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This episode explores Vanguard's improbable journey, from Jack Bogle's personal and professional setbacks to his creation of a customer-owned financial giant. It delves into the "Go-Go Years" and Vanguard's unique "communist capitalism" structure, which eliminated profits to offer ultra-low-fee index funds. The discussion covers the industry's initial skepticism, Vanguard's eventual triumph, the pivotal 2008 financial crisis, and its challenges in the modern era of ETFs and renewed competition from Fidelity and BlackRock.
This episode delves into the paradoxical world of Ferrari, a company that sells remarkably few cars yet boasts unmatched brand recognition and profitability. It explores Enzo Ferrari's dramatic life, from personal tragedies to the founding of Scuderia Ferrari and the iconic Prancing Horse. The narrative traces the company's evolution through key moments like the Ford vs. Ferrari rivalry, its acquisition by Fiat, and Luca di Montezemolo's transformative leadership, which cemented Ferrari's status as both a luxury powerhouse and a beloved racing dynasty. The discussion also covers modern strategies like the Purosangue FUV and the daring electric Luce, all while maintaining its unique blend of exclusivity and mass appeal.
This episode explores the incredible business transformation of Formula 1, from its chaotic and dangerous European origins to a global sporting powerhouse. It details Bernie Ecclestone's 45-year reign, where he centralized power and monetized F1 before the American company Liberty Media acquired it in 2017. Liberty's professionalization, including the success of 'Drive to Survive' and US market expansion, turned money-losing teams into multi-billion dollar businesses.
The NFL is nearly synonymous with America today. Practically nothing is more quintessentially and universally American than tuning in every Sunday (and Monday, and Thursday… and sometimes Saturdays and holidays too) to watch the world’s most beautiful ballet of violence. It generates the most revenue of any sports league globally and sets new records for team valuations each year. But it wasn’t always this way. The history of the NFL mirrors America’s own development: scrappy small-town teams ro...
An in-depth look at the business and branding of Rolex, exploring its history, paradoxes, and journey to becoming a top luxury watch brand. The episode covers key decisions, marketing strategies, and the impact of the quartz crisis, all contributing to Rolex's iconic status and financial success.
Costco is not only Charlie Munger’s favorite company of all time (plus he’s on the board, natch), it’s an absolutely fascinating study in how seemingly opposite characteristics can combine to create incredible company value. For instance: Costco has the cheapest prices of any major retailer in America — and also the wealthiest customer base. They pay their hourly workers 30% above the industry norm (and give them excellent healthcare + 401k benefits) — and are almost 3x more profitable on labor ...
In a special 10-year anniversary episode recorded at Google's original garage, legendary author Michael Lewis interviews Ben and David to understand why Acquired has "worked" against conventional podcasting wisdom. They discuss lessons applied from studying companies like NFL and Berkshire Hathaway, their unique business model, the evolution of their storytelling, and the critical role of their partnership, all while applying Michael Lewis's analytical lens. The hosts also share personal insights into their creative process, business strategy, and favorite cultural "carve-outs" from the past year.
Coca-Cola is… sugar water. And somehow it’s also America, Christmas, summertime, friendship and happiness. Today we tell the story of how The Coca-Cola Company amazingly transmogrified a beverage into emotion in all of our collective psyches, and ALSO built one of the most incredible scale economy businesses of all-time. And oh yeah, there’s also cocaine, WW2, Mad Men, Warren Buffett, James Dean, Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Michael Ovitz, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, McDonald’s and Monsanto. So cozy...
Trader Joe's, born from Joe Coulombe's 1960s 7-Eleven clone attempt, evolved into America's most beloved and unconventional grocery chain. It thrived by targeting educated, value-conscious shoppers with unique, private-label products, a distinctive employee-centric culture, and a commitment to storytelling over traditional advertising. Despite eschewing modern retail norms like e-commerce and loyalty programs, its strategic counter-positioning and focus on high-value, differentiated offerings have driven exceptional success and customer loyalty.
This episode traces Google's two-decade AI journey, from Larry Page's early vision and the creation of language models like Phil to the DeepMind acquisition and the birth of the Transformer. It explores how Google's AI dominance was challenged by the rise of OpenAI and ChatGPT, leading to a "code red" response and the development of Gemini. The discussion also covers Waymo's surprising success and analyzes Google's strategic position, financial power, and the unique challenges and advantages it faces in the new AI era.
It’s finally here! Today we are releasing Acquired’s first “concert film” — the full video recording of our Radio City live show from this summer with Jamie Dimon, Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien, Barry Diller, and cameos from around the Acquired Cinematic Universe including Christina Cacioppo, Ben Clymer, and Howard Schultz. To watch the full production on any device, please head over to Spotify where you’ll find it available for free in the Acquired feed right alon...
Acquired delves into Google's remarkable journey post-Search IPO, detailing how it became an innovation factory with products like Gmail, Maps, Docs, YouTube, Chrome, and Android. The episode uncovers the strategic motivations behind these ventures, primarily as a defensive moat against Microsoft and Apple, and a means to expand the web. It also covers the internal struggles and the spectacular failure of Google Plus, before ultimately leading to the Alphabet reorganization and the accidental collection of talent and data that would fuel the AI era.
Jamie Dimon recounts his extraordinary journey, from being unexpectedly fired from Citigroup in 1998 to transforming the struggling Bank One into the foundation of modern JPMorgan Chase. He details his "fortress balance sheet" strategy, how he navigated the 2008 financial crisis, acquiring Bear Stearns and WaMu, and the 2023 bank failures. The episode explores his philosophy on risk, culture, and what drives his long tenure as CEO.
This episode dives into the founding and early history of Google, from Larry Page and Sergey Brin's Stanford research project 'BackRub' to the company's IPO in 2004. It explores the technical breakthroughs like PageRank, the innovative infrastructure build-out, the struggles to find a business model in a portal-dominated era, and the development of the revolutionary AdWords system. The episode highlights Google's aggressive distribution strategies and the unique culture that set it apart, laying the foundation for the most profitable business ever created.
We sit down with Steve Ballmer, the legendary former Microsoft CEO and owner of the LA Clippers, for an epic conversation covering his 34 years at Microsoft. Steve listened to our Microsoft episodes and had some thoughts to share — and boy, did he deliver. Steve takes us point-by-point through the original IBM DOS deal that started everything, how he built Microsoft's enterprise business from scratch, and offers his candid reflections on missing mobile and search. We also cover the story behind ...
This episode explores Epic Systems, a dominant healthcare software company run from rural Wisconsin. It covers Epic's unusual business practices, its critical role in the U.S. healthcare system, and the journey of founder Judy Faulkner. The discussion includes the company's history, culture, technology, market dynamics, and future prospects, as well as Epic's impact on healthcare policy and patient care.
Acquired dives into the Indian Premier League (IPL), exploring its creation, explosive growth, and unique blend of capitalism and religion. From its innovative auction system to Bollywood glamour, discover how the IPL became a global phenomenon, facing challenges and achieving remarkable success.
We flew to Taiwan to interview TSMC Founder Morris Chang in a rare English interview. In fact, the last long-form video interview we could find was 17 years ago at the Computer History Museum… conducted by the one-and-only Jensen Huang! This episode came about after asking ourselves a version of the Jeff Bezos “regret minimization” question: what conversations would we most regret not having if the chance passed Acquired by? Dr. Chang was number one on our list, and thanks to a little help from ...
We dive into the unbelievable and unlikely history behind the quietest technology giant of them all: the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Founded in 1987 by the then-56 year old Morris Chang, already a legend in the semiconductor industry by virtue of his meteoric rise and fall at Texas Instruments, TSMC today manufactures nearly all the leading-edge chips for Nvidia, Apple, Broadcom, Qualcomm, AMD, and yes — even Intel. Tune in for an incredible story of innovation, perseverance and ...
M&M’s, Snickers, Milky Way, Double Mint, Ben’s Rice, Pedigree, Whiskas, VCA, Banfield… all the brands you know, owned by the company you know nothing about: Mars, Incorporated. And Mars itself is 100% owned and deeply intertwined with the Mars family, who are currently the second wealthiest (and perhaps first most secretive!) family in the United States. Tune in for one of the 20th century’s most incredible entrepreneurial stories across candy and pet care, and one that’s all the more incred...
IKEA may be the most singular company we’ve ever studied on Acquired. They’re a globally scaled, $50B annual revenue company with no direct competitors — yet have only ~5% market share. They’re one of the largest retailers in the world — yet sell only their own products. They generate a few billion in free cash flow every year — yet have no shareholders. And oh yeah, they also sell hot dogs cheaper than Costco! (Sort of.) Tune in for an episode flat-packed with counterintuitive lessons about how...
Meta is a company everyone knows (literally, everyone). But, somehow, it’s also a company that few people feel they actually understand. Their products are used by more humans than any other’s in history — almost half of the entire world’s population daily. But… what is Meta? Why do they do what they do? How do they do what they do? Ask ten people and you’ll likely get ten very different sets of answers. Today, we dive deeper than we’ve ever gone trying to find Acquired’s answers to those questi...
Here it is: the complete video of the most unbelievable night of Acquired’s nine-year life… our sold out live show at the Chase Center in San Francisco. We joked during the months (months!) of preparation leading up to this event that it was like planning a wedding for 6,000 Acquired fans, and the guest list included Jamie Dimon, Daniel Ek, Emily Chang, Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg… no pressure! But thanks to our amazing partnership with J.P. Morgan Payments, together we were able to make so...
Mark is the iconic founder CEO of our time. At Chase Center on September 10, 2024, he did an unprecedented thing: a live conversation in front of 6,000 people on Meta’s company strategy, sharing stories from early Facebook history, and his thoughts on the future of AI, VR, and AR. Mark was remarkably candid in our discussion, and gave us a window into his real and intense daily demeanor leading Meta. (And his other life endeavors!) We can't wait to release the complete video of the whole night, ...
Summer greetings from Acquired! Two items for this “mini-episode”: Tickets are now available for our live show at Chase Center in San Francisco, with special guests including Mark Zuckerberg (!). The show is Tuesday, September 10th, with doors opening at 5 PM for an hour of mingling with other listeners before the show starts at 6 PM. Huge thank you to the J.P. Morgan Payments team for being our incredible partner in making this happen. Tickets are almost gone so make sure you grab one ASAP — yo...
Starbucks. You’d be hard pressed to name any brand that’s more ubiquitous in the world today. With nearly half a billion global customer purchases per week across its stores and 3rd party retail channels, a significant portion of the human population gets their daily fix in the green and white paper cup. (Including our own Ben Gilbert who famously enjoys his daily spinach feta wrap. :) But it wasn’t always this way. Long before the frappuccinos and the PSLs and the cake pops, Starbucks was just ...
Microsoft. After nearly a decade of Acquired episodes, we are finally ready to tackle the most valuable company ever created. The company that put a computer on every desk and in every home. The company that invented the software business model. The company that so thoroughly and completely dominated every conceivable competitor that the United States government intervened and kneecapped it… yet it’s STILL the most valuable company in the world today. This episode tells the story of Microsoft in...
This episode chronicles the extraordinary rise of Renaissance Technologies, founded by Jim Simons, a former Cold War codebreaker. The firm's flagship Medallion Fund, powered by advanced mathematical models and early machine learning, has delivered unprecedented annual returns by identifying non-obvious trading signals in a complex adaptive market system. Their unique culture, small team, and innovative incentive structure fostered a collaborative environment for top scientists, enabling them to continually adapt their strategies and achieve consistent outperformance, even during periods of extreme market volatility.
This episode delves into the remarkable 187-year history of Hermès, a luxury brand that has remained under family control for six generations. Unlike other luxury brands, Hermès defies conventional business wisdom by rejecting mass production, celebrity endorsements, and extensive marketing, instead focusing on scaling hand craftsmanship. The episode explores how Hermès resisted a takeover attempt by LVMH and Bernard Arnault, evolving into a $200 billion market cap giant by maintaining its unique identity and commitment to artisan-made goods.
