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> "Compare the size of these companies, in their time, to the Soviet-scale bureaucracies of Facebook, Apple, Amazon or Google." Not sure what you're trying to
by ThrowawayR2 6y ago
> "Compare the size of these companies, in their time, to the Soviet-scale bureaucracies of Facebook, Apple, Amazon or Google."
Not sure what you're trying to say here. I'll wager that Bell Systems at its peak was probably was larger than even Amazon in terms of total employees, given that they ran the nationwide telephone network. Xerox was no slouch in size in its heyday either, given the ubiquity of photocopiers at every single office everywhere.
[EDIT] From Wikipedia: "At the time of its breakup in the early 1980s, the Bell System had assets of $150 billion (equivalent to $370 billion in 2019) and employed over one million people." So at least as many employees as Amazon currently has and enough market cap for consideration as a FAANG.