# Need suggestions for my "Most Evil Corps in History" game **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611 "2022-04-28T14:15:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/1 "2022-04-28T14:15:40Z")
(While this is about a future thread game, I placed this in IMHO as I felt I would get a more varied response in this forum. If y’all disagree, move it as you wish.) Going to start a thread game (as well as make an actual bracket) of the most evil companies of all time. Like my “[Greatest People of All Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-100-most-influential-people-try-the-third/536080)” game of over a decade ago, it will be a round-robin where, for each round, we vote off the LEAST evil of the remaining companies, these firms grouped in four category. What I need are suggestions. For companies, and for seedings. Seedings will not matter in the SDMB game, but will matter when I create brackets. Here is what I have so far: | Seed | Resource Extraction | Finance and Tech | Industrials | Miscellaneous | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Standard Oil | Goldman Sachs | Farben | East India Company | | 2 | United Fruit | Microsoft | Dow Chemical | Nestle | | 3 | De Beers | Google | Halliburton | Philip Morris | | 4 | Monsanto | Apple | Pfizer | WalMart | | 5 | British Petroleum | Facebook | Cargill | News Corp | | 6 | Chevron/Texaco | Amazon | Koch Industries | Purdue Pharmaceutical | | 7 | Union Carbide | JP Morgan Chase | General Motors | | | 8 | | ATT | | | My Tech and Finance section is _really weak_ and full of recency bias (is Amazon really “evil”?), need more non-American companies, etc. So, the ask: _What are some additional companies, and in which bracket would you place them?_ Let’s not worry about seedings right now - the companies are largely in the order in which I thought of them. Once we get a full list, then we can discuss rankings. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/2 "2022-04-28T14:32:39Z")
What, no Enron? Or [U.S. Steel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Steel)? The British [East India Company](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company) has a uniquely evil history which includes colonial conquest. “In an act aimed at strengthening the power of the EIC, King Charles II granted the EIC (in a series of five acts around 1670) the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas.” Monsanto-hate has been overblown and co-opted by anti-GMO forces; if you feel compelled to include them, they probably belong in the “Industrials” category. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/3 "2022-04-28T14:35:43Z")
Bad necromancers always blame the corps. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/4 "2022-04-28T14:36:42Z")
Colt’s Manufacturing Company, LLC - Industrials ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/5 "2022-04-28T14:37:09Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Bad necromancers always blame the corps. Good Marines never do. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/6 "2022-04-28T14:38:57Z")
DuPont ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/7 "2022-04-28T15:02:22Z")
If you are willing to get to division level, I would say C Company, 11th Brigade, American Division ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/8 "2022-04-28T15:06:09Z")
How is Exxon not on the list? And if you include conglomerates, then The Big Five sugar companies that overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/9 "2022-04-28T15:36:14Z")
From [Wikipedia’s List of corporate collapses and scandals:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_corporate_collapses_and_scandals) - [Medici Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_Bank) - Finance, 1494 - [Mississippi Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Company) - Trade, 1720 - [South Sea Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Sea_Company) - Trade, 1720 - [Dutch East India Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company) - Trade, 1799 - [Overend, Gurney & Co](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overend,_Gurney_%26_Co) - Finance, 1866 - [Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Refining Corp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_Crude_Vegetable_Oil_Refining_Corp) - Trade, 1963 - [Carrian Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrian_Group) - Real Estate, 1983 - [Qintex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qintex) - Real Estate, 1989 - [Lincoln Savings and Loan Association](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Savings_and_Loan_Association) - Finance, 1989 - [Bank of Credit & Commerce International](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Credit_%26_Commerce_International) - Finance, 1991 - [Bre-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bre-X) - Resource Extraction, 1997 - [Livent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livent) - Entertainment, 1998 - [FlowTex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlowTex) - Industrial, 2000 - [Equitable Life Assurance Society](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Equitable_Life_Assurance_Society) - Insurance, 2000 - [CINAR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookie_Jar_Group) - Animation, 2001 - [Adelphia Communications](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelphia_Communications) - Tech, 2002 - [Arthur Andersen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen) - Finance, 2002 - [Parmalat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmalat) - Food, 2003 - [China Medical Technologies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Medical_Technologies) - Tech, 2012 - [Banco Espírito Santo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banco_Esp%C3%ADrito_Santo) - Finance, 2014 - [Wirecard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirecard) - Finance, 2020 ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/10 "2022-04-28T16:07:49Z")
[Deutsche Wirtschaftsbetriebe](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Wirtschaftsbetriebe) makes Enron look like Ben & Jerry’s. Although when the British East India Company cut the thumbs off Bengali weavers, that earned them a place ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/11 "2022-04-28T17:46:21Z")
Guys, I threw the list together in 10 minutes and then decided, fuck it, let’s make a thread out of this. Of course it isn’t comprehensive, that’s why I’m here! 😂 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/12 "2022-04-28T17:47:29Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The British [East India Company](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company) has a uniquely evil history which includes colonial conquest. Is that different from the East India Company already on my list? It is literally my #1 seed of #1 seeds… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/13 "2022-04-28T17:51:37Z")
Shell has to be there somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/14 "2022-04-28T18:03:21Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Lincoln Savings and Loan Association](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Savings_and_Loan_Association) - Finance, 1989 I remember this one. Add it to the list. And I saw the one above it was real estate. This started me thinking about evil real estate sellers but then it hit me: **All of the financial institutions in 2008** as one entry. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/15 "2022-04-28T18:10:32Z")
A couple of rules: 1. I really want just one company per entry, not entire industries. Else I would have to enter “the slave trade”, “the opium trade”, and that expands the focus. And, frankly, “most evil industries” is a different list. 2. I don’t want to jam up my lists with similar companies\*. For example, Chevron is now officially off the list because I just realized it’s a Standard Oil spinoff, and why have it twice? Now, the Russian oil company? Sure, it can join, but then, I don’t want the list to just be 8 oil companies and 4 others. _Representation matters_, lol. 3. Also, damage caused to investors matters less in my list than damage caused to customers or secondary parties. Enron would make this list (if it does) because of its actions in California, not because it was a shitty investment which went belly-up in 8 months. \*I say this, and yet… you’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/16 "2022-04-28T18:27:09Z")
VW group tried to poison the world to gain a couple % fuel economy. (Every manufacturer with small diesels in their lineup did) Amazon just admitted they don’t really know who is listening to your Echo. Google has similar problems. (As does Facebook) Every large chemical concern has been caught fudging the books on emissions at some point. (Du Pont is leading the pack currently with the PFAS stuff) De Beers is a little small for this list but is responsible for untold suffering. The WIC (Dutch west-Indian Compagnie) is responsible for transporting much of the slaves to the Americas. We might be here a while to make the list comprehensive. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/17 "2022-04-28T18:28:22Z")
Updated List… | Seed | Resource Extraction | Finance and Tech | Industrials | Miscellaneous | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Standard Oil | Goldman Sachs | Farben | East India Company | | 2 | United Fruit | Microsoft | Dow Chemical | Nestle | | 3 | De Beers | Google | Halliburton | Philip Morris | | 4 | Monsanto | Apple | Pfizer | WalMart | | 5 | British Petroleum | Facebook | Cargill | News Corp | | 6 | Texaco | Amazon | Koch Industries | Purdue Pharmaceutical | | 7 | Union Carbide | JP Morgan Chase | General Motors | Royal African Company | | 8 | | ATT | Deutsche Wirtschaftsbetriebe | Franklin and Armfield | | 9 | | Drexel-Burnham Lambert | Colt’s Manufacturing Company | Chemie Grünenthal | | 10 | | | US Steel | | Explanations: I wasn’t going to include US Steel, but damn if it isn’t emblematic of US corporate development - rise, dominance, bloat, fall, taken over by financiers. The _Royal African Company_ was Britain’s largest slave trader. _Franklin and Armfeld_ was America’s. Yeah, I’ve got a number of slavers on this list. That’s fine. Portugal and Spain moved a lot of slaves, let’s see what entities were responsible… ETA: Spain didn’t move a lot of slaves, as the Portugese dominated the Atlantic slave trade. And the Portugese effort was organized differently than the English/American use of private(esque) companies: In Portugal, the impetus was solely at the discretion of the monarch. _Chemie Grunfeld_ was the thalidomide company. _Drexel-Burnham Lambert_ gets my vote for most pernicious financial company, especially in the 1980s, as they normalized a world of debt with Michael Milken’s junk bonds. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/18 "2022-04-28T18:29:40Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > De Beers is a little small for this list but is responsible for untold suffering. Probably, but they’re just so _famous_ for being evil, and for such a useless product, that it’s almost impossible to leave them off this list. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/19 "2022-04-28T18:32:24Z")
Sorry, I missed seeing the East India Company on your list before. > [@JohnT](#): > > Enron would make this list (if it does) because of its actions in California, not because it was a shitty investment which went belly-up in 8 months. I was thinking of its role in the California electricity crisis. But the company’s sleazy actions caused a _lot_ of collateral damage, costing an estimated 4500 jobs at Enron alone (Arthur Anderson also went bust in the fallout), and sending billions in pension funds and investments up in smoke. As a symbol of corporate greed and malfeasance, Enron fully deserves a place on the list. Also, I got tired of seeing their stupid corporate logo when I went to Astros’ games (once upon a time they played at Enron Field). ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611/20 "2022-04-28T18:41:17Z")
Need an Insurance Company category~my first nominee? Blue Cross/Blue Shield Need a Healthcare category~Kaiser comes to mind. Granted the crossover in evil between Healthcare and Insurance becomes a mess. I know Wells Fargo Bank did a lot of damage to average customers recently in the US. Hudson Bay Trading Company in Canada. Lots of genocide and cultural annihilation there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-suggestions-for-my-most-evil-corps-in-history-game/963611.md?page=2)