Can you guess what company I consider to be the most powerful company in all of history? Microsoft maybe, with an annual income and cash stores that surpass the GNI of most small nations? The company that has their foot on the necks of the vast majoriy of personal and corporate computer system owners throughout the world? Nope. Surely then, it must be the General Electric Corporation. Formed by Thomas Alva Edison in 1892 and grown into a huge multinational conglomerate that provides electrical equipment, medical technology, power generation, infrastructure technology, finances, information and aviation technology to the world, it must be GE. Sorry, not even close.

The most powerful company in the history of the world was the British East India Company. You’re probably thinking, “You’re joking right; an import company more powerful than Microsoft or GE?”. That’s right, now you’ve got it. The East India Company had power almost equivalent to the British Empire. In fact, for all intents and purposes, the British East India Company (so powerful that it was often simply know as “The Company”) was the British Empire’s sole representative in all of the tea producing parts of the world. They had their own military, their own currency, the power to create laws and the ability to declare war (which they did three times against China). They were their own sovereignty. Unfortunately, they took advantage of that power and ruled the tea world with an iron fist for far too long. They created slavery in those countries, they brought opium addiction to China and they were responsible for the Opium Wars.

Now do you understand?

If you want to read the full, engrossing and rich history of this company’s role in the tea world, I highly recommend reading the New Tea Lover’s Treasury by James Norwood Pratt.