

Booz Allen, the World's Most Profitable Spy Organization - stanley
http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/127320-booz-allen-the-worlds-most-profitable-spy-organization

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ferdo
> Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), focused more and more on government work. In 2008
> it split off its less lucrative commercial consulting arm—under the name
> Booz & Co.—and became a pure government contractor, publicly traded and
> majority-owned by private equity firm Carlyle Group (CG).

Carlyle is the lynchpin. Booz is just one of its assets.

An informative look at Booz and Carlyle right before the sale happened:

[http://www.zcommunications.org/carlyle-group-may-buy-
major-c...](http://www.zcommunications.org/carlyle-group-may-buy-major-cia-
contractor-booz-allen-hamilton-by-tim-shorrock)

~~~
Retric
That's completely inaccurate. Booz Allen was a private company that split into
public and private consulting firms. The private side owned a larger stake of
the overall company than it was "worth" so to do the split the public side
sold some stock and took on debt to makeq up the difference when they split.
After a few years they became a public company but at no point did where they
owned by Carlyle.

~~~
ferdo
> Booz Allen Hamilton is majority owned by private equity firm The Carlyle
> Group, while Booz & Company is owned and operated as a partnership.

> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booz_Allen_Hamilton

~~~
Retric
Majority ownership is vary different from actual ownership. Also next line "On
November 17, 2010, Booz Allen's shares of common stock began trading at the
New York Stock Exchange."

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jasonzemos
> That makes these jobs particularly hard to fill, since most people with
> security clearances are almost by definition overqualified for janitorial
> work.

Lost credibility with this right here. Anybody can get a security clearance
regardless of intellectual qualifications. I know someone who got a security
clearance before even knowing what job he wanted, just as résumé padding.

Anyway, the rest of this article reads as fluffy and sophomoric. I'd read this
one with a watchful eye.

~~~
yardie
> I know someone who got a security clearance before even knowing what job he
> wanted

Your friend is bullshitting you. You don't get a security clearance for shits
and giggles. Depending on the type it can be expensive to very expensive. And
you don't apply for one directly, the company you work for applies for you.

This is why all the job sites have a security clearance jobs section. It's a
pretty exclusive club and there are 2 ways to get in; join the military or get
it through work.

~~~
mhuffman
Not that exclusive--Over 4 million people have security clearances.

[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/06/12...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/06/12/top-
secret-clearance-holders-so-numerous-they-include-packerscraters/)

~~~
yardie
Of that only 500k are going to private contractors. The majority of them are
for military and government employees. Most of those military ones will
separate and lose their clearances after 5 years, unless they get another job
that renews it.

