Hilt Tatum studied at the University of Montana, Eckerd College, and other institutions of higher education. Since December 2006, Hilt Tatum has been the president and CEO of iPoint Capital Partners, a venture capital, private equity, and business conglomerate. Here’s more on what a conglomerate is and how it works.

A conglomerate is a corporation that operates in a number of fields. It is made up of seemingly unrelated businesses and, typically, one company has controlling stakes in other members companies of the conglomerate.

Companies that make up conglomerates are independent of each other, each operating in its own field or niche. However, they all answer to the central management of the main company. Conglomerate organization allows the parent company to lower operational costs and reduce the use of resources.

A conglomerate can grow too big and become inefficient in the process. In such cases, the main company may decide to divest from some of the daughter companies to cut losses and regain efficiency.

Another benefit of the conglomerate structure is that the companies within it can have access to internal capital markets, which further allows them to develop as well as weather difficult periods.