SBI was short for Ship Builders, Incorporated, the company founded by Bartholomew Ritter, who would later become tyrant and murderer of the planet La Terre. For several years, SBI was one of the largest ship construction companies in the galaxy, and was highly profitable for its stockholders. The company made Ritter one of the most wealthy men in the galaxy, in part because of its control of La Terre's polydenum holdings.