The way to a lawmaker's heart is through his wallet. whether its soft-money campaign donations, corporate jets, or freebie junkets to exotic lands, cash greases the wheels in D.C. and capitals worldwide. Look here for Bush's "pioneers," political allies who get fat federal contracts, and influence peddling of all stripes.
Massey Energy is one of the largest coal companies in the United States, and certainly one of the most controversial. In April 2010 the company received a great deal of negative attention when an explosion at one of its mines in West Virginia killed 29 workers. It later came out that the mine in question had been cited more than 1,000 times for safety violations, and that Massey had similar problems at many of its other facilities.
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company was founded on June 7, 1922, by George J. Mecherle, a retired farmer. It initially concentrated on meeting auto insurance needs of Illinois farmers through a mutual organization owned by the customers. By 1942, the company was the nation's largest auto insurer, a ranking it has held ever since. About one out of every five cars on the road is insured with State Farm®. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is a mutual insurance company and as such does not have any shareholders.
One of the key companies in the family promoted Jindal Group, JSPL has grown from a moderately performing company in the steel sector to the largest sponge iron manufacturer in the world. Steered by Naveen Jindal, a Member of Parliament (2009), and one of four heirs to the business founded by his father, O.P. Jindal, JSPL realised a 2008 turnover in excess of $2 billion (Indian Rupee 100 billion. US $1 = Rs.
The Archer Daniels Midland Corporation (ADM) has been the most prominent recipient of corporate welfare in recent U.S. history. ADM and its chairman Dwayne Andreas have lavishly fertilized both political parties with millions of dollars in handouts and in return have reaped billion-dollar windfalls from taxpayers and consumers.
Aegon N.V., headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, is one of the world's largest life insurance and pension companies, and has additional business in savings and investment products; accident, supplemental health, and general insurance; and some limited banking activities. These operations are conducted by subsidiaries of Aegon N.V., which is itself a holding company.
American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler's cheque businesses.
The company's common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "AXP." It is one of the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is ranked as the 74th largest company by Fortune.
Comcast is the largest cable provider and the second largest internet service provider in the United States. It has had a reputation for abysmal customer service and is being investigated by the FCC for blocking customer's access to internet content.
Before it collapsed, AIG, as measured by asset value, was the largest insurer in the world. But in September 2008, after its credit rating went down, AIG was caught without enough collateral for the credit default swaps it had sold to banks around the world, and was forced to accept a massive federal bailout package in order to forestall a collapse. As the size of the company's debts have grown, the U.S. government has readjusted the terms of the bailout, and gradually begun to take over parts of the company.
Sterlite Industries (India) Limited and its consolidated subsidiaries (the “Company” or “Sterlite”) are engaged in the businesses of mining, smelting, and refining non-ferrous metals in India and Australia. SIIL is a majority-owned subsidiary of Twin Star Holdings Limited (“Twin Star”), which is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc (“Vedanta”), a public limited company incorporated in the United Kingdom and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Twin Star held 57 percent of SIIL’s equity as of Sept. 30, 2008.
Maytas Infra Limited (MIL) is a Hyderabad (India) based construction and infrastructure development company. Promoted by the now-discredited Satyam Computer Services Ltd's founder and former chairman B. Ramalinga Raju, Maytas Infra was at the centre of the Satyam financial scam which unravelled after Satyam's failed bid to acquire Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties.
