Words: Jonathan Wells
Captains of industry, beware! Because James Bond, superspy extraordinaire, seems to have it in for you. From telecommunications tycoons to diamond dealers, the man from MI6 seems to relish in taking down the bigwigs; sifting through magnates until he finds himself a megalomaniac.
And then, once he’s identified a rogue executive or dictatorial entrepreneur, 007 stages a hostile takeover; dismantling brands and businesses from the outside in. He’s wreaked untold havoc on the FTSE 100 over the years — but how many of these unlucky conglomerates and corporations could you name? And how many could you identify from logo alone?
Below, we’ve rounded up 12 monograms, emblems, symbols and seals used throughout the Bond canon. Guess as you scroll — and see how many of this dirty dozen you can get right…
#1: Can you guess which organisation this logo represents?
Answer: SPECTRE (from Dr. No, Spectre, Thunderball and more), CEO: Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Director), Headquarters: Paris, France, Business plan: Spectre loves to stir the pot. It’s been party to many nefarious schemes over the years, but the organisation’s raison d’être is to instigate conflict between powerful enemies, and seize power during the fallout.
#2: Which fictional holding company bore this insignia?
Answer: Whyte Enterprises Inc. (from Diamonds Are Forever), CEO: Willard Whyte/Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Headquarters: Las Vegas, United States, Business plan: Despite owning subsidiaries in the petroleum, automobile and aviation industries, Whyte Enterprises was hijacked by Blofeld, who planed to construct a laser satellite with which to blackmail the world’s governments.
#3: Which aerospace giant was represented by this logo?
Answer: Drax Enterprise Corporation (from Moonraker), CEO: Sir Hugo Drax, Headquarters: California, United States, Business plan: It’s another corker, this one. Eugenics-mad Drax planned to wipe out the world population (something about a doomsday weapon) and recreate humanity with a master race in space. Talk about a fresh start.
#4: Which multi-national hardware supplier had this logo?
Answer: Zorin Industries (from A View To A Kill), CEO: Maximillian Zorin, Headquarters: Zorin’s Airship, Business plan: Zorin dreamt up a plan that began by triggering an earthquake along the San Andreas fault, and ended with him becoming the world’s leading microchip manufacturer. Suffice to say: it didn’t work out.
#5: Which global corporation operated using this symbol?
Answer: Carver Media Group Network (from Tomorrow Never Dies), CEO: Elliot Carver, Headquarters: Hamburg, Germany, Business plan: Media mogul Elliot Carver planned to use his multi-national news and entertainment company to provoke war between China and the UK. Why? To obtain lucrative exclusive broadcasting rights in China, of course!
#6: Which engineering company used this symbol as its logo?
Answer: Enterprises Auric A.G. (from Goldfinger), CEO: Auric Goldfinger, Headquarters: Coppet, Switzerland, Business plan: You’ve seen Goldfinger, haven’t you? The big man used to melt gold bars, turn them into aeroplane seats (or the bodywork of his Rolls-Royce) and smuggle them into India — where he’d sell for a huge profit.
#7: Which multi-national company is represented by this logo?
Answer: Osato Chemical & Engineering Co Ltd (from You Only Live Twice), CEO: Mr. Osato, Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan, Business plan: Another day, another nuclear threat. Spectre got its claws into Osato early on, and used the company to launch spacecraft from Japan. These craft attacked US and Russian probes (with the hope of inciting WWIII).
#8: Which global oil and construction company used this motif?
Answer: King Industries PLC (from The World Is Not Enough), CEO: Elektra King, Headquarters: London, United Kingdom, Business plan: Bit of a mad one, this. King, embittered by her family, decided to detonate a nuclear submarine in Istanbul in order to monopolise the world’s oil market — ruining competitors and making billions in the process.
#9: Which shipping company was represented by this emblem?
Answer: Stromberg Shipping Lines (from The Spy Who Loved Me), CEO: Karl Stromberg, Headquarters: Atlantis, Sardinia, Business plan: You know, same old, same old: develop a submarine-tracking system. Capture a few nuclear subs. Purge the world using a big nasty atomic war. Then begin civilisation once again — under the sea. Basic stuff.
#10: Which criminal consortium used this as its calling card?
Answer: Janus Crime Syndicate (from GoldenEye), CEO: Alec Trevelyan (Founder), Headquarters: St. Petersburg, Russia, Business plan: Despite starting out as top-flight arms dealers headquartered in St Petersburg, Janus eventually planned to hijack a secret Soviet space weapon — and use it rob over £4 billion from the Bank of England.
#11: Which mining company operated with this as its logo?
Answer: Graves Corporation (from Die Another Day), CEO: Gustav Graves, Headquarters: Ice Palace, Iceland, Business plan: This is where things get tsunami-surfingly weird. Graves not only laundered African conflict diamonds — but also plotted to cut a path through the Korean Demilitarised Zone using with concentrated sunlight.
#12: Which criminal organisation used this insignia?
Answer: Quantum (from Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace), CEO: Mr. White, Headquarters: Unknown, Business plan: Existing in the shadows, Quantum contracted third parties to avoid implicating itself — through a global goal of amassing wealth and power through international terrorism and government infiltration.
Need some more practice? Revise your villainous 007 knowledge with our definitive ranking of Bond bad guys…
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