Archive
You're reading an older Hightower Lowdown article. Jim's still writing — twice a week on Substack.
What:
Strategic Forecasting, Inc. is a for-profit, mini-CIA. It uses a web of paid informers around the world to gain confidential information and conduct spy-ops against groups of citizen activists at the request of Fortune 500 corporations and governmental clients.
Who:
Stratfor was founded in 1996 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, by George Friedman, its current CEO and chief intelligence officer. An author, PhD, and former designer of computerized war games, Friedman spent 20 years in academia before founding Stratfor, where he is billed as an expert in geopolitical conflicts and trends. The firm has about a hundred staff members.
Some prominent client
s:
- Archer Daniels Midland
- Goldman Sachs
- Bank of America
- Hunt Oil
- Bechtel
- Hyatt International
- BellSouth
- Intel
- Chevron
- Kimberly-Clark
- Coca-Cola
- Knights of Columbus
- Department of Homeland Security
- Lucent Technologies
- Dow Chemical
- Merrill Lynch
- Dow Corning
- Northrop Grumman
- Duke Energy
- Turkish Industry and
- Business Assoc.
- Embassy of Japan
- Union Carbide
- General Dynamics
- US Marine Corps
- Georgetown University
Keep reading Jim
Get the free Lowdown
Jim's twice-weekly commentaries delivered free to your inbox. No credit card, no catch.
No credit card. Unsubscribe anytime.
Go deeper
Get everything Jim's got
Live Q&As, the Chat & Chew series, radio archives, and more. Less than a cup of coffee a month.
Subscribe for $40/yearSpecial rate for original Lowdown readers
Regular price: $50/year