Corruption

BHP

Glencore

Glencore is a vertically integrated commodity trader and miner whose power rests on controlling physical flows — especially zinc and copper — across jurisdictions. It emerged from Marc Rich + Co AG in 1994 after Rich was forced out following a failed zinc market corner. Its structure splits legal registration (Jersey), operational HQ (Baar), and oil-and-gas command (London). It holds no disclosed valuation or margin, but its 2010 market shares — 60% in zinc, 50% in copper — show where its leverage lies: not in brands or code, but in tons moved, stored, and priced across borders.

Tronox

Enron

Enron was an American energy, commodities and services company founded in 1985 through a merger of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth. Before its December 2001 bankruptcy — the largest fraud-related bankruptcy in U.S. history — it claimed revenues of nearly $101 billion in 2000 and positioned itself as a major electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper company. Its reported financial condition was sustained by institutionalised, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud. Enron became synonymous with willful, institutional fraud and systemic corruption. It filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, emerged in November 2004 under a court-approved reorganisation plan, and was renamed Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. to focus on liquidating pre-bankruptcy assets and operations.