20 Megacorporations You Didn't Know Run the Economy

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP // Getty Images

If you like to support small brands when you shop, you might be surprised to find out that many labels that seem to be small are really owned by larger conglomerates. Conglomerates are company structures that combine multiple businesses together as subsidiaries under one parent company. These subsidiary companies are often in different industries that may not relate to one another.

CouponBirds analyzed the Forbes Global 2000 list to identify 20 U.S.-based conglomerates with a high overall value of their assets and acquisitions over time, as well as major sway in the economy.

Company leaders opt for a conglomerate structure because it can increase corporate revenues, help a company expand into other countries, create greater efficiencies through economies of scale, spread out market risk, and prevent takeovers.

The conglomerate model in the U.S. may be losing its Midas touch, as some companies are starting to break up their businesses into distinct companies in hopes that better product alignment will stimulate growth—and stock prices. By the end of 2023, for instance, Kellogg Company plans to split its global snacks and North American cereal businesses into two separate companies called Kellanova and WK Kellogg Co., respectively.