Breaking Up Overlarge Companies

The Koch book I'm reading makes it clear that companies can get so large that they begin to influence regulation, which makes them larger still. This is not healthy for the world at large. They begin to exert their own gravity, which upsets the orderly orbiting of commerce (to coin a metaphor).

With public corporations, as Bernie Sanders is proposing, there is a mechanism (antitrust legislation), a proven pathway to breaking up the Standard Oils and Bell Telephones of the country.

However, it's not clear what the mechanism would be for privately-held companies like Koch Industries. Interesting to contemplate that.

The danger, the harm to the business world, is the same or even greater. The need is readily identifiable.

What mechanism could be utilized, I wonder, without violating the bedrock of free enterprise? A progressive tax system perhaps -- the higher the gross receipts, the higher the tax rate?

Koch Industries is a corporation. Even though the stock is not publicly traded, it is still subject to anti-trust legislation and other applicable laws, e.g. OSHA, EPA. The only significant difference in the treatment of "public" vs "private" corporations are some financial restrictions on publicly-traded companies. Of course, these "restrictions" are written in such a way (at the behest of business) as to be beneficial to the corporations.

We supposedly have a progressive tax system, but - especially since 1980 - it has been made less progressive, with corporate and uber-wealthy tax burdens being shifted to the middle class.

Unless corporate and uber-wealthy money is removed completely from the electoral process, nothing will change.

Politicians have achieved latch.

They won't be willingly weaned.

What test would be applied to determine if a company is "overlarge"?

Pure receipts or employment wouldn't be good gauges.

Trust legislation (SFAIK) depends on market share. That might be problematic with highly diversified companies. And anti-monopoly regs aren't followed anymore so that'd need to change.