Bayer Buys Monsanto — More To This Merger Than Meets The Eye

Bayer Buys Monsanto — More To This Merger Than Meets The Eye


September 30, 2016



The chemical giant Bayer has just purchased the agricultural biotechnology company Monsanto for $66 billion. This union is redolent of marriages between members of medieval royalty, accomplished not out of love but out of a desire to keep the goodies in the family while expanding the reach and control of the royals.

And in this case, the real nature of the goodies requires special scrutiny.
Monsanto is hardly an unknown quantity. The global company specializes in herbicides and genetically engineered seeds, most notably Roundup herbicide and the genetically modified Roundup Ready seed. The impact of Roundup has raised levels of alarm, as it is thought to contribute to the worldwide spike in autism, heart disease and other illnesses. Genetically engineered seeds have also engendered concerns and have been connected with an increased risk of certain types of cancer.

Bayer is a global German-based behemoth, producing both chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Unknown to many, however, is that its reach extends into water, as well.

Like food, even perhaps surpassing food, water is also life. Bayer was founded in 1863 and later became part of IG Farben, which manufactured Zyklon B used to gas Jews, Gypsies, political dissidents, homosexuals and others during the Hitler years. Following the war, IG Farben was broken up into a number of smaller companies, including AGFA, BASF, Sanofi and Bayer.

Through fluoridating the water in the concentration camps, the Nazis maintained a level of chemical control over those imbibing the water. It is the contention of this author, based on years of extensive research, that plans exist within the United States and her allies to potentially use domestic water systems as delivery systems for a chemical or bioweapons attack under the guise of a naturally occurring pandemic. As extreme as these contentions may be, the supporting documentation is overwhelming, including blueprints, changes in domestic bioweapons legislation which grant immunity to government agents for violating the existing biological weapons laws, changes in legislation to criminalize government officers for revealing information about water systems and more.

On the surface, Bayer’s involvement with water may seem peripheral. Bayer’s website states a concern for water-use efficiency and sustainability and admits only that “Bayer operates production facilities around the world, but only 2% of its water usage takes place in areas officially classified by the World Resources Institute as water scarce.”

What sounds like a fairly modest reach into water is belied by the other corporate positions held by its governing and supervisory board members. Marijn Dekkers was CEO for Bayer from October 2010 until April 30, 2016. During this period he also sat on the Board for General Electric, which is also heavily invested in water technologies.  The chairman of the Board of Management at Bayer from April 2002 until September 30, 2010, Werner Wenning, is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG, München. From May 2011 to June 2016, he was also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of E.ON AG, Düsseldorf.

Both Siemens and E.ON are heavily into water. Siemens reports that “(it) offers a comprehensive portfolio of integrated automation solutions and drives for water and wastewater treatment, seawater desalination, as well as solutions for water network and pipeline management.”

E.ON Energie’s principal water-related activities are centered in the German stock exchange-listed company Gelsenwasser AG (“Gelsenwasser”) According to the SEC, “Gelsenwasser is the largest privately held water utility in Germany (based on volume of water deliveries).”

The former top dog at Bayer also maintained a significant involvement with water companies. Dr. Manfred Schneider, who was Chairman of Bayer from 2002 -2012 was also Chairman of the Board for the utility giant, RWE. RWE, through a subsidiary named American Water Works, was quietly buying up water systems throughout the United States.

Bayer’s involvement with water does not end with its Chairmen, however. Other individuals sitting on the supervisory and management boards of Bayer have extensive involvement in other corporations that treat and deliver water. These corporations include Lonza, Emerson, Linde, Evonik, Innovationsregion Rheinisches Revier GmbH, Cabot Corporation, Envia Mitteldeutsche Energie AG and Sulzer, to name a few. Names of individuals who sit on the Bayer boards and have other corporate involvements with water companies include Sue Rataj, Petra Reinbold-Knape, Thomas Ebbeling, Dr. Clemens Börsig and Dr. Klaus Sturany, among others.

Werner Baumann was appointed Chairman of the Board at Bayer in May of this year and appears to have no other corporate ties.

The marriage of Monsanto and Bayer may well result in a consolidation of control over not only the food we eat and the medicine we take, but also the very water we drink. These three consumables — food, medicine and water — constitute the very stuff of life. If ever there was a marriage conceived in Hades, this may be it.