Sodexho

Pierre Bellon joined a little ship supply company founded by his grandfather in 1895 and observed a recession in ship supplying business and started Sodexho in Marseille in 1966.

One of the turning point in Sodexho’s history came in 1970. Bill Fishman, CEO of ARA services(A leading food services provider) called Pierre Bellon to Paris. Bill want to acquire Sodexho a 4 year company at that time. Bill Fishman coaxed Pierre Bellon to visit the US for a few weeks in 1970 as he hoped to buy Sodexho. After seeing companies which are 250 times bigger than Sodexho at that time, Pierre Bellon decided to stay in business

Sodexho stands for Societé d'Exploitation Hotelière.In English, this translates to "company that provides services used by hotels

In 2001, a student-led boycott of Sodexho services on 60 campuses called “Notwithourmoney” pressured Sodexho to sell their shares in Corrections Corporation of America, the leading private prison company in the U.S.

Sodexho founder Pierre Bellon’s infamous comment “I used to invest in hotels. But with prisons, I can guarantee 100 percent occupancy rate every night” was quoted by Michael Moore in his 1997 book, Downsize This!

Polo Ralph Lauren

Polo Ralph Lauren is the Official Outfitter of Wimbledon. Polo Ralph Lauren is the first designer in Wimbledon's 129 year history to create and outfit all on-court officials including chair umpires and ball persons

Forbes

Business Magazine Forbes was started by Bertie Charles Forbes in 1917 .

Forbes started his own magazine “devoted to doers and doings” in 1917. Originally, he wanted to call the publication Doers and Doings, but Walter Drey, the general manager of the Magazine of Wall Street, convinced his new business partner to use his last name because it was well-known with the investment community. In the end, the phrase was incorporated into the masthead: Forbes: Devoted to Doers and Doings.

The first cover story was a competition to find the best employer in America.

Forbes had success earlier in the year with a book called Men who are making America , a collection of short biographies about businessmen, and its success allowed him to start the magazine. In 1926, Forbes followed it up with a book titled Automotive giants of America .

some famous quotes by Bertie Charles Forbes:

Vitally important for a young man or woman is, first, to realize the value of education and then to cultivate earnestly, aggressively, ceaselessly, the habit of self-education.

The man who has done his level best, and who is conscious that he has done his best, is a success, even though the world may write him down as a failure

The most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.

The GM Nod

The GM Nod - Everyone sits in a meeting and their heads bob up and down, “yes sure, we will do that.” Then they leave that conference and turn to whoever is nearby and say: “Like I’ll ever agree to that.

Tallymen

The first advertisement for credit was placed in 1730 by Christopher Thorton, who offered furniture that could be paid off weekly.

From 18th century until the early part of the 20th century, Tallyman sold clothes in return for small weekly payments. They were called “Tallymen” because they kept a record or tally of what people had bought on a wooden stick. One side of the stick was marked with notches to represent the amount of debt and the other side was a record of payments

Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart has four collections named for homes she has either lived in or owns: Turkey Hill, Lily Pond, Opal Point, and Skylands.

Martha Stewart's attempted to claim the name of the town,Katonah,so that it can be used to sell paints, lighting, and home accessories was challenged by the residents of Katonah [via: Business week]

Saddam calling cards

Telefónica released those pre-paid calling cards in 2005 in Brazil showing the image of Saddam Hussein with US soldiers running after him.