by Kyle Stone and Kevin Connor

Our research project on the Bay Area’s ten largest corporations was fully funded on Spot.us in early October and has come to a close, but with it we’ve built a lasting resource that we hope will continue to pay dividends for watchdog efforts in California.

We focused on identifying and profiling the most powerful and influential executives, managers, board members, employees, associates, and lobbyists affiliated with each company. In the course of the project we compiled data on over 400 people, added close to 5000 relationships connecting them, published ten in-depth profiles and stories (one of which was picked up by Alternet and Felix Salmon of Reuters), and created several network visualizations.

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I spent last week investigating Apple for our project Who’s Behind the Bay Area’s Top Ten Companies?, which we’ve posted as a pitch on Spot.us.

Good thing I researched Apple — number eight on our list of the Bay Area’s top 10 companies — because I’ve spent this week probing Google and there are a myriad of connections between the two. It’s well documented how quickly and easily Silicon Valley employees move between competing companies, but there are a high number of people moving between Google and Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and Facebook. There are also a large amount of Google employees who have started out as consultants at McKinsey & Company. Check out Google’s interlocks page for more specifics, but here’s some of what I uncovered.

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After about six weeks of drawing interest, building new friendships, and researching our brains out, we’ve managed to collect 27 donations from organizations and individuals who are rallying behind the Bay Area Research Project.  The result?  We’re inspired, and working harder than ever to close the funding gap, and publish our final research.

Why Donating Is Important

Hitting the $800 donation goal is more than a matter of pride for us.  Achieving our goal proves that ground-up, community-oriented projects are viable means for LittleSis to sustain itself in a future where grants and traditional sources of funding are scarce.

Cool Stuff We Have Already Done

If you haven’t donated yet, take a look at what we’ve already produced from our research:

• Northern California Elite: Interlocks – OK, so wealthy, successful Californians businesspersons share corporate connections.  But did you know that many sit on government boards and University Trustee Boards?  Can you guess which politicians they donate the most money to?
• In-depth company profiles on: McKesson, Apple, Chevron, and Hewlett-Packard
• Eyes on the Ties Visualizations

How to Donate

Visit our pitch on Spot.us, and click I’ll Donate $20. Don’t worry – you can donate as much or as little as you’d like.  Even $5 helps.

Tell Us What You Want

Is there something specific you’d like for us to research?  Email us and let us know.

Apple is next in our series on our latest project, Who’s Behind the Bay Area’s Most Powerful Companies?, which Kyle and Matthew have kicked off with posts on Chevron, McKesson, and Hewlett Packard.  The project is being funded by our pitch on Spot.us.

It’s no secret that Silicon Valley has a cutthroat employment cycle. Companies borrow employees from one another left and right and, generally, if one employee makes the bold move to switch over to a competing company, he usually takes others with him.

Apple is no exception. As one of the most established tech companies in Silicon Valley – and number eight on our list of the 10 most powerful Bay Area Companies – it’s only natural that a lot of employee turnover take place. Apple employees past, present, and future have ties to IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google – all the biggest Silicon Valley players, as well as smaller start-ups. Follow along with these relationships at Apple’s interlocks page.

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Last week Kyle wrote about some of the important names behind Chevron as part of our latest research project on LittleSis, which we’ve posted as a pitch on Spot.Us. We’re going to be blogging about our findings as we go, so we’ll hopefully produce a post about each of the ten companies we’re scrutinizing as part of this project.

Today I want to introduce you to some of the bigwigs behind McKesson — the world’s largest health care company and the third largest company in the SF Bay Area, headquartered in downtown SF — without naming any of its leadership, as a way of illustrating the kinds of networks that today’s typical megacorporation is plugged into. You can follow along at McKesson’s interlocks page on LittleSis.

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Research for the “Who’s Behind the Bay Area’s Most Powerful Companies?” project is now in full swing.  last week, I sifted through hundreds of Chevron-related press releases, financial documents, and executive board summaries in order to pull together the profiles highlighted below.

Note: I have made a special effort to call attention to Chevron executives and affiliates with specific involvement in Bay Area organizations, corporations, committees, and educational systems.

Excited about this stuff?  Show your support by making a small donation at our Spot.us page.

Executive Team

David J O’Reilly: Appointed the chairman and CEO of Chevron in 2000, O’Reilly has been an employee of Chevron for nearly 40 years. Before becoming CEO, O’Reilley worked as Vice-Prsident of the Chevron Chemical Company, Director of Chevron-Texaco, and Director of Caltex. O’Reilly is a director of the American Petroleum Institute, a member of the San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors, and the Bay Area Council.

Charles A. James: Joined Chevron in 2002 after serving as assistant attorney general in charge of the antitrust division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Previously, he was an employee of the Federal Trade Commission and a partner with Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Washington.  James also serves as a Trustee on the board of the San Francisco Ballet.

John S Watson: elected Vice Chairman of Chevron’s board in April, Watson oversaw the Chevron-Texaco merger in 2000, becoming Chevron-Texaco’s CFO.  Watson is also director of the American Petroleum Institute.  He holds a degree in agriculural economics from the University of Calofirnia Davis and is a director of the San Diego Padres.

Peter J. Robertson: Recently retired from Chevron’s executive board, Robertson is also co-chairman of the US- Saudi Arabian Business Council. In terms of local involvement, Robertson is the director of the Bay Area division of United Way of America, an organization dedicated to improving childhood literacy and community improvement.

Patricia A Woertz: Despite recently retiring from Chevron, Woertz worked for Chevron and its subsidiaries for nearly 30 years, including Gulf Oil, Chevron International, Chevron Canada, and Chevron Texaco.  Previously, she worked as an accountant for Ernst & Young, a Big Four accounting firm.  Woertz is also a regular member of the Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women in America list.  She sits on the board of directors of the California Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Trustees of the University of San Diego, and has addressed the Women in Leadership Conference at the University of California, Berkeley.

Patricia E. Yarrington: became Vice-President and a Treasurer of Chevron on January 1st, 2009.  Yarrington is also a member of the San Francisco Economic Advisory Council, where she serves as a director and advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.  Yarrington is also a Bay Area resident.

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