A monopoly is defined as ‘a market structure where a single seller or producer assumes a dominant position in an industry or a sector’. For example, Genting Malaysia is the only licenced casino in Malaysia and monopolises the country’s casino market. Google dominates the global search engine market with a market share of 83.8%. Many of us use Google daily and we sometimes even replace the word ‘search’ with ‘Google’. These monopolies are well-known and obvious. However, in this article, I will explore three companies that you may not have heard of that monopolise their respective industries.

EssilorLuxottica

Listed on Euronext Paris, EssilorLuxottica designs, makes, distributes, and sells lenses, frames, and sunglasses. The company owns more than 150 prominent brands including lens brands like Essilor and Crizal, as well as eyewear brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley. (In case you don’t know yet, Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, played by Tom...