Approached from a novelty perspective, I think the exception is size and profit margin. These companies are simply too big (in terms of cash on hand & ability t

Approached from a novelty perspective, I think the exception is size and profit margin. These companies are simply too big (in terms of cash on hand & ability to generate profits). That's always been the problem with monopolies -- they get there, and then no one can compete. Which in this case seems a consequence of first mover advantage + capital-light tech scaling (aka large profit margins) + huge total addressable markets. Compared to Saudi Aramco's total profits -- Apple makes 63%, Microsoft makes 44%, Google makes 39%, Facebook makes 21%, & Amazon makes 13%. [0] And that's compared to a business that literally pumps money out of the ground. [0] https://fortune.com/global500/2020/search/?fg500_profits=desc https://fortune.com/global500/2020/search/?fg500_profits=des...