CHOAM

CHOAM is a company that features in Dune.

History

The Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles (CHOAM)

Paul Muad'Dib's Fremen watch the Padishah Emperor's encampment to see whether he would raise the Atreides flag, indicating a recognition of Paul's claims, or the banner of Paul's Harkonnen enemies. Instead, the Emperor raises the flag of CHOAM, as a reminder to all of the combatant parties that economics trump political considerations.

Overview

It controlled all economic affairs across the cosmos, although it relies upon the Spacing Guild for transport across space due to the Guild's monopoly on interstellar travel. The corporation's management and board of directors are controlled by the Padishah Emperor and the Landsraad (with the Spacing Guild and the Bene Gesserit as silent partners). Because of its control of inter-planetary commerce, CHOAM is the largest single source of wealth in the Old Empire; as such, influence in CHOAM (through partisans within it and control of directorships) is the central goal of political maneuvering, both to receive dividends and also (it is implied) to skim off profits. CHOAM was held as being the key to wealth, each noble House dipping from the company's coffers whatever it could under the power of the directorships. Those CHOAM directorships — they were the real evidence of political power in the Imperium, passing with the shifts of voting strength within the Landsraad as it balanced itself against the Emperor and his supporters

Employees

•  :

Notes

• CHOAM was created by Frank Herbert and appeared in the Dune setting.

Appearances

• Dune:

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