ThirstyFish

The most recognized companies in the world usually have very interesting beginnings. UPS is no exception. The United Parcel Service is the worlds largest small package carrier. It was founded in 1907 by two teenage friends with a bicycle and $100 burrowed money (~$2500 in today's dollars). By 1962, the company had sales of about $550,000 and 22,000 employees. With the advent of the Internet, UPS launched online package tracking in the 1990's. UPS had an annual net income of over a billion dollars in 2010.

The most interesting fact about UPS is that it became a public company in 1999, 93 years after its establishment. Contrast that with the Dot-com Bubble of the late 1990's where internet based companies (dot-coms) with very little intrinsic value were traded at thousands of times their worth. When the bubble burst in 2000, only a handful of these companies remained. As always, many "smart" investors made stag profits from the IPO market created by the bubble. The usual suspects, investment firms like Citigroup and Merrill Lynch were found to mislead investors. Punishment? Only slaps on the hands.

The latest and probably the biggest bubble in history was the housing bubble of the late 2000's. When the bubble popped, it nearly brought down the world economy. Once again, banks and investment firms were the culprits. The Occupy Movement would be so much bigger if people really understood how big these scams really are and how large financial firms operate with impunity. Companies like UPS provide real services, have real products, whereas most financial companies operate in a world of speculation. If they just stuck to what they were supposed to do, it would not be a problem.

Nemo Me Impune Lacessit: No one attacks me with impunity.

Update: Someone told me that my vilifying of banks was not wise. I told him that the verb vilify implies slander, a malicious, false, and defamatory statement. The statements made here have been fact-checked and are easily verifiable. If someone mugs you on the street, do you vilify him or do you call him for what he is; a villain.