Spacing Guild
CHOAM's management and board of directors are controlled by the Padishah Emperor and the assembly of noble Houses known as the Landsraad (with the Spacing Guild and the Bene Gesserit as silent partners). Because of its control of interplanetary commerce, CHOAM is the largest single source of wealth in the Old Empire; as such, influence in CHOAM is a central goal of political maneuvering. In "Dune", Herbert notes: