| Companies | When | Conflict | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pazzi vs. Medici | 1474–1478 | The two Florentine banking families compete for papal accounts. With the help of Pope Sixtus IV, the Pazzis plot to kill Lorenzo de’ Medici in 1478. Lorenzo’s brother, Giuliano, is murdered, but Lorenzo escapes. | The Medicis: Anyone with the name Pazzi is forced to take a new name after a crowd tortures and hangs the head of the Pazzi family. |
| East India Company vs. Dutch East India Company | 1602–1799 | Chartered by Elizabeth I, the East India Company seeks to break the Dutch monopoly on the spice trade in Asia. The rivalry is fierce: in 1623 a Dutch governor in the Spice Islands executes ten East India employees. | The East India Company: The English operation takes over the spice market. The Dutch East India Company—at one time the largest corporation on earth—shuts down in 1799. |
| Pabst vs. Schlitz | 1889–1960 | By 1874, Pabst’s brewery is the United States’ largest. Schlitz takes over as the world’s top-selling brewery from 1903 until Prohibition, then resumes that position in 1934. | Neither: By 1960 both Pabst and Schlitz are overshadowed by Anheuser-Busch, which, by 2017, produces 46 percent of all beer sold in the U.S. |
| Ford vs. General Motors | 1908–2009 | In the race for superiority in the automotive industry, Ford leads until Model T sales begin to decline in the early 1920s, and the automaker ceases to produce it in 1927. | Ford: In the race for superiority in the automotive industry, Ford leads until Model T sales begin to decline in the early 1920s, and the automaker ceases to produce it in 1927. |
| Macy’s vs. Gimbels | 1910–1986 | The department stores’ struggle for primacy in U.S. markets inspires a saying about trade secrets: “Would Macy’s tell Gimbels?” | Macy’s: Gimbels closes in 1986. In 2006 the New York Times remembers it as “Brooklyn to Macy’s Manhattan” but notes it has “gone the way of the wall of Wall Street, the canal of Canal Street, and the New York Herald of Herald Square.” |
| Samsung vs. LG | 1969– | Two of the largest South Korean conglomerates (known as chaebols) compete over electronics manufacturing and sales, even though Samsung’s founder, Lee Byung-chull, and LG’s founder, Koo In-hwoi, are in-laws. Each accuses the other of corporate espionage. | Samsung: Though the two continue to vie for control of the cell phone market, Samsung dominates semiconductor and flat-screen sales. |
| Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi-Cola | 1975– | Though the two soda makers have been going at it since the late nineteenth century, in 1975 Pepsi unveils a challenge campaign—blind taste tests at malls—that claims most prefer Pepsi. In response, Coke develops and releases “New Coke,” an unpopular reformulation. | Coke: The company’s market share rises over the past decade, from 17.3 percent to 17.8 percent, while Pepsi’s falls, from 10.3 percent to 8.4 percent. |
