monopolistic nature of its business. (The government did, of course, break up Ma Bell in 1982.) That decision opened the gate to the information technology and gadget-saturated world we live in today.
3. McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.
Farmers reportedly laughed when they saw Cyrus McCormick’s horse-drawn mechanical reaper in the 1830s. With a whirling reel of wooden bars and a sharp blade, it looked simultaneously dangerous and ridiculous. But it instantly raised farm productivity by a factor of six (and much more after later improvements), with profound effects. In America and then globally, superfluous farm hands became an army of industrial workers. Food prices dropped, giving consumers better health and more disposable income. McCormick’s reaper faced plenty of competitors, but through superior marketing and management it swept the field.
4. G.D. Searle
The men who ran Searle initially didn’t think there would be a market for a drug that had to be