Company III

Waste Management

Together with their main competitor, waste management collects more than half of all the garbage created in the United States. Waste management is North America’s largest recycler that caters to the residential population. Over 8 million tons of recyclable materials are collected every year by waste management.

Sony Corporation

The word "Sony" comes from the Latin word, Sonus, meaning sound. Sony’s PlayStation 2 (PS2) is currently the highest selling home video console of all time, selling over 140 million units. Sony’s most notable trademarks include Walkman, PlayStation, VAIO, and blue-ray disc.

Marriott International

The Marriott company original started in 1927, when J.Willard Marriott and his wife opened a Root Beer stand in Washington D.C. during the summer. The Marriott hotel in Detroit currently stands as the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere. Marriott opened two theme parks; both called Marriott's Great America, but were later sold and renamed California's Great America and Six Flags Great America.

Intel Corporation

When the company was first founded, the word "Intel" was already trademarked by a hotel chain. They then paid $15,000 for exclusive naming rights. The founder of Intel Robert Noyce, is credited with co-inventing the microchip, a small circuit used in nearly every modern electronic device. The cleanroom of a chip fabrication plant is 1,000 times cleaner than a typical hospital room.

Costco Wholesale

Costco is the world's largest retailer of fine wine. The Costco store-brand products are named "Kirkland Signature", which is named after the city where the company was founded. Costco was the first company ever to grow from zero to $6 billion in sales in just six years.

Clorox Co

Clorox was founded by five entrepreneurs in 1914 by each founder investing $100 apiece. The company was originally called "Electro-Alkaline" until its household product "Clorox" took off in sales. P&G briefly acquired Clorox in 1950's until the buyout was blocked by FTC and Clorox again was made in independent.

Capital One Financial

Capital One is the largest bank that started out as consumer lending "monoline". Capital One has one of the largest databases of consumer credit data. Capital One auto finance is the largest internet auto lender.

Expedia Inc.

Expedia was first founded as a division of Microsoft in 1996. In 2008, Expedia was named the third most admired Internet companies in the US after IAC and Google. Expedia brands include: hotels.com, hotwire.com, tripadvisor.com, etc.

Allegheny Technologies

Allegheny is one of the largest specialty metals (titanium, alloys, stainless steels, etc.) producers in the world. Teledyne Technologies, a conglomerate with over 50 subsidiaries, was formed as a spin-off from Allegheny. Allegheny was criticized for discharging pollutants such as chromium, zinc, and oil to the nearby rivers.

Legg Mason Inc.

With close to $700 billion AUM, Legg Mason is 11th largest asset manager in the world. Legg Mason is the largest Company based in Baltimore. Legg Mason's multi-manager model enables each subsidiary to operate with a complete autonomy.

Toyota Motors

"Toyota" consists of eight strokes in the Japanese language-- a number thought to bring good fortune. Toyota also created robot machines designed to complete tasks such as assisting the elderly, manufacturing, and even playing the trumpet. Though the company is based in Japan, Toyota sells more vehicles in the United States than in Japan.

General Mills

The General Mills brand marketed over 100 well-known brands, including Betty Croker, Pillsbury, Cheerios and Red Lobster. In the 1930s, a General Mills engineer created the "puffing gun", which allows pieces of cereal to be distorted into different shapes. The pink heart shaped marshmallows in the Lucky Charms cereal, is the only shape to remain unchanged since the launch of the cereal in 1963.

Polo Ralph Lauren

Polo brand was launched in 1967 when Ralph Lauren got a $50,000 loan. It is illegal to sell Polo Ralph Lauren clothing in South Africa due to trademark rights of a local company, Polo South Africa. The first Polo product was men's ties.