Secret: Meet Five of the World's Most Mysterious Companies

Everyone has watched a movie or series in which the great villain in history was not specifically a person, but an entire company or corporation that sought profit regardless of the harm it caused humanity.

Good examples are the Alien franchise's Mega Corporation Weyland-Yutani and the Tyrell Corporation of the movie "Bladerunner." But have you ever stopped to think that there may be sinister companies like that in the real world too?

Listed below are 5 companies that, although they may not be considered malignant, certainly have an air of intrigue around them that can leave the most paranoid with their hair standing up.

1. Osterhout Design Group - ODG

Unknown to the Brazilian public, this small San Francisco-based company creates heavy-duty smart goggles and high-tech diving masks for the US Army.

Founded in 1999 as a technology incubator, ODG thrived only on military contracts, never having received any external funding, and therefore without having its products publicized. Even so, their profits are astronomical.

Only now, after Microsoft paid $ 150 million for some of ODG's patents, did the company decide to invest in the open market. Still in 2015, they will launch a “civil” line of their military equipment, but certainly not at the same level of performance. According to Nima Shams, the company's vice president, Osterhout's glasses will be somewhere between Google Glass and Oculus Rift.

2. Renaissance Technologies

Founded in 1982, Renaissance is a fund management company that currently has a global portfolio of over $ 22 billion in assets. The company is famous for its "black box" formulas - secret methods and equations used to predict currency and financial market fluctuations.

Mathematicians, statisticians, physicists, and other thinkers specializing in diverse areas of economics develop these well-kept formulas. Are the company's algorithms the real key to predicting the market and making money, or is there anything else behind all these calculations?

3. Kentucky Fried Chicken - KFC

In 1930, Colonel Harland Sanders opened his first restaurant, where he served pieces of chicken seasoned with a secret recipe that he himself created. Today, the franchise has more than 15, 000 stores worldwide.

The original recipe, listing the 11 herbs and spices used in preparing the famous dish and handwritten by the colonel himself? It is still stored at the company's headquarters in Kentucky.

In 2008, it was first removed from headquarters so that the company could improve its security system. The manuscript was placed in a briefcase with a password, which was handcuffed to the arm of a security expert, who then left the scene in an armored and escorted car.

One couple claimed to have found a copy of the recipe in their basement in 2001. They were immediately sued by the restaurant chain, which withdrew the process as soon as it was found that the recipe did not match the original.

4. Tootsie Roll Industry, Inc.

The Wall Street Journal calls Tootsie Roll Inc., maker of the eponymous candy, America's secret empire. 64 million units of the candy are made daily at the company's factory, founded almost 120 years ago by an Austrian immigrant.

The company's profits are nowhere to be revealed, and its former CEO, Melvin Gordon, was considered the real-world Willy Wonka. The reclusive man died in January 2015 at the age of 95 after leading the company for over half a century.

He never gave interviews, appeared at press conferences, or held quarterly investor meetings, as most major US companies often do. Access to the inside of the Tootsie Rolls factory is strictly forbidden, and they say the only way to tour there is by jumping over the fence and sneaking around.

5. Monsanto Company

Founded in 1901, Monsanto Company is a multinational in the fields of agricultural biotechnology and agrochemicals. From bribery of law enforcement officials and lawsuits against farmers for patent infringement to toxic pollution from the environment to the discovery of radioactive iron in pregnant foods, Monsanto has a long, dark and controversial past.

In many places, the company name means greed, scandal, corruption and aggressive politics. In 2014, protests against the company took place in 436 cities in 52 countries simultaneously.

* Originally posted on 21/02/2015.

***

Do you know the Mega Curioso newsletter? Weekly, we produce exclusive content for lovers of the biggest curiosities and bizarres of this big world! Register your email and do not miss this way to keep in touch!