Large multinational corporations influence how we think, what we eat, who we meet, how we spend our time, and even who we vote for. As those businesses grow, their influence and power over people and governments also grows. To make sure the future is not dictated by corporations, but by people, we need to know more about them.
This exciting nonfiction title by experienced financial journalists Hannu Sokala and Juha-Pekka Raeste covers 50 companies that comprise a large part of global market forces. They determine what kind of a world we all live in. Some of the companies in the book are relatively unknown (Zhōngguó Yāncǎo Zǒnggōngsī and BlackRock), some predictable (Google, Amazon), some may seem surprising (Ikea and Disney), and some inevitable (Gazprom and Chevron).
Some of the companies benefit from our everyday needs (Cargill, Coca-Cola), some from our vanity (ByteDance, Facebook), and some from our greed (Goldman Sachs, Berkshire Hathaway). The book reads like a thriller, but it is nonfiction. It offers a comprehensive and often a startling perspective on the most important, and dangerous, companies in the world.
The best offering of the work is the presentations of the less well-known giant companies. Each chapter proceeds fluently and describes the history, business model and the owning families of the company at hand. It functions well as a Who’s Who reference book about the wealthiest people in the world. The book can be used for researching investment tips if you’re not steering clear from investing in the arms business, aviation, or alcohol. The book has a clear index and list of sources, and the language is fluent and neat.
Saara Koho, Talouselämä Financial Magazine