Big Five (Hawaii)
Encyclopedia
The Big Five was the name given to a group of what started as sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

 processing corporations that wielded considerable political power in the Territory of Hawaii
Territory of Hawaii
The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when its territory, with the exception of Johnston Atoll, was admitted to the Union as the fiftieth U.S. state, the State of Hawaii.The U.S...

 during the early 20th century and leaned heavily towards the Hawaii Republican Party. The Big Five were Castle & Cooke
Castle & Cooke
Castle & Cooke, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture...

, Alexander & Baldwin
Alexander & Baldwin
Following World War II, the company entered a new business: land development and real estate. The company formed a new subsidiary, the Kahului Development Co., to develop housing in the Kahului area. In the following years, the company became more involved in the development of its land and the...

, C. Brewer & Co.
C. Brewer & Co.
C. Brewer & Co., Ltd. was a Honolulu-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company did most of its business in agriculture....

, American Factors (now Amfac
Amfac (Hawaii)
Amfac, Inc. formerly known as American Factors and originally H. Hackfeld and Company was a land development company in Hawaii. Founded in 1849 as a retail and sugar business, it was considered one of the so-called Big Five companies in the Territory of Hawaii...

) and Theo H. Davies & Co.
Theo H. Davies & Co.
Theo H. Davies & Co. is a company that was one of the Big Five trading and agricultural companies in the Territory of Hawaii.-History:Starkey, Janion, & Co. was a trading company founded in Liverpool in April 1845 by Englishmen James and John Starkey and Robert Cheshire Janion. Janion arrived in...

. The extent of the power that the Big Five had was considered by some as equivalent to an oligarchy
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...

. Attorney General of Hawaii
Attorney General of Hawaii
The Attorney General of Hawaii is the chief legal and law enforcement officer of Hawaii. In present-day statehood within the United States, he or she is appointed by the elected governor with the approval of the state senate and is responsible for a state department charged with advising the...

 Edmund Pearson Dole
Edmund Pearson Dole
Edmund Pearson Dole was a lawyer from New England who served as the first Attorney General of the Territory of Hawaii, and argued a case up to the U.S. Supreme Court. He also wrote several novels.-Life:...

, referring to the Big Five, said in 1903, "There is a government in this Territory which is centralized to an extent unknown in the United States, and probably almost as centralized as it was in France under Louis XIV."

History

Sugar plantations in Hawaii
Sugar plantations in Hawaii
Sugarcane was introduced to Hawaii by its first inhabitants in approximately 600 AD and was observed by Captain Cook upon arrival in the islands in 1778. Sugar quickly turned into a big business and generated rapid population growth in the islands with 337,000 people immigrating over the span of a...

 had a slow start, although the plant had been cultivated for hundreds of years. When Hawaii was annexed by the United States, change came rapidly as sugarcane plantations gained a new infusion of investment. By eliminating tariffs imposed on sugarcane producers by the United States, planters had more money to spend on equipment, land and labor. Increased capital resulted in increased production. Five kingdom-era corporations benefited from annexation, becoming multi-million dollar conglomerations that controlled 90% of the sugar business.
The companies colluded to keep the prices on their goods and services high. Their profits skyrocketed even more. Soon, the executives of the Big Five sat on each others' boards of directors. With economic power came political power, and the families usually favored the Republican Party of Hawaii.

During the Democratic Revolution of 1954, the unions inflicted a decisive blow against the giants and the sugar industry declined after Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 became a state in 1959; so did each of the Big Five companies. The greatest post-statehood challenge came as the U.S. Department of Justice challenged the ownership of Matson Navigation Company
Matson Navigation Company
The Matson Navigation Company, a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, is a private shipping company with roots extending into the late 19th century...

 by four of the five companies (all except Theo H. Davies). The lawsuit was settled when the four companies agreed not to share officers, executives, and directors. Alexander and Baldwin eventually bought out the other three stakes in Matson in 1964.

In the 1970s, as sugar plantations closed, many of the Big Five companies themselves were bought out. Where the companies are now:
  • Theo H. Davies was bought in 1973 by Scottish-controlled Hong Kong firm Jardine Matheson
    Jardine Matheson Holdings
    Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited often referred to as Jardines, is a multinational corporation incorporated in Bermuda and based in Hong Kong. While listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Singapore Exchange, the vast majority of Jardines shares are traded in Singapore...

    . The only remaining portion of the company is a blind pool JTH Davies which is incorporated in Manila
    Manila
    Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

     and trades on the Philippine Stock Exchange
    Philippine Stock Exchange
    The Philippine Stock Exchange is the national stock exchange of the Philippines. It is one of the oldest stock exchanges in Southeast Asia, having been in continuous operation since its inception in 1927...

    . Until December 2004 it owned the Pizza Hut
    Pizza Hut
    Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....

     and Taco Bell
    Taco Bell
    Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...

     franchises in Hawaii.
  • C. Brewer was bought in 1978 by Philadelphia-based IU International, and was later bought out by its management in 1986. In 2001 the company's shareholders voted to liquidate the company over several years.
  • In 1985, Castle & Cooke
    Castle & Cooke
    Castle & Cooke, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture...

     merged with Flexi-Van Corporation, owned by David H. Murdock
    David H. Murdock
    David Howard Murdock is an American businessman. Forbes ranks him as the 130th-richest person in the "Forbes 400" list and 376th in the "World's Billionaires" list, with a net worth of US$3 billion as of March 2011....

    . Murdock became its chairman after the merger, then took full control in 2000. It still owns large portions of Central Oahu
    Oahu
    Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

     and the Iwilei area of Honolulu around the former Dole Food Company
    Dole Food Company
    Dole Food Company, Inc. is an American-based agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Westlake Village, California. The company is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, operating with 74,300 full-time and seasonal employees who are responsible for over 300...

     pineapple cannery, as well as nearly all of the island of Lānai
    Lanai
    Lānai or Lanai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is also known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The only town is Lānai City, a small settlement....

    .
  • Amfac was bought out in 1988 by Chicago-based JMB Realty
    JMB Realty
    JMB Realty Corporation is a real estate investment company based in Chicago that at one time was one of the largest property developers in the United States. The company was founded as Robert Judelson & Co. in 1968...

    . In 2002 Amfac declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy
    Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
    Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...

     and emerged as Kaanapali Land, LLC. It owns 5,000 acres (20 km²) in West Maui. Its department store, Liberty House
    Liberty House
    Liberty House, headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, was a department store and specialty store chain with locations throughout the Hawaiian Islands and on Guam, as well as several locations on the mainland U.S.-History:...

    , was sold to Federated Department Stores
    Federated Department Stores
    Macy's, Inc. is a department store holding company and owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores. Macy's Inc.'s stores specialize mostly in retail clothing, jewelery, watches, dinnerware, and furniture....

     and is now part of the Macy's
    Macy's
    Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...

     chain.
  • Alexander & Baldwin was not bought out and remains strong thanks to its ownership of Matson Navigation, the leading ocean transportation company between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. Today it owns about 91,000 acres (370 km²) of land and is the fifth-largest landowner in the state.

In fiction

The domination of Hawaii by the Big Five forms much of the background for the book The Revolt of Mamie Stover
The Revolt of Mamie Stover
The Revolt of Mamie Stover is a 1951 novel by William Bradford Huie about a Mississippi prostitute, later a war profiteer in Honolulu. A movie version directed by Raoul Walsh was filmed in 1956 with Jane Russell in the title role....

, describing the life of a prostitute in Hawaii in the 1940s.

James Michener's fictionalized account of Hawaiian history, Hawaii
Hawaii (novel)
Hawaii is a novel by James Michener published in 1959. Written in episodic format like many of Michener's works, the book narrates the story of the original Hawaiians who sailed to the islands from Bora Bora, the early American missionaries and merchants, and the Chinese and Japanese immigrants who...

included references to the Big Five, which he called "the Fort".
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