The size and scope of the world's biggest technology companies seem beyond anything we could have imagined in the distant past. Companies like Microsoft, Meta, and Google are described by many as monopolies in particular sectors and have landed themselves in trouble with the law over it.
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Writing in his book 'Zero to One', Palantir and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel commented on the lengths that monopolies would go to hide their absolute control over a particular market segment.
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His book aimed to outline a formula for building the companies of the future and monopolizing new markets instead of simply fighting in existing ones. To avoid the legal, regulatory, and general backlash that would come from embracing a company's dominance in a sector, he argued that they should instead try to hide their power.
Thiel's experience in tech and business extends over several decades, with PayPal among the first startup companies he had a hand in creating. He was also an early investor in Facebook.
Big tech, big fines
The playbook that Thiel outlined is one that we've seen all too often play out in real-time in the last few years, especially considering the market activities of some of the biggest tech companies on the planet.
Despite all their attempts to hide monopolistic practices, making arguments that they do indeed compete with other businesses in different spaces, they've often been found out by both US and EU regulators over violations of competition and antitrust law.
Companies that have previously been investigated or fined include Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon, among others. The largest antitrust fine was paid by Google in 2018 to the tune of €4.13 billion by the European Commission over forcing smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Chrome on its Android operating system.
