There are some 4,230 companies in the MIT database, of which 3,998 are currently active. Table A1 shows the extent to which these companies were included in our analysis. Some 1,845 companies were matched to the American Business Information (ABI) database and are still in business. These companies account for employment of 1.06 million and sales of $225 billion--95% or more of known employment and sales of MIT companies.
ABI keeps information only for U.S. companies; there are 220 foreign companies in the MIT database. For 167 of these, MIT itself has information on company employment--usually information supplied directly by the company founder in the survey of alumni-founded companies. Total employment of these foreign companies --are what might be called the "active company" database. These are the companies included in our analysis; they have 1.1 million employees and 232 billion dollars in world-wide sales.panies--3,998 in all--are what might be called the "active company" database. These are the companies included in our analysis; they have 1.1 million employees and 232 billion dollars in world-wide sales.
Thirty-six companies were initially matched to the ABI database but in the last few months ABI reports that their phone numbers have been disconnected with no follow-up number. They have presumably gone out of business. Another 141 companies included in the MIT database are known to have ceased operation. In 55 cases, one company in the MIT family has since been acquired by another company in the family. Since our analysis includes total employment of large corporations, regardless of location, we have eliminated these 55 companies to avoid double counting employment and sales. These various categories account for all 4,230 companies known to MIT.
Following a group of companies over time is no easy task. Companies change addresses, phone numbers, and even company names. Companies are sold to other companies and may or may not retain their original name and corporate identity. We have done our best to sort out these various changes, and to be careful whether to count total corporate employment (when the MIT graduate founded the original company, as with Digital Equipment Corporation) or simply subsidiary employment (when an MIT-related company such as Lotus Development was sold to a non-MIT-related company such as IBM). Over the longer term, the tie-in with a source like ABI which actively checks on current employment and works to keep track of changes in corporate identity should help to keep current MIT information on the companies in its "family."
Table A2 gives summary information on the 3,998 active firms in the MIT database. The data is shown in total and by region, industry, and years since the founder graduated, company size, and the general course area of the founder's major at MIT.
To simplify the presentation, companies are grouped by region and industry. The definitions are consistent between the company database and the founder survey and are presented here. The regions used to aggregate U.S. companies are shown in Map A1.
Outside the U.S., the category for Europe includes Australia and Japan as well as the European countries. The Middle East category includes Africa.
Electronics includes computers, semi-conductors, instruments, and electric and electronic equipment.
Machinery includes industrial machinery and transportation equipment.
Chemicals, Materials includes chemicals other than drugs as well as high-tech materials and environmental firms.
Aerospace includes rockets and defense equipment.
Other Manufacturing is manufacturing other than the above categories and includes textiles, paper, plastics, and metal products.
Energy, Utilities contains public utilities and energy generating firms.
Publishing, Schools links private schools and publishing companies.
Drugs, Medical includes biotech companies, medical instruments, and medical practices.
Software is self-explanatory
Architecture includes architects and construction engineers
Engineering Consulting includes all consulting firms that deal in engineering and physical science issues, including environment, process engineering, and advanced materials.
Management Consulting includes all socioeconomic consulting, including management, marketing, and economics.
Finance includes venture capitalists, money managers, real estate developers, and banking houses.
Law, Business Services groups together lawyers, accountants, marketing, advertising, and other business services.
Table A2 shows the number of companies founded by graduates from each MIT course. It shows the percent of the total from each course, both for all companies in the database and for those founded since 1981. The total is slightly less than that the 3,998 because the course is not known in all cases. Table A2 also shows the major groupings used in the report--Engineering, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences/Management.
Table A3 gives basic data from the company database, showing the number of firms, total employment, average employment, sales, whether the founder had a graduate or undergraduate degree, and the course group. This information is show, total employment, average employment, sales, whether the founder had a graduate or undergraduate degree, and the course group. This information is shown for all firms by region, industry, company size, course group, and the years since the founder graduated.
The tables which follow summarize information from the survey of company founders. Table A4 gives basic information about the companies of the participants--their industry, employment, sales, and location.
Proceed to Summary Tables href="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www/newsoffstaff.html"