RE:RE:RE:The 2 companies that own the world and want to own you, Well, those are the two largest asset management companies involved in passive investing (mutual funds and etfs that track the various indexes), which have largely become the norm over the past decade and half, and has largely overtaken/replaced active management.
most passive investors opt to own the s&p 500. Those stocks you listed are components of the s&p 500, hence they own a cra p load of not only those stocks, but a lot of other large caps, on behalf of clients that hold blackrock and vanguard etfs and mutual funds.
themason wrote: All you have to do is check who owns the most stock in these companies, go to yahoo and check who are the top holders in Goldman, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Coke, Pepsi, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Exxon, BP, etc, you get the idea. You will find that Blackrock or Vanguard own the most stock in these companies, sometimes you will see that Berkshire owns the most stock until you find out that Blackrock and Vanguard own Berkshire.