# Who owns what: Megacorps and their surprising subsidiaries **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462 "2009-02-26T02:13:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/41 "2009-02-26T22:29:45Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > GE is trading at $9.25 a share today, with a market cap of $90 billion. That’s a penny stock? I think it was supposed to be a figurative overstatement. It was trading at $40 in 2007. ---
**Author:** ![\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/eada6e/32.png) [@\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Undecided_Adrian)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/42 "2009-02-26T23:48:03Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > I think DHL is actually owned by the German Postal service. > > I think… That is correct. It’s just that until 1995 (before the DHL purchase), the [Deutsche Bundespost](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Bundespost) was a national company and responsible for both postal and telephone service. It then got privatized and split up into three companies. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/43 "2009-02-27T00:15:39Z")
Off the top of my head from old clients of mine: Campbell’s Soup owns Godiva and some of the world’s largest mushroom farms, and Novartis (a company made up of clashing companies) owns some oddities such as Gerber. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/44 "2009-02-27T00:24:58Z")
Disney owns ABC and ESPN. CBS (Viacom) owns USA Network (I think.) Proctor and Gamble owns Pur water filters and Duracell batteries. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/45 "2009-02-27T00:42:24Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Disney owns ABC and ESPN. > > CBS (Viacom) owns USA Network (I think.) No, USA Network is owned by NBC Universal. And ESPN was actually one of the biggest reasons why Disney bought ABC and it’s still one of the biggest profit centers. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/46 "2009-02-28T05:09:09Z")
Woolworths and Wesfarmers both have a lot of fingers in a lot of pies, and whilst the list of companies covered under their respective corporate umbrellas isn’t by any means a secret, Woolworths don’t exactly go out of their way to tell people that they own both Dick Smith Electronics _and_ Tandy (who were, until recently, competing businesses) and Wesfarmers/Coles’ ownership of First Choice Liquor _and_ Liquorland is largely unremarked upon for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/47 "2009-03-01T01:38:35Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Woolworths and Wesfarmers both have a lot of fingers in a lot of pies, and whilst the list of companies covered under their respective corporate umbrellas isn’t by any means a secret, Woolworths don’t exactly go out of their way to tell people that they own both Dick Smith Electronics _and_ Tandy (who were, until recently, competing businesses) and Wesfarmers/Coles’ ownership of First Choice Liquor _and_ Liquorland is largely unremarked upon for the most part. Woolworth’s in the US still exists although there are no Woolworth Stores around anymore. Now the firm is called Foot Locker. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/48 "2009-03-01T04:27:19Z")
> [@Neptunian\_Slug](#): > > Woolworth’s in the US still exists although there are no Woolworth Stores around anymore. Now the firm is called Foot Locker. They’re completely unrelated; Woolworths in Australia simply nicked the name back in the 1920s and ran with it. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/49 "2009-03-01T04:44:05Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > I think DHL is actually owned by the German Postal service. > > I think… [You are correct.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DHL) Most of this is sooooo easy to check before posting about. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/50 "2009-03-01T04:49:06Z")
General Tire and Rubber (“sooner or later, you’ll own Generals”) was one of the smaller tire companies in Akron, Ohio, but it didn’t stop them from buying Aerojet, maker of rocket engines. For a long time it also owned the RKO Pictures movie production house and a whole bunch of other weird stuff. The poop is [here](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839413,00.html). It spun off the tire and showbiz divisions and now just oversees Aerojet; it’s now called GenCorp. Every so often I’ll run across an old technical report on some esoteric aspect of rocket propulsion that has the old General Tire “big G” logo on it, except inside the G it says “Aerojet-General” It’s kind of jarring if you’re old enough to remember what the sign at General Tire franchises looked like. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/51 "2009-03-01T05:00:16Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It’s been a running joke on many TV shows for years how NBC is owned by General Electric. For example, Alec Baldwin’s character on 30 Rock is “Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming” If you have access to a piano, play a G then the next highest E and then the C in the middle and see what you associate with that particular trio of notes. Don’t be surprised if you get a hankerin’ for must-see TV afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/52 "2009-03-01T05:24:28Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > If you have access to a piano, play a G then the next highest E and then the C in the middle and see what you associate with that particular trio of notes. Don’t be surprised if you get a hankerin’ for must-see TV afterward. That is frickin amazing. I will now be repeating that to everyone I know. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/53 "2009-03-01T07:14:27Z")
> [@Stathol](#): > > During its heydays, [CompuServe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompuServe) was owned by H&R Block. I always thought that was strange. It made more sense back in the day. Companies and universities who used computers early on found themselves with huge, expensive machines that were usually running 24 hours a day yet used for their primary business only a few hours a day; to offset the cost of the machines and the cost of running them continuously, they often started side-businesses to use up that expensive, idle computer time-- time-sharing services, BBSes, online services. GE, Dun & Bradstreet, Dow Jones, IBM, Bolt Baranek & Newman, and H&R Block all had nationally-available side businesses like this. While online-service-only companies existed even then, it wasn’t until the mid-1980s that it made financial sense to have mainframes dedicated just to them. Kind of reminds me of that waste-not-want-not ethic that **kunilou** mentioned regarding Henry Ford, using the leftovers from building car chassis to make charcoal. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/54 "2009-03-01T07:18:34Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > If you have access to a piano, play a G then the next highest E and then the C in the middle and see what you associate with that particular trio of notes. Don’t be surprised if you get a hankerin’ for must-see TV afterward. How about a translation for the non-musically inclined? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/55 "2009-03-01T07:34:09Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > How about a translation for the non-musically inclined? 🙂 [Here is a YouTube link](http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E1A5BFB6358EAD06&playnext=1&v=rP6Z86iDFjU) to a playlist showcasing the NBC logos over the years, often playing the notes G, E, C. [And a Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC_chimes) on the chimes. (The article notes that the G-E-C sequence precedes ownership by GE Corp., but GE was one of the original partners of RCA, the founding company of NBC.) Basics: G, E, C, The NBC Chimes, are the first American sound trademark, and have been in use to identify NBC since the days of the Red and Blue radio networks. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462/56 "2009-03-01T08:01:56Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > [Here is a YouTube link](http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E1A5BFB6358EAD06&playnext=1&v=rP6Z86iDFjU) to a playlist showcasing the NBC logos over the years, often playing the notes G, E, C. [And a Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC_chimes) on the chimes. (The article notes that the G-E-C sequence precedes ownership by GE Corp., but GE was one of the original partners of RCA, the founding company of NBC.) > > Basics: G, E, C, The NBC Chimes, are the first American sound trademark, and have been in use to identify NBC since the days of the Red and Blue radio networks. Thanks for that! Not being an American the chimes don’t mean anything special to me, but at least now I know what **Inner Stickler** was talking about. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-what-megacorps-and-their-surprising-subsidiaries/487462.md?page=2)