It was the East India Company (a multinational corporate) who owned the tea thrown overboard in Boston and in very very simple terms the whole affair was basically over taxes put in place to bail them out. Sound familiar?

The modern corporate like Goldman Sachs however doesn't have its own standing army and navy. They use their power and influence to cause governments to do the dirty work for them. To quote Friedman - "McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the designer of the F-15."

I'd recommend this if you're interested in reading more on their history: https://www.amazon.com/Corporation-That-Changed-World-Multin...