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Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

Acquired

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 incredible because it’s so little-known!

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners:

J.P. Morgan PaymentsCrusoeStatsig

Links:

Hershey’s M&M response: Hershey-etsOur past episodes on Berkshire Hathaway, LVMH, and Novo NordiskWorldly Partners Multi-Decade Mars StudyEpisode sources

Carve Outs:

Dandelion Chocolate and the Dandelion Advent CalendarTesla Model Y + repair serviceSiloHome Alone

More Acquired:

Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!

‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Mars Inc. (the chocolate story)

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 lasers. Lots and lots of lasers!

Note: this is a remastered version of our original 2021 episode. We don’t often re-release old episodes, but in this case we have a very timely reason for doing so. Stay tuned! :)

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic partners:

VantaJ.P. Morgan PaymentsStatsig
Links:

Episode Sources
Carve Outs:

Ted Lasso (Season 1)GreekWho is Michael Ovitz?
More Acquired:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2 • Check out the latest swag 
in the ACQ Merch Store • !

‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

TSMC (Remastered)

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 Jensen himself, we’re so happy to make it happen.

Dr. Chang shares the stories of a few crucial moments from TSMC’s history which have only been written about in his (currently Chinese-only) memoirs, including how TSMC won Apple’s iPhone and Mac chip business and a 2009 discrepancy with NVIDIA that almost jeopardized their relationship, and the lessons he took from them. We can’t think of a better way to kick off 2025. Please enjoy!

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic Spring ‘25 Season partners:

J.P. Morgan PaymentsServiceNowFundrise
Links:

Worldly Partners’ Multi-Decade TSMC StudyKarina Bao’s writing
Carve Outs:

AAADefunctlandEverything Everywhere all at OnceAsianometry
More Acquired:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2 • Check out the latest swag 
in the ACQ Merch Store • !

‍Notes: 

This episode contains a paid endorsement for Fundrise. All investments can lead to loss. 

Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

TSMC Founder Morris Chang

Ben and David discuss Disney's acquisition of Pixar in 2006. Was it a success? If so, what are the criteria that made it work? What lessons can be learned for other acquisitions in the future?

Sponsors:

Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquired
WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

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© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Episode 1: Pixar

Ben and David discuss Facebook's acquisition of Instagram in 2012. Was it a success? If so, what are the criteria that made it work? What lessons can be learned for other acquisitions in the future?

Sponsors:

Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquired
WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store • !

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Episode 2: Instagram

Ben and David discuss Amazon's acquisition of Twitch in 2014. Unlike previous episodes, this recent acquisition still has a lot of open questions, and Amazon hasn't publicly reported growth of Twitch since the purchase. Ben and David talk about Justin Kan's original product with Justin.tv, and the transformation into the Twitch that Emmett Shear is running today.

Sponsors:

Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquired
WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store • !

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Episode 3: Twitch

Ben and David are joined by Former Microsoft VP and Co-Founder of Xbox, Ed Fries, to discuss the Bungie acquisition and the development of Halo. Highlights include: 

 • Ed’s call with Steve Jobs after the acquisition, and sharing the stage with Steve and Bungie Co-Founder Alex Seropian at the Macworld Keynote.
 • Bungie today, and the unlikely path to get there led by Harold Ryan.
 • How to find something that all parties want to get a deal done, the creation Peter Tamte’s spin-out Mac gaming studio, and orchestrating the division of current Bungie projects and assets with Take-Two, led by Ryan Brandt.
 • Saving a project that’s off schedule and missing the mark, and how Jason Jones led the effort to make Halo 2 a hit at launch.

Sponsors:

Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquired
WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store • !

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Episode 4: Bungie (with Xbox Co-Founder Ed Fries)

In the last episode of 2015, Ben and David discuss Apple's acquisition of Siri. Notable topics include: 

 • The founding of Siri by Dag Kittlau, Adam Cheyer, and Chris Brigham.
 • Scott Forstall on the Apple side, and the end of his time at the company.
 • The other Apple acquisitions around Siri, including Topsy, Novauris Technologies, OttoCat.
 • Cue, Spotsetter, VocalIQ, and Perceptio.
 • The team Apple built around Siri post-acquisition, including Alex Acero from Microsoft Research.
 • Speculation on the future of voice and its role in everyday computing.

Sponsors:

Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquired
WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store • !

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Episode 5: Siri

Riding closely on the tails of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ben and David cover Disney's 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm. In the episode, they mention Walt Disney's original flywheel diagram, seen below.

Sponsors:

Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquired
WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store • !

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Episode 6: Lucasfilm

Ben and David test the widely-held belief that YouTube was one of the most successful tech acquisitions of all time. In today's world of next-generation video platforms, mobile video, streaming, and chord-cutting, was it actually a great purchase by Google? 

As discussed in the show, here is Sequoia's original YouTube investment memo - a rarely-shared gold mine for anyone interested in startup investing.

Sponsors:

Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquired
WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store • !

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Episode 7: YouTube

For our first episode of Season 5, Acquired returns to Shenzhen to cover another Chinese technology giant, this one slightly... different from our past subjects: Huawei. From a backwater importer of PBX switches to the world’s second largest handset manufacturer and near-undisputed leader in 5G infrastructure technology, Huawei’s ascent over the past 30 years has been nothing short of spectacular, equaled only by the spectacular fireworks of recent events surrounding the company. What’s the story behind this global telecom giant, and what does its future portend for global tech and US - China relations? We dive in.

Sponsors:

Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquired
WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store • !

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Links • Ren Zhengfei on Bloomberg TV: 
 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-26/billionaire-huawei-founder-defiant-in-face-of-existential-threat • Who owns Huawei? 
 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3372669
Carve Outs

 • Ben: Billions: 
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4270492/ • David: Dune by Frank Herbert: 
 https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert-ebook/dp/B00B7NPRY8/ref=nodl

Huawei

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