Megacorporation

"Megacorporation" is a term popularized by William Gibson derived from the combination of the prefix mega- with the word corporation. It has become a term popularly used in cyberpunk literature. It refers to a fictional corporation that is a massive conglomerate, holding monopolistic or near-monopolistic control over multiple markets (thus exhibiting both a horizontal and a vertical monopoly). Megacorps are so powerful that they can ignore the law, possess their own heavily-armed (often military-sized) private armies, hold 'sovereign' territory, and possibly even act as outright governments. They often exercise a large degree of control over their employees, taking the idea of 'corporate culture' to an extreme. Such organizations are a staple of science fiction long predating cyberpunk, appearing in the works of writers such as Philip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Thea von Harbou (Metropolis), Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich (Repo! The Genetic Opera), Robert A. Heinlein (Citizen of the Galaxy), Robert Asprin (The Cold Cash War) and Andre Norton (the Solar Queen novels).

Almost all depictions of a megacorporation show them as amoral (driven purely by a desire for profit, without thought for morals). Very few corporations in the world currently meet the criteria to be considered true megacorporations, so the concept remains contained in the realm of speculative fiction.

Examples

Walt Disney is one of the few multinational corporations to achieve a large degree of self-governmental control, in the Florida region known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Within this district, the Disney corporation has the legal authority to establish its own building codes, power plants, and utilities, fire departments, and to seize land outside the district under eminent domain. The corporation protects itself from outside interference by permitting only Disney employees to own land within the district, keeping voting power to elect district managers (also Disney employees) within company control, and thereby preventing restriction on company actions and projects within the district.

The Dutch East India Company may be a historical example of a megacorporation due to the company's possession of certain quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, negotiate treaties, coin money, and establish colonies.

The Hudson Bay Company once owned most of the British colonies in Canada, where they were the only law enforcement agency and the main contact between the First Nations and British civilization.

The East India Company played the role of a megacorporation in India, raising its own army and administering large portions of the Indian subcontinent for 250 years, before being absorbed into the British Raj.

See also

• Corporatocracy