Skip to content
EntityQ1852060· pop 14· linked from 217 articles

megacorporation

Sign in to save

Megacorporations are a form of corporate entity differentiated by their global scale of activities and broad scope of influence, which exceed even those of a multinational corporation (MNC). They are often characterised by monopolistic control over multiple markets—and sometimes even trade in general—and the exercising of quasi-governmental powers, either via control of the government (such as through a private militia or extensive corruption) or through the governing of their own sovereign territory.

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
conglomerate
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~8 min read

Encyclopedic overview

9 sections
Contents
  • Etymology and definition
  • In science fiction
  • Literature
  • Film
  • Video games
  • In real life
  • Historic
  • Modern
  • References

Megacorporations are a form of corporate entity differentiated by their global scale of activities and broad scope of influence, which exceed even those of a multinational corporation (MNC). They are often characterised by monopolistic control over multiple markets—and sometimes even trade in general—and the exercising of quasi-governmental powers, either via control of the government (such as through a private militia or extensive corruption) or through the governing of their own sovereign territory.

Although megacorporations are most frequently a trope of science fiction (particularly the sub-genre of cyberpunk), historical examples have been proposed, including the Dutch East India Company, the (English and later British) East India Company and the Hudson's Bay Company. The term has also been applied to the members of Big Tech, such as Alphabet Inc. (Google), Facebook, and Amazon.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “megacorporation” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.