Conglomerate (company) in the context of "Penguin Random House"

In microeconomics, an industry is a branch of an economy that produces a closely related set of raw materials, goods, or services. For example, one might refer to the wood industry or to the insurance industry.

When evaluating a single group or company, its dominant source of revenue is typically used by industry classifications to classify it within a specific industry. For example the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) – used directly or through derived classifications for the official statistics of most countries worldwide – classifies "statistical units" by the "economic activity in which they mainly engage". Industry is then defined as "set of statistical units that are classified into the same ISIC category". However, a single business need not belong just to one industry, such as when a large business (often referred to as a conglomerate) diversifies across separate industries.

The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Founded on October 16, 1923, as an animation studio by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Disney operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before adopting its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.

After becoming a success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation sector, began to decline. In 1984, Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as CEO, who led a reversal of the company's decline through a combination of international theme park expansion and the highly successful Disney Renaissance period of animation from 1989 to 1999. In 2005, under the new CEO Bob Iger, the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Pixar in 2006, Marvel Entertainment in 2009, Lucasfilm in 2012, and 21st Century Fox in 2019. In 2020, Bob Chapek became the head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO.

Sony Group Corporation, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including electronics (Sony Corporation), imaging and sensing (Sony Semiconductor Solutions), film (Sony Pictures Entertainment), music (Sony Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment Japan), video games (Sony Interactive Entertainment), and others.

Sony was founded in 1946 as initially Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. In 1958, the company adopted the name Sony Corporation. Initially an electronics firm, it gained early recognition for products such as the TR-55 transistor radio and the CV-2000 home video tape recorder, contributing significantly to Japan's post-war economic recovery. After Ibuka's retirement in the 1970s, Morita served as chairman until 1994, overseeing Sony's rise as a global brand recognized for innovation in consumer electronics. Landmark products included the Trinitron color television, the Walkman portable audio player, and the co-development of the compact disc.

The Tokyu Corporation (東急株式会社, Tōkyū kabushiki-gaisha), a contraction of and formerly Tōkyō Kyūkō Dentetsu kabushiki gaisha (東京急行電鉄株式会社; "Tokyo Express Electric Railway Stock Company") until 2 September 2019, is a Japanese keiretsu or conglomerate headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. While a multinational corporation, its main operation is the Tokyu Railways Company, Ltd. (ja:東急電鉄株式会社, Tōkyū Dentetsu kabushiki gaisha), a wholly owned subsidiary operating railways in the Greater Tokyo Area.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (/ˈbɜːrkʃər/) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger (from 1978 to 2023). Greg Abel now oversees most of the company's investments and has been named as Buffett's successor. Buffett personally owns 38.4% of the Class A voting shares of Berkshire Hathaway, representing a 15.1% overall economic interest in the company.

The company is often compared to an investment fund; between 1965, when Buffett gained control of the company, and 2023, the company's shareholder returns amounted to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8% compared to a 10.2% CAGR for the S&P 500. However, in the 10 years ending in 2023, Berkshire Hathaway produced a CAGR of 11.8% for shareholders, compared to a 12.0% CAGR for the S&P 500. From 1965 to 2023, the stock price had negative performance in only eleven years. In August 2024, Berkshire Hathaway became the eighth U.S. public company and the first non-technology company to be valued at over $1 trillion on the list of public corporations by market capitalization.

Koreatown (Korean: 코리아타운; RR: Koriataun), shortened to K-Town, is a Korean enclave in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, centered on 32nd Street between Madison Avenue and the intersection with Sixth Avenue and Broadway, which is known as Greeley Square. The neighborhood in Midtown South features over 150 businesses of various types and sizes, ranging from small restaurants and beauty salons to large branches of Korean banking conglomerates. Koreatown, Manhattan, has become described as the "Korean Times Square" and has emerged as the international economic outpost for the Korean chaebol.

Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, television channels, and television stations, including the Albany Times-Union, Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, Cosmopolitan and Esquire. It owns 50 percent of the A&E Global Media cable network group and 20 percent of the Walt Disney Company's sports division ESPN Inc.. The conglomerate also owns Fitch Group and First Databank.

NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is mostly involved in the media and entertainment industry, named for its two most significant divisions: the National Broadcasting Company (NBC)—one of the United States' Big Three television networks—and Universal Pictures, one of the major Hollywood film studios.

It also has a significant presence in broadcasting through a portfolio of domestic and international properties, including Bravo, Telemundo, and Universo, the streaming service Peacock and ownership stakes in Snap Inc. and Vox Media. Via its Universal Destinations & Experiences division, NBCUniversal is also the third-largest operator of amusement parks in the world.

Thomson Reuters Corporation (/ˈrɔɪtərz/ ROY-tərz) is a Canadian multinational content-driven technology conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, and maintains its headquarters in the city at 19 Duncan Street.

Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of the British company Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. It is majority-owned by the Woodbridge Company, a holding company for the Thomson family of Canada.