During the flight, Hardy again reviewed the information on the California consortium.
The California consortium, with Bank of America at its core, included members such as Security Pacific Financial, Crock Agricultural Group, San Francisco Group, Wells Fargo, Lockheed Corporation, Litton Industries, Northrop Grumman, and more. These companies, through cross holding and joint agreements, had total assets under the control of Bank of America Group amounting to approximately $8.5 billion.
Pre World War II consortia were mostly family based, like the Rockefeller, Morgan, DuPont, and Mellon families. Even the Cleveland, Chicago, and Boston consortia were developed around a few united families.
The California consortium was different. Rooted in California, it rapidly developed due to the war. The companies within it, primarily centered around Bank of America, were connected through cross holding, forming an alliance of interests.