Name of Group: KeyTech Combined Industries (KTCI)
Type: Multinational Corporation
Assets:
-Multiple Solar farms around the world, most of them in the NAF
-Rocket test site in Mojave Desert (Secret)
-Rocket launch site in Mojave Desert (Secret)
-HQ, also in Mojave Desert
-Multiple factories (With a wide range of outputs), located outside the NAF in places like China and Taiwan to evade nationalization. Wages follow NAF minimums, which in China and Taiwan are insanely lucrative.
-Multiple research centers, all located in the NAF
-Several smaller companies in nearly all areas considered "technological", such as pharmaceuticals, programming, genetics, aerospace, oil drilling, even for-hire services such as a think tank. Of particular note is the fracking and refinery company that was the very beginning of KTCI
Personnel: 1,279,000, employed across a number of different divisions and sub-divisions. Mostly made up of factory workers and researchers.
History: KeyTech began as a small start-up in 2018, exploiting an untapped oil reserve in Louisiana. The land the oil reserve was under had been inherited by Fergus McClain after his mother died. The oil reserve had always been known, but his father refused to sell off the land or develop it for sentimental reasons. When the father died, everything he owned was passed on to his wife (There had been a falling out between Fergus and his parents). However, not long after, Fergus' mother died as well. With no surviving relatives, she had to give everything to Fergus in her will or give it to someone outside of the family (Which neither of Fergus' parents would ever do). When Fergus got the land, he immediately began developing it despite being halfway through college, founding the company now known as KeyTech. (He named it KeyTech in reference to his own unpublished short story, though the name also fit with his long term goals).
Due to the oil shortage beginning to hit, he was able to force an astronomical price on buyers, creating huge profits for himself. Using that money, he quickly expanded into actually refining the oil (As well as adding multiple more drilling locations both on land and at sea), then selling the product at prices lower than the refineries he continued to sell to, driving them out of business and making himself the best option while still making a huge profit. He then stopped selling crude oil to other companies, forcing them to go to drilling businesses with less desirable outputs and prices. With his oil drilling operation bringing in so much money, he opened up fracking operations anywhere that would allow him to do so, taking great care to make sure everything was safe. Along with the fracking, he opened up natural gas processing centers to complement his refineries. For a while he simply built up capital, the corporation that once made near constant news with announcements of new endeavors becoming nothing more than a common name associated with fossil fuels which continued to drive the economy.
Then, KTCI made headline news when it broke ground on the largest solar energy plant in the world, a 1,000 megawatt behemoth capable of powering 900,000 homes with clean energy. Aside from being record breaking, it was also a solar power planet being built by a company so far connected with natural gas and oil. Another surprise decorated the front of newspapers later that year, announcing that KTCI had merged with First Solar (One of the largest solar power companies in the US). However, that wasn't the only merger KTCI participated in. Later that year, it was announced that they had merged with Gamble & Baxter, pharmaceutical companies. It was probably around that point at which KTCI was an acceptable villain for Cyberpunk stories, as it might as well have changed its name to "Megacorp" when the merger occurred. (Note: All mergers so far mentioned gave the former CEO of the merged company control over it was a division of KTCI, while also giving them a percentage of all KTCI profits). Notably, KTCI operated nearly all of its factories in China and Taiwan, but followed United States labor laws. When asked by, Fergus McClain responded "Here in the states most people either live off of welfare or have a job with a living wage, that's not true in some places across the Pacific. In China, for example, people commit suicide over their jobs and live in company provided housing that's actually worse than no shelter at all. I have an opportunity to help people over there with negligible losses, so I might as well take it."
Over the following years, KTCI continued to merge with much smaller businesses such as independent labs and think tanks, amassing huge assets and using the profits to open yet more solar farms and natural gas related operations. By the time we war began the oil reserves once used by KTCI had run dry, but instead of abandoning the sites they auctioned the land off at reduced prices. The sea operations, however, were gifted to the US Navy to be used as refueling outposts and guard towers. They also fielded medical personnel on the battlefield, as well as doing extensive research into frontline medical solutions. Despite the support, KTCI refused to research or build weapons and armed vehicles no matter who asked. Everything they sold to the military was either medical or related to transport, and all transport vehicles they built came with a contract requiring the buyer to not arm the vehicle with any lethal weapons or carry any such weapons. Obviously, they didn't sell many vehicles as a result. However, their medical services were a great boon to the allied military, and earned them warm relations with allied governments.
When the NAF was formed, KTCI realized that it would have to fight for its independence from the government. Fergus McClain hired the best lawyers he could get his hands on to make his case against the nationalization of KTCI. Luckily, the good relations he had cultivated during the war made the fight easy and KTCI was allowed to stay autonomous so long as it gave up certain operations to the NAF Government (Those operations being about one tenth of the natural gas operation, which was no longer the flagship endeavor of KTCI). After the settlement, Fergus McClain ordered the secret construction of multiple facilities dedicated to aerospace R&D, as well as a rocket test facility and a launch pad in the Mojave Desert (Where the HQ had been moved shortly before). Those facilities are still shrouded in secrecy, with no mention of even the type of research being conducted given. However, Fergus has promised to reveal it all eventually.
Other: I request permission from Duck on the history relating to the NAF. Thank god I finally came up with an idea that I could actually invest thought into. I am well aware that what I have written is not completely economically realistic, but honestly, the former USA is now socialist. I think we can excuse my inaccuracy when it isn't glaringly obvious to all of humanity.
