4) Du Pont: Eleuthere Irenee du Pont de Nemours founded the Du Pont family empire in 1802 when he established a gunpowder mill in Delaware. The Du Pont family rooted itself in US affairs, using back-channel connections with Napoleon to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. By WWI, the Du Pont Company was supplying 40% of the world’s explosives, and by WWII it was producing plutonium for US atomic bombs. It’s believed that the Du Pont family’s support of US war efforts allowed it to dictate the prohibition of hemp farming and marijuana use in order to protect their nylon manufacturing business. Today the DuPont Corporation is the 2nd largest producer of GMO seeds in the world and it actively funds a “Doomsday Seed Vault” that ensures its product can replant the Earth after a global disaster.
