15 Companies That Own Everything You Buy (2024)

A small group of major companies own everything we buy in the world. Well, just about everything. When you go to the grocery store, you may see 20,000 different products. What amazing variety! But flip the labels around and the story looks much different.

In this article, we flip the labels to show how most markets are much more consolidated than you might think.

 

The Companies That Own Everything We Buy

Click on each logo to jump down in the article to learn more about that worldwide conglomerate.

 

Infographic: 10 Major Companies That Own Everything

Here are all of the companies listed out with more information.

Nestlé

Nestlé is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland.

• Main Industry: Food and Beverage
• Year Founded: 1866
• Headquarters: Vevey, Switzerland
• 2022 Revenue: $99.3 billion

 

Notable Brands That Nestlé Owns

• Alpo
• Carnation
• Cerelac
• Fitness
• Gerber
• Kitkat
• Maggi
• Milkybar
• Milo
• Nescafé

 

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a pharmaceutical and consumer goods company based in New Jersey.

• Main Industry: Pharmaceutical
• Year Founded: 1886
• Headquarters: United States
• 2022 Revenue: $95 billion

 

Notable Brands That Johnson & Johnson Owns

• Aveeno
• Band-Aid
• Carefree
• Dabao
• Dr Ci: Labo
• Johnson’s
• Le Petit Marseillais
• Listerine
• Motrin
• Neutrogena
• Nicorette
• OGX
• Stayfree
• Tylenol
• Zarbee’s

 

Pepsico

PepsiCo is a food, snack, and beverage company based in New York. PepsiCo was formed by the merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay.

• Main Industry: Food & Beverage
• Year Founded: 1965
• Headquarters: United States
• 2022 Revenue: $86 billion

 

Notable Brands That Pepsico Owns

• Alvalle
• Brisk
• Bubly
• Cap ‘N’ Crunch
• Cheetos
• Chesters
• Cracker Jack
• Dole
• Doritos
• Gatorade
• Lipton
• Looza
• Mountain Dew
• Munchies
• Muscle Milk
• Naked
• Ocean Spray
• Pepsi
• Propel
• Pure Leaf
• Rold Gold
• Ruffles
• Sierra Mist
• Smartfood
• Sobe
• Soulboost
• Spitz
• Stacy’s
• Sunchips
• Tostitos
• Tropicana

 

Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company is a consumer goods company based in Ohio that produces beauty, health, and family products.

• Main Industry: Consumer Goods
• Year Founded: 1837
• Headquarters: United States
• 2022 Revenue: $80 billion

 

Notable Brands That Procter & Gamble Owns

• Align
• All Good
• Bounce
• Bounty
• Braun
• Cheer
• Crest
• Dawn
• Downy
• Febreze
• Gain
• Gillette
• Head & Shoulders
• Herbal Essences
• Mr. Clean
• Old Spice
• Oral-B
• Pampers
• Pantene
• Pepto-Bismol
• Swiffer
• Tampax
• The Art of Shaving
• Tide
• Vicks

 

Unilever

Unilever is a British consumer goods company based in London, England that produces soaps, cleaning products, cereals, and much more.

• Main Industry: Consumer Goods
• Year Founded: 1929
• Headquarters: United Kingdom
• 2022 Revenue: $63 billion

 

Notable Brands That Unilever Owns

• Axe
• Bango
• Ben & Jerry’s
• Cif
• Comfort
• Domestos
• Dove
• Equilibra
• Hellmann’s
• Knorr
• Lifebuoy
• Liquid I.V.
• Lux
• Magnum
• Olly
• OMO
• Onnit
• Rexona
• Seventh Generation
• SmartyPants
• Sunsilk
• The Vegetarian Butcher
• Vaseline
• Wall’s

 

Mars

Mars is an American food and pet food manufacturing company based in Virginia.

• Main Industry: Food & Beverage
• Year Founded: 1911
• Headquarters: United States
• 2022 Revenue: $37 billion

 

Notable Brands That Mars Owns

• 3 Musketeers
• Altoids
• Ben’s Original
• Blu Pearl
• Cesar
• Combos
• Crave
• Doublemint
• Extra
• FluffyGo
• IAMS
• Juicy Fruit
• Kind
• Life Savers
• M&M’s
• Maltesers
• Milky Way
• Orbit
• Pedigree
• Skittles
• Snickers
• Spearmint
• Starburst
• Winterfresh
• Wisdom Panel
• Wrigley’s Big Red

 

Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola Company makes and sells non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages and is based in Georgia.

• Main Industry: Food & Beverage
• Year Founded: 1892
• Headquarters: United States
• 2022 Revenue: $43 billion

 

Notable Brands That Coca-Cola Owns

• Ades
• AHA Sparkling Water
• Barq’s Root Beer
• Bodyarmor
• Coca-Cola
• Costa Coffee
• Dasani
• Diet Coke
• Dogadan
• Fairlife
• Fanta
• Fresca
• Fresca Mixed
• Fuzetea
• Georgia
• Gold Peak Tea
• Jack Daniels Old Time
• Minute Maid
• Powerade
• Schweppes
• Smart Water
• Sprite
• Topo-Chico
• Vitamin Water

 

Mondelez International

Mondelez International is an American food, beverage, and snack food manufacturing company based in Illinois. It is a conglomerate of older food companies like Cadbury and Nabisco.

• Main Industry: Food & Beverage
• Year Founded: 2012
• Headquarters: United States
• 2022 Revenue: $31 billion

 

Notable Brands That Mondelez International Owns

• Belvita
• Cadbury
• Chips Ahoy
• Enjoy Life Foods
• Halls
• Honey Maid
• Oreo
• Perfect Snacks
• Prince
• Ritz
• Royal
• Sour Patch Kids
• Stride
• Tang
• Tate’s Bake Shop
• Tiger
• Toblerone
• Triscuit
• Wheat Thins

 

KraftHeinz

KraftHeinz is an American food manufacturing company created in 2015 by Kraft Foods (founded in 1903) and Heinz (founded in 1869) merging.

• Main Industry: Food & Beverage
• Year Founded: 2015
• Headquarters: United States
• 2022 Revenue: $26 billion

 

Notable Brands That KraftHeinz Owns

• ABC
• Caprisun
• Classico
• Golden Circle
• Grey Poupon
• Honig
• Jell-O
• Kool-Aid
• Lunchables
• Kraft Mac & Cheese
• Master
• Maxwell House
• Ore-Ida
• Oscar Mayer
• Philadelphia
• Plasmon
• Pudliszki
• Quero
• Smart Ones
• Velveeta
• Watties

 

General Mills

General Mills is an American food manufacturing company based in Minnesota that sells packaged foods through retail stores.

• Main Industry: Food & Beverage
• Year Founded: 1928
• Headquarters: United States
• 2022 Revenue: $19 billion

 

Notable Brands That General Mills Owns

• Annie’s
• Autumn’s Gold
• Betty Crocker
• Bisquick
• Bugles
• Cheerios
• Chex Cereal
• Chex Mix
• Cinnamon Toast Crunch
• Cocoa Puffs
• Cookie Crisp
• Doolies
• Dunkaroos
• EPIC
• Fiber One
• Food Should Taste Good
• Gardetto’s
• Haagen-Dazs
• Kix
• Larabar
• Lucky Charms
• Nature Valley
• Old El Paso
• Pillsbury
• Progresso
• Reese’s Puff
• Total
• Trix
• Wheaties
• Yoplait

 

Kellanova (Kellogg’s)

 

Kellanova (formerly known as Kellogg’s) is an American food manufacturing company based in Michigan that serves cereal and convenience foods to over 180 countries.

• Main Industry: Food & Beverage
• Year Founded: 1906
• Headquarters: United States
• 2022 Revenue: $15 billion

 

Notable Brands That Kellogg’s Owns

• All-Bran
• Apple Jacks
• Austin
• Bear Naked
• Carr’s
• Cheez-It
• Club
• Corn Flakes
• Corn Pops
• Crispix
• Eggo
• Froot Loops
• Frosted Flakes
• Frosted Mini Wheats
• Frozen Breakfast
• Grahams
• Jumbo Snax
• Kashi
• Nutri-Grain
• Pop-Tarts
• Pringles
• Pure Organic
• Raisin Bran
• Rice Krispies
• Smorz
• Special K
• Town House

 

Comcast Corporation

Comcast is the biggest telecom company in the United States. It is the second-biggest broadcasting company, the largest cable TV company, the largest home internet provider in the US, and the country’s third-largest home telephone provider.

• Main Industry: Media
• Year Founded: 1963
• Headquarters: United States
• 2022 Revenue: $121 billion

Notable Brands That Comcast Corporation Owns

• Xfinity
• Comcast Spectacor
  • Spectra
  • Philadelphia Flyers
  • Philadelphia Wings
  • Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia)
  • Comcast Spotlight
  • FreeWheel
• NBCUniversal
  • NBC
  • CNBC
  • MSNBC
  • NBC Studios
  • E! Studios
  • Wilshire Studios
  • Syfy
  • USA Network
  • Bravo
  • E!
  • Oxygen
  • Universal Kids
  • Telemundo
  • Golf Channel
  • NBC Olympics, LLC
  • NBC Sports
  • SportsEngine
  • Rotten Tomatoes
• Universal
  • Universal Television
  • Universal Studios
  • Universal Pictures
  • Universal Animation Studios
  • Universal Pictures International
  • Universal Home Entertainment
  • Illumination
  • DreamWorks Animation
  • Focus Features
  • Working Title Films
  • Carnival Films
• Sky Group
  • Challenge
  • Sky Arts
  • A&E Networks UK
  • Crime & Investigation
  • Nickelodeon
  • Nick Jr.
  • Comedy Central
  • British Interactive Broadcasting Holdings
  • Aura Sports

Blackrock

BlackRock, Inc. is an American investment company headquartered in New York City. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager, with $10 trillion in assets under management as of 2022. BlackRock is one of the three biggest fund managers in the country.

• Main Industry: Investments
• Year Founded: 1988
• Headquarters: United States
• 2022 Revenue: $18 billion

Blackrock’s Biggest Holdings (2022)

This is different than the other companies listed above. Blackrock invests in other companies and provides investment vehicles. They own the stock market, is the better way to put it. Here are Blackrock’s 25 biggest investment holdings as of 2022:

• Apple Inc.: 6.50%
• Microsoft Corporation: 7.10%
• Amazon.com, Inc.: 5.80%
• UnitedHealth Group Incorporated: 8.00%
• Alphabet Inc.: 7.00%
• Johnson & Johnson: 7.60%
• Alphabet Inc.: 6.00%
• Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: 8.00%
• Exxon Mobil Corporation: 7.10%
• NVIDIA Corporation: 7.20%
• JPMorgan Chase & Co.: 6.60%
• Visa Inc.: 6.60%
• Chevron Corporation: 7.00%
• Procter & Gamble Company: 6.80%
• The Home Depot, Inc.: 7.40%
• Merck & Co., Inc.: 8.50%
• Eli Lilly and Company: 6.80%
• Pfizer Inc.: 7.90%
• Mastercard Incorporated: 6.80%
• AbbVie Inc.: 7.80%
• Tesla, Inc.: 5.70%
• PepsiCo, Inc.: 8.00%
• The Coca-Cola Company: 7.20%
• Meta Platforms, Inc.: 5.60%
• Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.: 7.90%

Blackrock’s Funds

Here are the funds (ETFs, mutual funds, etc.) that Blackrock owns that you might recognize.

• iShares
• Advantage
• Blackrock
• and more…

 

Danone

Danone S.A. is a French multinational food-products corporation based in Paris.

• Main Industry: Food and Beverage Manufacturing
• Year Founded: 1919
• Headquarters: Paris, France
• 2022 Revenue: $29 billion
  

Notable Brands That Danone Company Owns

• Actimel
• Activia
• Alpro
• Badoit
• Britannia Industries
• Clover Industries
• Cow & Gate
• Danimals
• Evian
• Happy Family
• Harrogate Spring Water
• Horizon Organic
• Nutricia
• Silk
• Vega
• Volvic

 

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States.

• Main Industry: Real Estate
• Year Founded: 1839
• Headquarters: Omaha, Nebraska, United States
• 2022 Revenue: $302 billion

Notable Brands That Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Owns

• Acme
• Affordable Housing Partners, Inc
• Alleghany
• Ben Bridge Jeweler
• Benjamin Moore
• Berkshire Hathaway Automotive
• Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company
• Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
• Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies
• Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group
• Berkshire Hathaway Specialty
• BNSF Logistics
• BNSF Railway
• Charter Brokerage
• Clayton Homes
• Corporate Office
• Dairy Queen
• Duracell
• Fruit of the Loom
• Garan
• GEICO
• Helzberg Diamonds
• HomeServices of America
• IMC International Metalworking Companies
• Jordan’s Furniture
• MidAmerican Energy Services
• MiTek Inc
• NetJets
• Northern Powergrid
• NV Energy
• R.C. Willey Home Furnishings
• See’s Candies
• Shaw Industries
• Star Furniture
• United States Liability Insurance Companies
• WPLG, Inc.
• XTRA

 

Which companies own a lot of brands?

Here are some conglomerates that own everything you buy (organized by industry):

• Food & beverage: Pepsico, Mars, Coca-Cola, Mondelez International, KraftHeinz
• Pharmaceutical: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Roche
• Consumer products: Procter & Gamble, Unilever
• Media: NewsCorp, TimeWarner, Comcast

 

Which media companies own everything we watch and read?

These six companies dominate the media (TV, film, music, video games, news):

• Comcast
• TimeWarner
• National Amusements
• Disney
• NewsCorp
• Sony

With hundreds of sub-brands and hundreds of billions in combined market value, these six media companies provide much of what we consume for content. To learn more, look at this WebFX infographic.

 

Which companies have the most subsidiaries?

• HCA Healthcare, a pharma company based in the US, has 2,447 subsidiaries
• WPP, a media company based in the UK, has 2,153 subsidiaries
• UnitedHealth Group, a financial services company based in the US, has 1,445 subsidiaries
• Blackstone, a financial services company based in the US, has 1,130 subsidiaries

To learn more, visit this article that compiles data from GlobalData.