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Kliv in i en oändlig värld av stories

Lyssna när som helst, var som helst

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)

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 than Walmart. Speaking of Walmart, Costco stocks 40x fewer SKUs than their Bentonville-based rivals — yet sells an average of 15x more volume of each. And oh yeah, practically all of Costco’s C-Suite started their careers as baggers and checkout clerks! Tune in for a mind-bending exploration of one of the world’s most iconic — and iconically unique — companies.

Links:

The Science of HittingWarren Buffett’s Costco jokeEpisode sources
Carve Outs:

Tifosi sunglassesDwells “take off everything”Jeremy Giffon on Invest Like the BestDogpatchDavid Lidsky’s great piece on Acquired in Fast Company

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

‍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.

Costco

To paraphrase Visa founder Dee Hock, how many of you know Visa? Great, all of you. Now, how many of you know how it started? Or, for that matter, who started it? Who runs and governs it? Where is it headquartered? What’s its business model?

For the 11th largest market cap company in the world, Visa’s history and strategy is almost shockingly unknown. A huge portion of the world’s population uses their products on a daily basis (you might say Visa is… everywhere people want to be), but very few know the amazing story behind how that came to be. Or why Visa continues to be one of the most incredible and incredibly durable business franchises of all-time. (50%+ net income margins!! On $30B of revenue!) Today we do our part to change that. Tune in for one heck of a journey.

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
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© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Links:

Burger King rolling out credit cards in 1993Get your BankAmericard MasterCard today! • (!?)
Episode sources
Carve Outs:

I Think You Should LeaveMistborn

‍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.

Visa

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

Rolex is a series of paradoxes. They sell obsolete and objectively inferior mechanical devices for 10-1000x the price of their superior digital successors… and demand is stronger than ever in history! Their products are comparable to a Hermès Birkin bag in price, luxury status and waitlist times… yet they produce over 1m units / year (roughly 10x annual Birkin production). They make the most universally recognized and desired Swiss watches… yet their founder wasn’t Swiss and didn’t start the company in Switzerland! If Rolex were publicly traded, they’d almost certainly be among the top 50 market cap companies in the world… yet they’re 100% owned by a charitable foundation in Geneva that (among other things) literally just gives away money to local people in the city.

Tune in for one of the most fascinating and admirable companies we’ve ever covered on Acquired. We had an absolute blast making the episode, and hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic Spring ‘25 Season partners:

J.P. Morgan PaymentsServiceNowFundriseHuntress
Links:

The Renaissance of the Swiss Watch Industry - Marc BridgeHODINKEE - Inside All Four Rolex Manufacturing Facilities“If you were…” campaignWorldly Partners’ Multi-Decade Rolex StudyEpisode sources
Carve Outs:

BlueyAcquired on Armchair ExpertEleven Reader
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.

Rolex

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!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
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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
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© 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!:

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© 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)

Ben and David continue the cloud productivity saga with Google Docs. They examine the suite of acquisitions made by Google with a focus on Writely in 2006. They tackle:

 • The nuts and bolts of the Upstartle (company behind Writely) acquisition, founded by Sam Schillace, Steve Newman and Claudia Carpenter.
 • SaaS offerings in cloud productivity today.
 • Was this a good idea for Google?
 • Google's future bets.
 • A new section: The Carve Out!

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 9: Writely (Google Docs)

Lyssna när som helst, var som helst

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