BASF AG is a German chemical company and the largest chemical company in the world. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik. Today, the four letters are a registered trademark and the company is listed on both the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. The BASF Group comprises more than 160 subsidiaries and joint ventures and operates production sites in 41 countries in Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen am Rhein (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany). BASF has customers in over 170 countries and supplies about 8,000 products to a wide variety of industries.

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW TYO: 4850 ) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan. The Dow Chemical Company is currently the largest chemical manufacturer in the World. Dow Chemical is the leading Company and major provider of plastics, chemicals, and agricultural products. With presence in 156 Countries and more than 45,000 employees around the world, Dow is one of the top world companies in innovation and research and development, with more than $1 billion annual expenditure in R&D and the single largest concentation of PhD and Engineers in the United States. Its vision under the current CEO, Mr. Andrew Liveris, is to contribute to create a better world.

In the twentieth century, DuPont led the polymer revolution by developing many highly successful materials such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Lucite, Teflon, Mylar, Kevlar, M5 fiber, Nomex, and Tyvek. DuPont has also been significantly involved in the refrigerant industry, developing and producing the Freon (CFCs) series and later, more environmentally-friendly refrigerants. In the paint and pigment industry, it has created synthetic pigments and paints, such as ChromaFlair. In the twentieth century, DuPont led the polymer revolution by developing many highly successful materials such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Lucite, Teflon, Mylar, Kevlar, M5 fiber, Nomex, and Tyvek. DuPont has also been significantly involved in the refrigerant industry, developing and producing the Freon (CFCs) series and later, more environmentally-friendly refrigerants. In the paint and pigment industry, it has created synthetic pigments and paints, such as ChromaFlair.

Bayer AG is a German chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in 1863. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is well-known for its original brand of aspirin. Bayer AG was founded in Germany in 1863 by Friedrich Bayer and his partner, Johann Friedrich Weskott. Bayer's first major product was acetylsalicylic acid, a modification of salicylic acid or salicin, a folk remedy found in the bark of the willow. By 1899, Bayer's trademark Aspirin was registered worldwide for Bayer's brand of acetylsalicylic acid, but through the widespread use to describe all brands of the compound, and Bayer's inability to protect its trademark, the word "aspirin" lost its trademark status in the United States and some other countries. It is now widely used in the US for all brands of the drug. However in some other countries, such as Canada, Germany, and Switzerland it is still a registered trademark of Bayer.

Exxon Global Corporate Headquarters are located in Irving, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, whereby this company markets products around the world under the brands of Exxon, Mobil, and Esso; it also owns hundreds of smaller subsidiaries such as Imperial Oil Limited and SeaRiver Maritime. Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), headquartered in Irving, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, USA, is the largest publicly traded integrated oil and gas company in the world, formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. As of 2006 it is the largest company in the world as ranked by the Forbes Global 2000 and the largest company in the world as ranked by the Fortune Global 500. It is the largest of the six oil "supermajors" with daily production of 6.5m boe.

British Petroleum is a British energy company with headquarters in London, one of six vertically integrated private sector petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum spirit "supermajors" in the world. In August 1998, British Petroleum merged with the Amoco Corporation (Amoco), forming "BP Amoco." This move was widely viewed as a takeover of Amoco by BP and considered officially described as a merger for only legal reasons. The newly-renamed "bp" became an initialism no longer overtly standing for "British Petroleum". At the same time BP used the punning tagline "Beyond Petroleum" in some advertising campaigns. The step away from "British Petroleum" was in part a reflection of the fact that BP had become a global business and also that the direct identification of the company as British could be a disadvantage in some areas of operation.

Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies, all refer to a large grouping of independently operated Japanese companies which share the Mitsubishi brand name. While the companies are autonomous, they share the brand name and trademark, as well as a common legacy. The Mitsubishi group of companies form a loose entity, the Mitsubishi Keiretsu, which is often referenced in US and Japanese media and official reports; in general these companies all descend from the zaibatsu of the same name. A keiretsu is a common feature of Japanese corporate governance and refers to a collaborative group of integrated companies with extensive share crossholdings, personnel swaps and strategic co-operation.

Degussa AG is a multinational chemistry corporation based in Düsseldorf, Germany. Degussa employs about 45,000 people. It is Germany's third largest chemistry company and the world's largest producer of specialty chemicals. Degussa was acquired by Ruhrkohle AG in 2006. In 2003 Degussa was involved in a major controversy surrounding its involvement in the construction of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe ("Holocaust Memorial") in Berlin. Degussa produced the anti-graffiti substance Protectosil used to cover the stelae which are the major element in the memorial. The controversy arose because Degussa had been involved in several different ways in the Nazi persecution the Jews. Degesch, a subsidiary, even produced the Zyklon B used to poison people in the gas chambers. The board of trustees of the memorial ultimately decided that, given the cost of eliminating Degussa's role in the project at that relatively late stage, the use of Protectosil ought to continue, despite protests from many Jewish groups.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC is a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest energy corporations in the world, and one of the six "supermajors". The company's principal business is the exploration for and the production, processing, transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons. Shell also has a significant petrochemicals business, and an embryonic renewable energy sector developing wind, hydrogen and solar power opportunities. Shell is incorporated in the UK with its corporate headquarters in The Hague, its tax residence is in the Netherlands, and its primary listings on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Amsterdam.

Monsanto was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1901, by John Francis Queeny, a 30-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry. He funded the start-up with his own money and capital from a soft drink distributor, and gave the company his wife's maiden name. The Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) is a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. It is the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed as its flagship product, Roundup. Monsanto is also by far the leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed, holding 70%–100% market share for various crops. Agracetus, owned by Monsanto, exclusively produces Roundup Ready soybean seed for the commercial market. In March 2005, it finalized the purchase of Seminis Inc, making it also the largest conventional seed company in the world. It has over 16,000 employees worldwide, and an annual revenue of US$6.3 billion reported for 2005.