Big Four (companies)
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Big Four can refer to several sets of four dominant companies that constitute oligopolies in their respective fields and regions:
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[edit] Record labels
[edit] American television networks
The big four television networks:
- ABC - American Broadcasting Company
- CBS - Columbia Broadcasting System
- NBC - National Broadcasting Company
- Fox Broadcasting Company
[edit] Railroads
The Big Four British railway companies were four largest railway companies in the United Kingdom in the period 1923-1947.
The Big Four Irish railway companies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were Great Southern & Western Railway, Midland Great Western Railway, Dublin & South Eastern Railway and Great Northern Railway.
"The Big Four" was the collective name given to four railroad magnates in the western U.S.: Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker.
"Big Four" was also the nickname for a railroad in the United States of America officially called the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (later absorbed by the New York Central Railroad).
[edit] Wireless
The four major U.S. wireless providers: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile.
[edit] Meat packing
In 1902, meat packers Gustavus Swift, J. Ogden Armour, and , along with the investment banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb, and Company, formed the National Packing Company for the purpose of fixing prices, dividing up markets, and suppressing union efforts to organize industry workers. The group became known the "Meat Trust" and the "Big Four" of the meat packing industry, and developed such a monopoly that the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the venture to disband in 1905.
[edit] Elevators/escalators
The four largest elevator/escalator companies in the world are Otis, ThyssenKrupp, Schindler, and Kone.
[edit] Motorcycles
The four main Japanese motorcycle makers are Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha.
[edit] Supermarkets
The big four supermarkets in the United Kingdom, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, had a combined market share of 74.3% in 2005.
[edit] Accounting firms
In the United Kingdom and United States it may refer to the four major accounting firms: PriceWaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
[edit] Law firms
The largest law firms in the United Kingdom: Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and Linklaters. Despite being physically smaller, Slaughter & May is usually added to this list of "Magic Circle" due to its sheer profitability and quality of work.
The largest law firms in Japan: Nishimura & Asahi (former Nishimura & Partners), Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu (former Nagashima & Ohno), Mori Hamada & Matsumoto (former Mori Sogo Law Offices), and Anderson Mōri & Tomotsune (former Anderson & Mōri).
[edit] Banks
In Australia it refers to the four major banking companies: ANZ Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac Bank and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
[edit] English language schools
The four largest private English language schools (or eikaiwa) in Japan: Nova, GEOS, AEON, and ECC.
[edit] Systems management
The companies that are the most established and largest in the systems management industry are IBM Tivoli, CA Inc., HP, and BMC Software.[1]
[edit] References
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