Goes back to the 1800s. There's lots of documentation at GU. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood https://www.npr.org/2014/07/28/335288388/when-did-companies-become-people-excavating-the-legal-evolution https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/03/corporations-people-adam-winkler/554852/