Corporate Capture
The Corporate Capture capture lane traces 562 verified events documenting this mechanism of institutional capture.
| Date | Event | Lanes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-01-01 | YouTube Algorithm Optimizes for Watch Time, Systematically Amplifies Extremism YouTube · Google · Guillaume Chaslot (former YouTube engineer/whistleblower) · Zeynep Tufekci (researcher) | confirmed | |
| 2015-12-01 | McKinsey Develops Saudi Vision 2030 Economic Blueprint for Crown Prince MBS McKinsey & Company · McKinsey Global Institute · Mohammed bin Salman · Saudi Arabia | confirmed | |
| 2015-10-31 | Valeant Pharmaceuticals Scandal Exposes Systematic Price Gouging Strategy - 3000% Increase on Syprine, Philidor Fraud Network Valeant Pharmaceuticals · J. Michael Pearson · Philidor Rx Services · William Ackman · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2015-09-21 | Martin Shkreli Raises Daraprim Price by 5,000%, From $13.50 to $750 Per Pill Martin Shkreli · Turing Pharmaceuticals | confirmed | |
| 2015-09-16 | InsideClimate News Launches InsideClimate News · ExxonMobil · Los Angeles Times · Columbia University · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2015-07-01 | McKinsey and NYC Corrections Officials Rig 'Restart' Program Data at Rikers Island McKinsey & Company · New York City Department of Correction · George Motchan Detention Center | confirmed | |
| 2015-05-06 | Oklahoma Governor Signs HB 1749 Banning State Payroll Deductions for Teachers Union Dues Despite Technical Flaws Governor Mary Fallin · Oklahoma Legislature · Oklahoma Education Association · American Federation of Teachers Oklahoma · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2015-04-27 | Corinthian Colleges Files Bankruptcy After Federal Crackdown on For-Profit College Fraud Corinthian Colleges · U.S. Department of Education · Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities | confirmed | |
| 2015-04-01 | Oklahoma Corporation Commission Orders 347 Disposal Wells to Prove Non-Contact with Basement Rock After Earthquake Surge Oklahoma Corporation Commission · Oklahoma Geological Survey · Oil and Gas Industry Operators · Governor Mary Fallin · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2015-01-01 | Boeing Rushes 737 MAX Development to Beat Airbus, Cutting Development Time in Half Boeing · Federal Aviation Administration · Airbus · Boeing engineers · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2014-10-13 | GM Plant Stops Using Flint Water After It Corrodes Car Parts—But Residents Must Keep Drinking It General Motors · Darnell Earley · Flint City Government | confirmed | |
| 2014-07-01 | Academi (formerly Blackwater) Merges with Triple Canopy to Form Constellis Holdings, Third Corporate Rebranding Academi · Triple Canopy · Constellis Holdings · Blackwater | confirmed | |
| 2014-05-01 | Former NSA Director Keith Alexander Founds IronNet Cybersecurity, Charges $1 Million/Month for Intelligence Expertise Keith Alexander · IronNet Cybersecurity · National Security Agency · Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association | confirmed | |
| 2014-04-02 | Supreme Court Strikes Down Aggregate Campaign Contribution Limits in McCutcheon v. FEC U.S. Supreme Court · Chief Justice John Roberts · Shaun McCutcheon · Republican National Committee · +6 | confirmed | |
| 2014-02-19 | Facebook Acquires WhatsApp for $19 Billion to Dominate Messaging Market Facebook · Mark Zuckerberg · WhatsApp · Jan Koum · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2013-12-09 | American Airlines-US Airways Merger Creates Airline Oligopoly: Big Four Control 75% of Market American Airlines · US Airways · Department of Justice · Antitrust Division | confirmed | |
| 2013-09-27 | SAIC Splits into Leidos and New SAIC, Restructuring the Largest Intelligence Contractor Science Applications International Corporation · Leidos · John P. Jumper · Anthony J. Moraco | confirmed | |
| 2013-08-05 | Jeff Bezos Purchases Washington Post for $250 Million Jeff Bezos · Donald Graham · Washington Post Company | confirmed | |
| 2013-07-01 | ALEC Coordinates 139 Education Privatization Bills Across States - Systematic Public School Defunding Campaign American Legislative Exchange Council · ALEC Education and Workforce Development Task Force · Center for Media and Democracy · K12 Inc. · +5 | confirmed | |
| 2013-06-21 | Skilling Sentence Reduced to 14 Years, Marking Accountability Erosion Jeffrey Skilling · Department of Justice · Sim Lake | confirmed | |
| 2013-06-01 | Former CIA Director David Petraeus Becomes Chairman of KKR Global Institute, Converting Intelligence Access Into Private Equity Value David Petraeus · KKR · Central Intelligence Agency | confirmed | |
| 2013-05-21 | Senate Investigates Google Tax Avoidance, Exposes 2.4% Foreign Tax Rate Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations · Carl Levin · John McCain · Google · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2013-04-23 | CIA Paid Psychologists Mitchell and Jessen $81 Million to Design Torture Program James Mitchell · Bruce Jessen · Central Intelligence Agency · George Tenet | confirmed | |
| 2013-03-01 | Amazon AWS Wins $600 Million CIA Cloud Contract Amazon Web Services · Central Intelligence Agency · IBM | confirmed | |
| 2012-08-09 | Google Fined Record $22.5M for Deliberately Overriding Safari Privacy Settings Google · Federal Trade Commission · Apple · Jon Leibowitz (FTC Chairman) · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2012-07-30 | Senate Harkin Report Documents Massive Fraud and Abuse in For-Profit College Industry Senator Tom Harkin · Senate HELP Committee · University of Phoenix · Corinthian Colleges · +4 | confirmed | |
| 2012-07-25 | Congress Overrides Army to Fund $255 Million in Unwanted Abrams Tank Upgrades to Protect General Dynamics Ohio Plant General Dynamics · Rob Portman · Sherrod Brown · Ray Odierno · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2012-05-22 | Kansas Governor Brownback Signs ALEC-Laffer Tax Plan Eliminating Pass-Through Business Income Taxes - 'Kansas Experiment' Becomes Test Case for Supply-Side Economics Sam Brownback · Arthur Laffer · American Legislative Exchange Council · Kansas Legislature · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2012-04-13 | Major Corporate Exodus from ALEC: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Kraft, McDonald's, Wendy's, Mars, and Intuit Drop Membership After Public Pressure Campaign Color of Change · Coca-Cola · PepsiCo · Kraft Foods · +4 | confirmed | |
| 2012-03-02 | Iowa Governor Branstad Signs Nation's First Modern Ag-Gag Law Criminalizing Undercover Documentation of Agricultural Facility Abuses, Using ALEC Model Legislation to Shield Corporate Factory Farms from Whistleblower Investigations Iowa Legislature · Governor Terry Branstad · American Legislative Exchange Council · Agriculture Industry | confirmed | |
| 2012-02-27 | WikiLeaks Publishes 5 Million Stratfor Emails Revealing Private Intelligence Firm's Surveillance of Activists and Corporate Espionage WikiLeaks · Julian Assange · Jeremy Hammond · Stratfor · +10 | confirmed | |
| 2012-01-01 | Amazon Implements Automated Worker Surveillance and Tracking System Jeff Bezos · Amazon | confirmed | |
| 2012-01-01 | Hospital Acquisition of Physician Practices Enables Facility Fee Price Gouging, Driving 53% Increase in Outpatient Costs Hospital corporations · Private equity firms | confirmed | |
| 2011-09-18 | Amazon Lehigh Valley Warehouse Heat Exhaustion Scandal Exposed Jeff Bezos · Amazon | confirmed | |
| 2011-08-30 | Boeing Abandons New Aircraft Design, Chooses to Re-Engine 737 to Compete with Airbus Boeing Board of Directors · Jim McNerney · American Airlines · Airbus · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2011-07-01 | ALEC Achieves Systematic Legislative Capture: 200+ Corporate-Drafted Bills Enacted Annually Across States American Legislative Exchange Council · State Legislatures · Koch Industries · ExxonMobil · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2011-05-11 | FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker Joins Comcast Four Months After Approving NBC Universal Merger Meredith Attwell Baker · Comcast Corporation · NBC Universal · Federal Communications Commission · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2011-01-03 | Evan Bayh Joins Apollo Global Management and Five Corporate Boards After Senate Evan Bayh · Apollo Global Management · McGuireWoods · Marathon Petroleum · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2011-01-01 | 34 States Introduce ALEC Voter ID Bills in Coordinated Suppression Campaign American Legislative Exchange Council · Republican state legislators · Heritage Foundation · State Policy Network | confirmed | |
| 2011-01-01 | ALEC Grants Corporate Lobbyists 'Equal Vote' on Model Legislation for State Legislatures American Legislative Exchange Council · State Legislatures · Koch Industries · ExxonMobil | confirmed | |
| 2011-01-01 | Arizona Becomes First State to Enact ALEC-Inspired Education Savings Accounts - Pioneering Universal Voucher Path Jan Brewer · American Legislative Exchange Council · ALEC Education Task Force · Goldwater Institute · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2011-01-01 | Erik Prince Receives $529M Contract to Build Secret Mercenary Army for UAE Crown Prince Erik Prince · Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan · Reflex Responses · United Arab Emirates | confirmed | |
| 2011-01-01 | Patent Troll Explosion: Non-Practicing Entities Impose $29 Billion Annual Cost on U.S. Economy, Targeting Small Businesses Intellectual Ventures · Nathan Myhrvold · Edward Jung · James Bessen · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2010-12-31 | Donors Trust Becomes Primary Climate Denial Dark Money Conduit Donors Trust · Donors Capital Fund · Koch brothers · Knowledge and Progress Fund · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2010-12-03 | ALEC Coordinates Right-to-Work Push After 2010 GOP Midterm Wave American Legislative Exchange Council · Scott Fitzgerald · Koch brothers · Americans for Prosperity · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2010-07-19 | Washington Post Publishes "Top Secret America," Revealing 1,931 Private Companies in Intelligence Work and Massive Revolving Door Dana Priest · William Arkin · The Washington Post · Office of the Director of National Intelligence | confirmed | |
| 2010-01-21 | Supreme Court Citizens United Decision Unleashes Unlimited Corporate Spending U.S. Supreme Court · Citizens United · Federal Election Commission · Justice Anthony Kennedy · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2010-01-01 | Chertoff Promotes Airport Body Scanners on Media While His Firm Represents Manufacturer Rapiscan Michael Chertoff · The Chertoff Group · Rapiscan Systems · Department of Homeland Security · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2010-01-01 | Hospital Consolidation Wave (2010-2020): 1,164 Mergers with Only 1% FTC Enforcement Rate Federal Trade Commission · Hospital corporations | confirmed | |
| 2009-12-01 | Arizona SB 1070 Immigration Law Drafted at ALEC Meeting with CCA Executives - Direct Quid Pro Quo for Immigrant Detention Profits American Legislative Exchange Council · Corrections Corporation of America · Russell Pearce · Jan Brewer · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2009-07-17 | ALEC Creates Model Voter ID Legislation Following Obama Election American Legislative Exchange Council · Hans von Spakovsky · Heritage Foundation · ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force | confirmed | |
| 2009-06-26 | Koch Network Mobilizes to Kill Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade Climate Bill Koch brothers · Charles Koch · David Koch · Americans for Prosperity · +5 | confirmed | |
| 2009-02-19 | Koch Network Prepares Tea Party Mobilization After Santelli Rant Rick Santelli · David Koch · Charles Koch · Eric Odom · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2009-02-15 | Former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden Enters Private Sector, Joins Chertoff Group and Corporate Boards Michael Hayden · The Chertoff Group · Motorola Solutions · Michael Chertoff | confirmed | |
| 2009-02-02 | Former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff Founds The Chertoff Group, Immediately Monetizing Homeland Security Expertise Michael Chertoff · Chad Sweet · The Chertoff Group · Department of Homeland Security · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2009-01-01 | Americans for Prosperity Organizational Profile: Koch Brothers' Astroturf Empire Manufacturing Fake Grassroots Movements Americans for Prosperity · Charles Koch · David Koch · Koch Industries · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2008-10-29 | Delta-Northwest Merger Approved: Beginning of Airline Industry Consolidation Wave Delta Air Lines · Northwest Airlines · Department of Justice · Antitrust Division | confirmed | |
| 2008-07-31 | Carlyle Group Acquires Booz Allen Hamilton for $2.54 Billion, Private Equity Owns Major Intelligence Contractor Carlyle Group · Booz Allen Hamilton · Ralph Shrader · National Security Agency · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2007-10-02 | Erik Prince Testifies Before Congress Defending Blackwater Despite Evidence of 195 Shooting Incidents Erik Prince · Blackwater · U.S. House Oversight Committee · Henry Waxman | confirmed | |
| 2007-05-10 | Purdue Pharma Pleads Guilty to Criminal Misbranding, $600M Fine, Zero Executives Jailed Purdue Pharma · Michael Friedman · Howard R. Udell · Paul D. Goldenheim · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2007-03-12 | Halliburton Moves CEO and Corporate Headquarters to Dubai for Tax Advantages and Distance from Iraq War Scandals, Weeks Before Completing KBR Spin-Off Halliburton · David Lesar · Dick Cheney · Patrick Leahy | confirmed | |
| 2006-12-31 | New Century Financial Conceals Massive Early Payment Defaults Through Accounting Fraud in 2006 New Century Financial Corporation · Brad Morrice · David Einhorn · Securities and Exchange Commission · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2006-12-29 | AT&T Completes $86 Billion BellSouth Acquisition: Bell System Reassembled After 1984 Breakup AT&T Inc. · BellSouth Corporation · Federal Communications Commission · SBC Communications | confirmed | |
| 2006-10-23 | Jeffrey Skilling Sentenced to 24 Years for Enron Fraud Jeffrey Skilling · Department of Justice · Sim Lake | confirmed | |
| 2006-07-05 | Ken Lay Dies Before Sentencing, Conviction Later Vacated Kenneth Lay | confirmed | |
| 2006-05-25 | Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling Convicted of Enron Fraud and Conspiracy Kenneth Lay · Jeffrey Skilling · Department of Justice | confirmed | |
| 2005-07-13 | WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison Bernard Ebbers · Department of Justice | confirmed | |
| 2005-06-30 | Investigation Reveals $15M in Lobbyist-Funded Congressional Travel and Fact-Finding Junkets Tom DeLay · Jack Abramoff · Susan Hirschmann · Robert Wexler | confirmed | |
| 2005-06-03 | L-3 Communications Acquires Titan Corporation for $2.65 Billion, Absorbing Abu Ghraib Contractor L-3 Communications · Titan Corporation · Department of Defense | confirmed | |
| 2005-03-14 | Tom Daschle Joins Private Equity Firm and Lobbying After Senate Majority Leadership Tom Daschle · InterMedia Advisors · Alston & Bird · Leo Hindery | confirmed | |
| 2005-01-01 | ALEC Approves 'Great Schools Tax Credit' Model - Launches Systematic Education Privatization Campaign American Legislative Exchange Council · ALEC Education Task Force · K12 Inc. · Koch Industries · +4 | confirmed | |
| 2005-01-01 | ALEC Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Models Achieve Nationwide Adoption, Guaranteeing Private Prison Profits American Legislative Exchange Council · Corrections Corporation of America · GEO Group · State Legislators · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2005-01-01 | CIA's In-Q-Tel Makes Strategic Investment in Palantir Technologies In-Q-Tel · Central Intelligence Agency · Palantir Technologies | confirmed | |
| 2005-01-01 | Private Equity Assets Under Management Reach $1 Trillion, Enabling Systematic Extraction Across Economy Blackstone · KKR · Bain Capital · Apollo · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2004-12-13 | Oracle Completes PeopleSoft Acquisition for $10.3 Billion After Defeating Antitrust Challenge Oracle · Larry Ellison · PeopleSoft · JD Edwards | confirmed | |
| 2004-11-21 | Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Files Bankruptcy, Trump Removed as CEO Donald Trump | confirmed | |
| 2004-10-27 | Google Acquires CIA-Backed Keyhole, Foundation for Google Earth Google · Keyhole Inc. · In-Q-Tel · Central Intelligence Agency | confirmed | |
| 2004-08-19 | Google IPO Raises $1.67B With "Don't Be Evil" Motto Google · Larry Page · Sergey Brin · Eric Schmidt | confirmed | |
| 2004-07-11 | CIA Director George Tenet Departs After Iraq Intelligence Failures, Joins Investment Bank and Intelligence Company Boards George Tenet · Allen & Company · QinetiQ · L-1 Identity Solutions · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2004-07-07 | Enron Founder Ken Lay Indicted on 11 Counts of Fraud and Conspiracy Kenneth Lay · Jeffrey Skilling · Department of Justice | confirmed | |
| 2004-07-01 | Kroll Associates sold to Marsh & McLennan for $1.9 billion Kroll Associates · Marsh & McLennan · Jules Kroll | confirmed | |
| 2004-06-01 | The Apprentice Serves as 14-Season Promotional Vehicle for Trump Properties and Brand Donald Trump · Mark Burnett · NBC | reported | |
| 2004-03-31 | Four Blackwater Contractors Killed in Fallujah Ambush, Bodies Hung from Bridge, Triggering First Battle of Fallujah Erik Prince · Blackwater · Scott Helvenston · Jerry Zovko · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2004-02-26 | Department of Justice Files Antitrust Lawsuit to Block Oracle-PeopleSoft Merger Department of Justice · Oracle · PeopleSoft · Larry Ellison | confirmed | |
| 2003-06-30 | General Dynamics Acquires Veridian for $1.5 Billion, Entering Intelligence Technology Market General Dynamics · Veridian Corporation · Department of Defense · National Security Agency · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2003-06-26 | HCA Healthcare Pays $1.7 Billion in Largest Medicare Fraud Settlement in U.S. History HCA Healthcare · Rick Scott · Department of Justice | confirmed | |
| 2003-06-06 | Oracle Launches Hostile Takeover Bid for PeopleSoft Worth $5.1 Billion Oracle · Larry Ellison · PeopleSoft · JD Edwards | confirmed | |
| 2003-05-01 | Palantir Technologies Founded by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, and PayPal Engineers Peter Thiel · Alex Karp · Nathan Gettings · Joe Lonsdale · +4 | confirmed | |
| 2003-01-01 | Google Establishes "Double Irish, Dutch Sandwich" Tax Avoidance Structure Google · Larry Page · Sergey Brin · Irish government · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2003-01-01 | State Policy Network Organizational Profile: Coordinating 66 State Think Tanks for Synchronized Corporate Capture State Policy Network · Thomas A. Roe · Bradley Foundation · DonorsTrust · +5 | confirmed | |
| 2002-09-12 | Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski Indicted for $600 Million Fraud Dennis Kozlowski · Mark Swartz · Mark Belnick | confirmed | |
| 2002-07-31 | Entergy Purchases Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant for $180 Million, Memorandum of Understanding Creates Decade of Regulatory Conflict Entergy Corporation · Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation · Vermont Public Service Board · Vermont Department of Public Service · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2002-07-30 | Sarbanes-Oxley Act Signed Into Law as Brief Reform Moment George W. Bush · Paul Sarbanes · Michael Oxley | confirmed | |
| 2002-07-21 | WorldCom Files for Bankruptcy with $107 Billion in Assets Bernard Ebbers · WorldCom · Scott Sullivan | confirmed | |
| 2002-06-25 | WorldCom Announces $3.8 Billion Accounting Fraud Discovery Bernard Ebbers · Cynthia Cooper · Scott Sullivan · WorldCom | confirmed | |
| 2002-06-15 | Arthur Andersen Convicted, Destroying 85,000 Jobs Worldwide Arthur Andersen · Department of Justice | confirmed | |
| 2002-03-14 | Arthur Andersen Indicted for Obstruction of Justice in Enron Scandal Arthur Andersen · Department of Justice · Michael Chertoff | confirmed | |
| 2002-01-09 | Arthur Andersen Admits to Shredding Tons of Enron Documents Arthur Andersen · Joseph Berardino · David Duncan | confirmed | |
| 2002-01-08 | No Child Left Behind Act Creates Testing-Industrial Complex and Punitive Accountability Regime President George W. Bush · Senator Ted Kennedy · Representative John Boehner · Pearson Education · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2002-01-01 | ALEC Adopts Living Wage Mandate Preemption Act to Block Local Minimum Wage Increases American Legislative Exchange Council · National Restaurant Association · McDonald's · Walmart · +1 | confirmed |