Informed by the Business History Conference’s 2023 theme of reinvention, this panel explores the role of security contracting since the Cold War. It offers case studies of three prominent companies (Science Applications International Corp., the Wackenhut Corp., and Kroll Inc.) that made billions in revenue contracting with the US government and analyzes how they reinvented themselves to stay relevant in an era of uncertainty.
The first paper by Mark Wilson examines the origins of Leidos, a provider of information technology, intelligence, engineering, and other high-end services. Leidos succeeded SAIC, founded in 1969 by physicist J. Robert Beyster. Wilson shines the first scholarly light on SAIC’s remarkable rise and draws conclusions about what made service contractors successful in the neoliberal era. The second paper by Lauren Pearlman examines the origins of another top government contractor, G4S. Now the world’s largest multinational security services company, G4S has roots in both an early 20th century Copenhagen guarding business and a mid-20th century Florida private detective firm called the Wackenhut Corporation. Pearlman’s paper highlights Wackenhut’s development into a provider of highly trained armed security forces for nuclear power plants, airports, and embassies and its reinvention as a pioneer of private prisons and immigration detention services in the 1980s. The third paper by Elena Egawhary tells the story of Kroll Inc, a private investigation firm founded by Jules Kroll. Egawhary shows how Kroll transformed his family-run business into a billion-dollar multinational corporation in the face of evolving threats during the late 20th century. As she argues, Wall Street endorsements and government contracts legitimized the company as well as the larger trade.
All three corporations surveyed in this panel grew during an era of political and economic uncertainty. This panel offers an important analysis of how security contractors not only monetized emerging risks but also how they demonstrated their resilience by reinventing their services in an increasingly neoliberal economy marked by the state’s growing reliance on a broad array of contract security services.