This Small Secret Company Made $505 Billion Trading Energy in 2022
It’s called Vitol and you’ve probably never heard of them.
I was looking at the biggest companies in the world per revenue when I saw this:
A company I had never heard of named Vitol earned $505 billion in 2022 with 1,560 employees.
So I investigated.
The result is exactly what you’d expect: lies, theft, corruption, tax evasion, lawsuits, bribery, shady links with governments, militia groups support, and hunger for money.
Here’s the story of one of the most secretive companies in the world.
The Birth and Rise of Vitol
Vitol was created in 1966 in Rotterdam by two Dutchmen, Henk Viëtor and Jacques Detiger.
Their idea was to buy and sell refined petroleum products transported by barges on the Rhine.
They borrowed $2800 from Viëtor’s father and reached profitability a few months later.
The 1960s and 1970s saw big changes in the oil market which Vitol intended to profit from.
