“Corporations are like countries now, there’s a king, there are serfs, there’s a court, basically everything but moats. They’re feudal societies, and there are good ones and bad ones.” — Tony Gilroy

“Remember: your bosses prefer to keep you in dependent positions. It is in their interest that you do not become self-reliant, and so they will tend to hoard information. You must secretly work against this and seize this information for yourself.” — Robert Greene

You are on your death bed. You are a Content Creator, responsible for a new character in film history, say. But you know that your character will be forgotten because you don’t have the financial backing or the organizational strength to keep it going. On your death bed, what will happen to your cherished character?

What did George Lucas choose to do? He sold Lucasfilm to Disney, for the tidy sum of US$4 billion. Was it only for the money? No, Lucas obviously wanted his legacy preserved — he wanted Darth Vader to go on “living” — and the whole universe he created to continue to have substance, integrity. Disney promised that. When Disney recreated the Millennium Falcon on Disneyland grounds, it was signifying a permanence to Star Wars that otherwise would have proved ephemeral to grasp.

Later on, after the deal, Lucas accused Disney of being “white slavers” — but I think he was secretly glad to have his brainchild in capable corporate hands. The corporate legacy keepers wouldn’t let him down — and if you have a profitable idea, they won’t let you down either.

In the late 1800s, an inventor came up with Coca-Cola. In the 2000s we’re still drinking it. If we go into space, it’ll be there by our side. The Coke corporation bottles it and protects the secret recipe to Coke. The legacy of that first inventor is secure — has been ever since it was taken from his hands and put into the godlike hands of the sequence of CEOs of the beverage company.

Corporations are possibly immortal. Take Disney, for instance, to return to the first example. Disney can never really go broke. They have multiple theme parks on prime land. They have a vast film library. If the shit ever hits the fan, they can lay off at will and retreat to the two main American theme parks, one in California, the other in Florida. Worse comes to worst, they can sell off one of the theme parks for the valuable land-space currently occupied by the rides. Disney won’t die.

Microsoft is a more uncertain bet. So are General Motors and Ford. Technology companies aren’t like entertainment conglomerates or food entities — their markets are always in flux. If Microsoft buys you and folds your software into Office, it might not be there in 50 years. Microsoft could always die. That is why you have to be careful who you sell your legacy idea to. For every immortal Coca-Cola Co. and Disney corporation there are 20 failures waiting in the wings.

Lucas knew that Disney was an industry-dominating winner. When 20th Century Fox was sold to Disney, the original Star Wars film — Episode 4, technically — joined the other 8 primary films in the franchise stable, reuniting the concept as a whole. Lucas must have been satisfied.

Corporations are like the Vatican, which preserves ancient volumes and artwork, and has been doing so for 2,000 years. It isn’t hard to imagine a Vatican still being around in 2,000 years, and if it isn’t, whichever religion succeeds it will quite possibly absorb its responsibilities, including the safeguarding of antiquities and knowledge. You could argue that corporations are in an even stronger position than the Vatican. Religions change with the ages, but money is forever. (Mark that as a quote, bubba!) The price we pay as consumers is factored into the safeguarding of corporate antiquities and knowledge. *Greg making circles in the air that trail green smoke*

As time passes, the corporate stewardship is looking like a better and better deal. What would Pixar have been before its assimilation by Disney? Marvel Comics? They were weak entities, exposed and vulnerable on the global marketplace. Bigger and bigger megacorporations are striding out of the Coliseum, gladiators for our minds and wallets. Their acumen at acquiring idea factories will determine not just the fate of weaker products, but their own fate. After all, Star Wars franchises like The Mandalorian fill the Disney+ streaming service development pipeline.

Ideas are like colonies of insects. When they cluster together in a hive, they are strong. The idea-hive that is Disney is brimming over with faith, reason and eye candy. Indeed, Disney is awash in legacy ideas, some self-generated like Mickey Mouse and Goofy, others imported from the far-off Faraway out of love and tender mercy. Yes, corporations know mercy. It is in their DNA — mercy sells. Ask Allah.

There will come a day when there are only 8 major corporations and a vast ecosystem of under-20-employee outfits. When that day comes, the legacy role of the 8 major corporations will become more essential than ever. Who knows? Corporations may even outlive the governments that granted them charters to exist in the first place.