Once powerful Blackwater has such a tarnished reputation that it is changing its name to Xe (pronounced “zee”). Founded as a private military company by Erik Prince in 1990, the company formerly known as Blackwater received more than $1 billion in government contracts, most of them no-bid. On September 16, 2007, Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians on a Baghdad street. But in April 2008 the Bush administration renewed Blackwater’s contract to provide security services in Iraq over the objections of the Iraqi government. Just nine days after Barack Obama’s inauguration as President of the United States, his State Department announced that it would not renew the company’s contract in Iraq when it comes due again in May.