Technologarchy

Technologarchy is a powerful construct of technology corporations and their intellectual property that generates vast wealth for capitalist owners while introducing products, services, and infrastructure that have immense control over people. Ironically, many technology products and services empower individuals. However, personal dependence on them and their providers undermine individual freedom and authority in the aggregate.

For instance, Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Facebook are notable entities.

Who are their masters? Corporations are the masters, and the entrepreneur founders often retain control.

"Bill Gates founded Microsoft and helped make it one of the most profitable companies in the world. He has since stepped aside from the day-to-day running to focus on his philanthropic work." 

Steve Jobs founded Apple but after his death, "Arthur Levinson is the chairman of the board of Apple, the current CEO of Calico, and the single-largest individual shareholder with 1.1 million shares as of Aug. 3, 2018."

"Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin (Russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Брин; born August 21, 1973) is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur. Together with Larry Page, he co-founded Google. Brin is the president of Google's parent company Alphabet Inc."

"Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in his Harvard dorm room and has become one of the most famous businessmen in the world. 

The founder and "face" of Facebook indirectly holds around 11.92 million Class A Facebook shares through a series of funds, according to the company's SEC filing on August 30, 2018. Zuckerberg also owns a whopping 392.71 million Class B shares per the company's April 13, 2018 proxy statement. Control over nearly 78.9% of the Class B shares gives Zuckerberg 53.3% voting rights in the company. On July 25, 2018, Zuckerberg sold 240,000 shares of Facebook common stock. The stocks sold at an average price of $216.71, for a total transaction of just over $52 million."

However, computer and communications companies aren't the only technologarchs. Included in my definition and vision are all of the Aerospace and Defense Contractors and all of the "Big Oil" corporations as more instances.

In the aggregate, they are our masters.

Image: techeu