JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul Is The Best Kid-Friendly Hotel
Despite being a thriving metropolis of 9.6 million people and having hundreds of thousands of hotel rooms, it can be surprisingly challenging to find the perfect place to stay in Seoul—especially if you're traveling with family.
This is when JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul enters the picture. Situated in Dongdaemun—the centrally located neighborhood home to South Korea's largest wholesale market bearing the same name—the 170-key hotel seamlessly caters to multi-generational vacations, whether you've got children in tow or are visiting South Korea's capital with your elder parents. Even better? You can rest easy during your entire stay, thanks to the property's EED Gold certification and its state-of-the-art air purification system.
JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul is offering a Bugaboo Baby Suite, a collaboration with the high-end Dutch baby brand Bugaboo, until December 31. JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul
Available through the end of the year, the property's Bugaboo Baby Suite , an exclusive collaboration with the high-end Dutch baby brand Bugaboo, provides parents and infants spacious accommodations in an Executive Suite outfitted with top-quality furnishings and gear, including the Fox 5 all-terrain stroller, Stardust travel crib, and Giraffe high chair. The suite also offers access to the Executive Lounge for daily breakfast and evening hors d'oeuvres and cocktails, so busy parents have one less thing to schedule.
Through the end of the year, JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul is offering a family-friendly package called JW Kids Bliss. JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul
For parents of toddlers, the hotel is offering JW Kids Bliss, a package created in partnership with the Danish furniture brand Anderson that's also available through December 31. In addition to a restful stay in a Deluxe Room specially decorated with Anderson's signature high-quality wood furnishings and toys, guests will also be gifted an exclusive JW Kids eco-friendly tote bag, a Family by JW experience kit, and a JW Kids bathrobe. In addition, breakfast for two adults and two children under the age of 12 is complimentary for Marriott Bonvoy members.
JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul is offering a Positano-inspired afternoon tea called "Amante del Mango" in The Lounge until September 18. JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul
For multi-generational travel involving just adults, JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul has delicious perks galore. Through September 18, The Lounge is serving up a colorful summer afternoon tea called Amante del Mango. Drawing inspiration from the Mediterranean's breezy lifestyle, the tea set features mango-flavored treats, including a mango bingsu and apple mango tart, alongside savory bites like a Lobster Crispy Gimbap. From gruyere popovers and sizzling chops at BLT Steak, which is widely considered one of Seoul's best steakhouses, to live music and nightcaps at Griffin, the hotel's 11th-floor lounge, there's no shortage of things for grown-ups to savor during a family vacation at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul.
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These are the times that try men's souls." That's this week's page breaker preview to pre order my final word on stock picking, shaped by three decades of market crushing success, just type Rule Breaker Investing into or wherever you shop for fine books, and to everyone who's already pre ordered, I want you to know I just recorded the audiobook three days straight straight reading 230 pages last week. I'm very excited about that. That's also available for your preorder, as well. If you already have thanks, that means a lot to me. Now I get to welcome back to Rule Breaker Investing Sem for being Sem, welcome back. Sem Verbeek: Thank you. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person. David Gardner: It is. Here we are. We zoomed it out and I think you were in France or Paris last time. Sem Verbeek: France, correct. David Gardner: We talked, and I know you travel a lot, and that's part of being an entrepreneur, which I've learned from you, Sem, is really what tennis players at a high level are. You are very much self driven entrepreneurs who are making your own schedule, trying to figure out where to be next. Not everyone can afford easy flights, who's even playing at a high level. There's a lot financial decision making that goes on all part of this. That's why I'm also interested in hearing about the ATP business school. But let's back up, first of all, because just a few weeks ago, Sem, you were a newly crowned Wimbledon champion, which, am I right? Is that a dream come true? Sem Verbeek: That is a boyhood dream come true. For a tennis player, there aren't many, if any, bigger courts than Centre Court at Wimbledon. To hoist a trophy there is something I'll remember for the rest of my life. David Gardner: I remember from our conversation a few years ago, that you didn't start playing tennis at the age of three or five or seven. You started around 10. Somewhere around 10 or 11, you began to dream of what you might one day achieve, and 20 years later, you did. Sem Verbeek: It's funny that you mentioned that because the way it worked in my journey is that I really didn't have any professional ambitions until my junior and senior year of college. Was never a highly talented junior, was never up in the rankings or anything like that. I think right now, I can say that was a blessing not to be the most talented because I think it instilled a work ethic in me that was needed to keep progressing. Some people have said that that's a talent, and maybe I'm blessed with that, but it's really that work and that work ethic that has brought me and the others that I share this with here. That was really cool. David Gardner: That's fantastic. I want to start this conversation by thinking about some combination of the weeks leading up to your Wimbledon experience a few weeks ago, the weeks leading up, but also a few years leading up because you and I haven't talked since October of 2022. We may have traded a text or something on Twitter, X. But really, I would love to hear what's happened in your life since 2022, Sem, and then leading up, how are you feeling going to Wimbledon? Sem Verbeek: Just looking back, three years feels short and long at the same time. But no, I was right after college. If I back up just a little bit, right after college, I made a four year plan with my university coach, my parents, to say, how can we make these four years work? Because I really enjoyed my transformation as a freshman in college to a senior in college. I think I developed a lot, not only as a tennis player, but just as a human. I wanted to apply that same transformation as a professional tennis player. From 2017-2020, well, really 2020, but then COVID happened. We extended it by one year so that at the end of 2021, my goal was to either be top hundred in singles or in doubles, and I ended up being 103 in doubles, so not quite exactly what I wanted. But at the end of the four years in 2021, I sat down again with my parents and my coach and myself to say, are we still on the trajectory that we like? Are we still progressing? What can we change? What else do we need to do? We decided to do four more years. In 2022, I was in my second year of that second four year plan. Thankfully we stuck it out because 2024 especially, was a great year for me professionally. Things happened very quickly, a little bit similar to the market and investing. Sometimes it can feel like years where nothing happens. Then in months or in weeks, it can all come together and click and things happen exponentially, which is thankfully for me that happened in a positive way in 2024, which really laid the foundation for the first half of this year, where my Swedish Doubles partner and I, Andre Goransson have done well enough to be in the position that we are in now. David Gardner: That's fantastic. Before we go to 2025, Sem, let's stay with 2024 a little bit. Could you paint the picture of what waiting some years for something to happen, and then stuff happening good fast looked like for you in 2024? Sem Verbeek: Definitely. I had always had it in my mind, where in the year that I turned 30-years-old, if I'm still not breaking through, if I'm not playing the tournaments that I want to, and if it's not financially viable for me to keep playing tennis, then I have enough ambition and enough other goals in life to say goodbye to tennis and move on to other things in my life. It really wasn't until the second week of the season of 2024, where things looked like they were going to go in a similar fashion to years prior. Having to find different doubles partners to get into different tournaments, playing the smaller events, the lead up events, not quite getting to play the grand slams and things like that. Then in that week of 2024, I think something clicked for me where there was a sense of urgency, where I said to myself, Sem, if things don't change, this is going to be the last year that you play tennis. That brought me back to my junior year in college, where I was out for the season. David Gardner: You were injured. It was your hip. You had a whole surgery. Sem Verbeek: That's when I sat down with my college coach, and that same conversation happened where we said, hey, if you don't decide to keep playing professionally, this next year is going to be your last year of playing tennis. That unlocked a sense of urgency in my senior year in college. But that same lesson was applied in 2024. Then I started getting some better results. Then by a miracle of how it happened in the Miami Open in 2024. David Gardner: What month? Sem Verbeek: March. David Gardner: Because you're about to turn 30, I think, on April 12 of last year. Talk about urgency leading up to the age of 30. You're 29, a month ahead in Miami. Sem Verbeek: We were an alternate in that tournament, so we didn't get accepted right away. We were waiting a few days. Nobody pulled out of the tournament for us to take their spot. I was in Miami, but my coach lives in Jacksonville, and we had gone back to Jacksonville because we were going to be only the third alternate for the next day, which means two teams were ahead of us. My partner that I was signing in with, he was staying in Miami, and he was going to sign us as an alternate that day, anyway. But Miami to Jacksonville, if you drive normally, is quite a long drive. But until that morning, by some stroke of luck, one team forgot to sign in, and one team didn't know the rules well enough, so they signed up for another tournament, which you weren't allowed to, which meant that my doubles partner and I were now the first alternate team. At that time, I still hadn't unpacked from the night before, thankfully, and we still had the rental car that we drove in to Jacksonville with. I said to my coach, I'm just going to get on the road. I'm a little bit on the road in case I get a call that we might get to play. Then we get the call. I think this was at 10:30 AM. I'm going to get very specific, but it all matters. David Gardner: I love this story. Please do. Sem Verbeek: I got the call saying, hey, you guys are in. One team pulled out. You play not before 2:00 PM. It was 10:30 AM. Again, if you drive the speed limit, [laughs] that's not a drive you get to make. [laughs] But this was the opportunity of a lifetime. I may have broken not a few Rule Breaker laws, but actual laws. [laughs] I made it to the tournament with quite literally 20 seconds to spare before I was going to get defaulted from the match. When you get defaulted from a match, you have not only no opportunity to play, but you also get fined for it. I was in my normal clothes. I had packed my tennis bag from the night before still. David Gardner: This is unbelievable. Sem Verbeek: Twenty seconds until I was going to get defaulted. The way it works at Miami is that you get brought to the match court in a golf cart. My engine from the rental car was still running at the parking lot. I grabbed my bag. I screamed, I'm here. I made it. Then I changed into my tennis clothes on the golf cart, not having warmed up, just driven 4.5 hours. We go and play a match, we win that match, then we end up winning another match the next day. That was really the propulsion that I needed up the rankings to start thinking about playing grand slams and things like that. By some miracle and a stroke of luck, it happened. Thankfully, I was prepared for that moment of luck, and that really laid the foundation for more and more thankful success and getting to play grand slams in 2024 to get a taste of, hey, this is really where I want to be. This is where I want to develop into. Then I think another key moment from 2024 was getting to get set with a regular doubles partner. If you have someone that you work with on a regular basis as a partner, you can really build a lot more than if you play with someone randomly week by week and just hope it clicks for that one week. That was a big moment for us. Then later in that summer, we won our first ATP title together in Newport. It was actually this week last year. David Gardner: Newport, Rhode Island. Sem Verbeek: Yeah. Where the Tennis Hall of Fame was, so it was a really cool week, and that propelled us even more up in the rankings. We were really excited for this year because we get a full year of playing together. Last year, we played starting in April and May. Those first three months can make a big difference in development. Sem Verbeek: Thankfully, we made a really good run at the Australian Open. Now we're here. David Gardner: Well, thank you for painting the picture of the last year or so of your professional career. We're about to head toward the weeks now just leading up to Wimbledon. Your mindset, what you were dreaming about? What the possibilities are. I certainly want to hear something about what it's like to be. I've never been to Wimbledon myself, and I've certainly never been behind the scenes at Wimbledon connected with the players. I know I'm not the only one who'd like to hear a little bit about what it's like just to be there. But even before we get there, Sem, you and I were talking a few years ago, you had just started investing a year or so before you realized the importance of finance. You come from a family that's very financially savvy, two wonderful parents, loving parents who understood money and set you up in a lot of ways with a mindset that will propel you forward the rest of your life. I remember that, but I also remember the stock market was horrendously bad in 2022. My own personal portfolio was cut in half that year and it felt like I couldn't do anything right. You were just starting investing then. Could you catch us up a little bit on just your investing journey or mindset of the last few years? Sem Verbeek: Absolutely. It was not a great introduction to the markets for me, that's for sure. Actually, like you said, it was during COVID where I had the time and the resources to start learning more. As I mentioned, I think it was actually my email to the mailbag. David Gardner: To our mailbag on this podcast. Absolutely. Where you introduced yourself for the first time, I got to share that via the mailbag. Then I was like, We need to have Sem on the show as a guest, which happened subsequent, but you're right. I also remember that you really started investing in 2021 when the market went skyrocketing for a while, and you felt like you couldn't do anything wrong. Sem Verbeek: My very first introduction to the markets were that whole meme stock crazy saga. I remember signing up for an app in the Netherlands. Once you sign up, you get a share of a random stock just as an incentive for you to get investing. I remember that very first share that I had was Blackberry. For people that don't remember, Blackberry in 2021 was one of those companies where it was going up and down, like crazy, just like GameStop or any of those kind of companies. You said, whatever I did, I was making money, and it's not like I was investing a lot of money. It was just to get started. But I felt so confident. I was like, Good, this is easy. What is everybody talking about? You don't need to wait decades. All of this happens in weeks and months. Then 2022 was a very harsh reminder of this is not how it usually goes. But actually, I was lucky enough that even though a meme stock was my first introduction to the stock market, the Motley Fool was really my second resource. I had been hearing the same consistent message for about a year. I think that has really helped. I think, especially now in the age of Twitter or X or any social media where anybody can give their advice or opinion, especially for something as sensitive as financial information or stock baking help or something like that. It's very easy to get caught up in, but this person says this and this person says that and screenshots and all of that. I was very fortunate to have you and everybody else at the Motley Fool just share that consistent message. 2022 happened. Thankfully, I didn't panic. David Gardner: Great. Sem Verbeek: Didn't sell anything. David Gardner: Great. Sem Verbeek: Definitely, reaping the benefits from that right now. David Gardner: You've continued to save and invest and dollar-cost average into the market in whatever way you choose. Sem Verbeek: Yeah. David Gardner: Fantastic. Sem Verbeek: Exactly. It was really not until last year where my tennis career as a company was starting to make some money. I had to be very careful of not putting too much in because 100% of what I was making was going right back into my tennis. But I think the educational part of getting to invest early really also helped me in my tennis mindset. Whenever I could, whenever I had a good tournament or a good week they always say, try to say, pay yourself first. Perfect. And I think that was a good lesson for me that I kept up for these last few years. Hopefully I can increase it a bit more now that tennis is going well. Then also this year in March, when all of that happened, and in April. [laughs] David Gardner: More volatility. You were ready, though. Sem Verbeek: I was ready. More years of a consistent message helped even more. [laughs] But it's been a fun ride. But like you said, in years of doing your podcast, if you can focus on the businesses behind everything else, it makes things much more smoother than if you just look at the stock or the prices or anything like. David Gardner: Appreciate that, Sem, and I'll also add that and you're already doing this now. In addition to being invested in the businesses, being invested your whole life long. I think a lot of people don't start with that mentality, but last time, you and I talked quite a bit about the long game and playing the long game. Truly, the younger you get started in your 20s, great. Investing and starting that compounding clock, the better off you are and keeping that going your whole life long is, I think, for a lot of people, a new thought, but I think it's such a capital Foolish thought. It's funny, reflecting on 2021, you're saying that wasn't normal. Nor was 2022, by the way. Normally, the market goes up over time, and it's not crazy volatile. 2022 was highly abnormal itself, as were March and April of this year, but you're already figuring out that that's how it is sometimes. Let's get into a Wimbledon mindset. When did you know you were going to be playing Wimbledon, and when did you and your Mixed Doubles partner, Katerina, come together? Sem Verbeek: I knew that I was going to be playing Wimbledon after the Australian open run that my Doubles partner and I made. It got us to a ranking where we were confident that until Wimbledon, we were going to get to play the tournaments that we wanted to play. It wasn't that big of a deal in parentheses. It's obviously a big deal to get to play Wimbledon. It wasn't a surprise in the sense that we had to wait until the entry list came out or something like that. David Gardner: She didn't have to drive, I don't know, from Scotland down to London all of a sudden to make Wimbledon in the hours leading up? Sem Verbeek: No, thankfully not, no. The way it works in tennis in Doubles, at least, is that two weeks prior to the tournament, the entry cutoff is, and then you get to know the next day if you made it into the teams that get accepted. Again, it wasn't a surprise for us that we did, but even two weeks beforehand, we knew that we were going to get to play. The grass season on the ATB Tour is quite short. There are only a few lead up events going to Wimbledon. We tried to play as many grass tournaments as possible just to get used to playing on grass and preparing for our Wimbledon. The mindset leading into it was different, especially to last year. Last year, similar to the Miami Open, I was an alternate with a different Doubles partner. We didn't know basically until the same day that we were getting to play. This year was a lot different because you know you have a different same Doubles partner. You get to prepare with a few tournaments beforehand. The mindset going into it was a bit different because we had that run at the Australian Open. We had our biggest title a few months later. We were coming into it with expectations for ourselves, maybe not from the outside, but expectations that we wanted to win a few matches, definitely. A Grand Slam takes two weeks to complete. Our goal was, let's make the second week, which means winning three matches. If you had told me that last year, I would have gone crazy, but I think with the way this year has gone, we felt like that was a very realistic goal for us. David Gardner: It's funny, Sem, because I'm thinking about you now at the age of 31. You're getting better at tennis. Very evidently, whether it's your ranking or your achievement, somewhere starting late 29 into now 31. Of course, you're practicing every day. You have a coach that you've had for years, but you are literally getting better. Sem Verbeek: A big difference for me now at this age or at this stage of my career, compared to 2022 or even a year after that is my mindset of knowing that my tennis is good enough. It's always been very difficult for me to to look at myself objectively and look at my tennis. I find it much easier to look at other people's tennis and say, this is very good. This may need some improvement. But when it comes to myself, sometimes my insecurities take over and I don't give myself enough credit, maybe sometimes for the work that we're putting in. Getting the validation, I think, also through the results, have made it clear to me like, my tennis is really good enough, and now I've just got to allow myself to play my best tennis. That was also a big difference for this year's Wimbledon is knowing from Australia where we beat the number one team in the world, on our best day, we can literally beat anybody in the world. That's quite an intimidating statement for me still, and it's tricky for me to accept that as truth. But at the same time, I think it's necessary also to produce your best tennis, for sure. David Gardner: Forgive me because I was traveling, so I didn't really watch Wimbledon this year. I follow you on social media, so I know things were going well. But explain this to me a little bit because, Sem, of course, your emergence last year or two with your male partner, Andre Goransson. This is really your partner and where you're playing regularly and getting better all the time. But you won the Mixed Doubles championship. When did you first meet Katerina Siniakova and how did that happen? Sem Verbeek: That's a very funny story. The way it works for Mixed Doubles is that the Wednesday of the first week of a Grand Slam is when you can sign in with your partner. You don't know until Wednesday afternoon if you get in. Similar to other tournaments, but very much last minute. When we were in Australia, a commentator that I know a little bit, I was hanging out with, and she said, wait, you have to stay here. I want you to meet Katerina, because I want you guys to play Mixed Doubles maybe sometime. I was thinking, she's number one in the world. Fun. It's always good to meet people, but I never really had any expectations of, I'm going to play Mixed Doubles with her. She actually comes over with Katerina, and we chat for about 30 seconds, and she goes, maybe text me at some other Grand Slam to play Mixed Doubles, because Mixed Doubles is only played in the Grand Slams. Then at Wimbledon, I think it was on Sunday night or so, I get her number. I didn't even have her number to text her or anything. I get her number. I say, hey this friend would kill me if I don't at least send you a text. I wasn't even expecting a response because she probably has other things to do. But she was very nice in responding and said, hey, I'm not so sure if I'm going to play Mixed Doubles yet, because she's also playing in the Singles draw and in the Doubles draw. I'm going to decide after my match on Monday. As it does in England, it rains a lot. She started her match on Monday, couldn't finish it. Then played on Tuesday morning. On Tuesday night, I had to text her again, and I said, this is probably the last thing you want to think about right now. But is there any chance you still want to play Mixed Doubles or not? She was, again, very honest and sincere and said, hey, if I do well, if I keep doing well in singles, because she ended up winning her first round match, then I might have to pull out of the draw. If that's too big of a risk for you, then maybe you should find someone else. I said, If you make the fourth round of Wimbledon, I'm not going to be difficult to say, hey, you signed up with me to play Mixed Doubles. What are you doing? I said, no worries. Then she goes, let's sign in then. Then, unfortunately, for her in the singles, she lost her next match on Wednesday. But for me, it got to mean, at least, I get to play in Mixed Doubles. Then we were right away drawn against the number 1 seeds in the Mixed Doubles draw. Mind you, up until this time, we never played tennis together. David Gardner: Incredible. Sem Verbeek: We didn't really meet. It was until the warm up for that match, we were strangers. Then we were just hoping it was going to click in that first round mat. David Gardner: I thought this should never work. That's why it's good to have Andre Goransson as your regular partner and learn how to play. Having a pickup partner at Wimbledon, this can't possibly work. Sem Verbeek: Thankfully, it did. Again a stroke of luck. Maybe it meant that we were prepared for that stroke of luck again, just like in Miami or in years prior. But it clicked really well between us. She's obviously a great tennis player, and I got to know her a little bit over the week that we played together. Just a very kind hearted, sweet human, but with a killer instinct, because you don't get to be as successful as she is without having a little bit of a killer instinct. We won that first round match against two very good players, and then we just kept going match by match until suddenly we were on Santa Court on the Thursday of the second week and playing the final. For as successful as she is in women's Doubles, this was actually her first time playing a Mixed Doubles final, as well. David Gardner: Incredible. Sem Verbeek: Maybe she was nervous. Maybe she was nuts, but I was definitely nervous. But we ended up winning that match. It's a Thursday I will remember for a lot of different reasons. David Gardner: It was dramatic that win. Sem Verbeek: Definitely. I knew beforehand a little bit of what was on the line, at least for Dutch tennis. I was vying to be the first Dutch male to win Mixed Doubles at Wimbledon. Thankfully, my coach kept that away from me because I think if you get to know a little bit of those things beforehand, it can play into your mentality going into the match. I knew for her that that would be her first Mixed Doubles at Grand Slam. Then to top it off, we were playing a Brit. And obviously, if you play in London against the Brits, you know that the crowd is not going to be rooting that heart for you. David Gardner: 7-6, 7-6. Sem Verbeek: It was very high-level. From the moment we started, everybody was playing very good tennis. It was really neck and neck basically throughout, especially the first set. We ended up playing a really good tie break. Then it was a remarkable statistic for us is that our serve hadn't gone broken in the whole tournament so far. Incredible. We ended up leading by a break in the second set. If we kept that statistic, then we were going to win in straight sets. We ended up getting broken once, unfortunately. Sem Verbeek: But again, really high level. Got some tough moments until that very last serve I got to serve at 6-3 in the tie break. I will remember that point for the rest of my life, for sure. David Gardner: Katerina said, it's very special. Means a lot. We had a lot of fun on the court. That's something you and I talked about, the importance of having fun playing tennis, which is not always easy, especially if you're doing something for a living. But she said we had a lot of fun on the court. I really enjoyed it. Thank you for playing with me, Sem. Sem Verbeek: Again, she's such a nice human. I'm really glad I got to know her. But going back to your point about having fun, in 2022, that was true for me, and in 2025, it's still true for me. I know that when I get to enjoy where I'm playing and I enjoy doing it with someone that is not only a good tennis player, but just a good human, that's when I produce my best tennis. Especially in doubles when you're together, whether it's mixed doubles or women's or men's, you also have a little bit of a responsibility toward your partner. I knew that she could be quite tough on herself, just from knowing a little bit about her. I think it was also a good strategy for me to try to keep things as light-hearted as possible. It worked out. If the combination of me producing my best tennis and her getting to relax a bit more, produces a Wimbledon title, then I think it underlines the importance of having fun in what you do. Especially as the years go by, you have to find that enjoyment, that fulfillment in what you're doing in any business, whether it's in tennis or for you here at The Motley Fool. It's now 31 years? David Gardner: Yes. Sem Verbeek: It wouldn't be 31 years if you didn't have fun doing what you're doing, but also with the people that you're doing it with. I think that principle holds not only in tennis or for me playing doubles, the first who then what principle. I think it's so important to find the right people around you that can not only bring out the best in you, but at the same time, have the balance of keeping it fun, making it enjoyable. Because you go through rough times as your company is so tied to the market and the market volatility, as the market goes down, it's also tough for everyone around here to keep their spirits up. In tennis, when you're not playing well or the results are not coming for a little bit, you have to know that you still trust your doubles partner. You still trust your coach, and you can zoom out a little bit behind the tennis and on the side of it so that you can still enjoy that balance. That all came together for me at Wimbledon, especially in the final. My whole family was there, which made it even more special, especially on that day for my dad. [laughs] But success is so much better when you can share it with people around you. Same is true in investing. I think one of the lessons that I learned from these Wimbledon tennis is a zero-sum game. You have a winner and you have a loser, unfortunately. At the end of the day, the winner is going to share their wins with their team, and the losers, unfortunately, is also going to have to share their losses with their team. But investing doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. You don't have to have better returns than this person, or you don't have to have a better portfolio, or whatever it is. Everybody can share in the success of a company or the success of a stock. I think that's so cool and unique about the endeavor of investing in the stock market. David Gardner: For now, we're going to turn the page of the Wimbledon chapter. I'd like to look at how Rule Breaker DNA can exist both in an investor and a professional athlete. Maybe if you'll be generous here, we can extract a few lessons from you, Sem, in terms of how Rule Breaker thinking might aid you in both of these disciplines. I have three things cued up, and then we're going to play buy, sell, or hold because you've generously consented to play our game with us. That's where we're headed. Sem Verbeek: If you don't mind, I'm in a very unique position. As a fan and as a listener of your podcast to maybe ask you some questions as well. David Gardner: Okay. We'll make this, just like in football, the halftime entertainment. What you got? Sem Verbeek: As I shared a little bit earlier, my sense of belonging at the level where I'm at became greater, let's say, this year and last year. As someone with an English background and not a financial background, how did you manage that position for you, especially as the Motley Fool got more successful and as you got more successful in investing in general, how did you beat that maybe imposter syndrome that I felt in tennis? David Gardner: I really appreciate that. For me, my first answer to that is it goes back to having a good team around you. One of my favorite lines learned from Fred Singer, a former Motley Fool board member, back in the 1990s, Fred said, "There are no perfect people, only perfect teams." In a lot of ways, yes, my brother Tom and I and our pal, Erik Rydholm, co-founding the company together, we were all English majors, and nobody had an MBA. Certainly, we had never been formally trained in the stock market. But we had had an excellent education. We had all gone to great schools with supportive families. I think in a lot of ways, as we started a business, we started to realize, we need to add some more people here. We can't keep this thing going on our own. We need somebody who's going to account for what we're doing. It also would be good to have a lawyer, somebody who knows legal, can set up our company. Also, we need people answering questions right out there on America Online, which is really where the Motley Fool launched. I'm not even sure that's a brand, Sem, that you would know or remember here. Sem Verbeek: Not anymore, I hope. [laughs] David Gardner: But for older hands, listen to me right now, you remember, there was a time when AOL was on top of the online world, and we had a very substantial presence, and we realized the importance of community. We had a lot of people who volunteered and just answered each other's questions on our discussion boards about investing or the stock market or a given technology, or company. It was assembling a group of people and building that over time, that is the only way that English majors with no previous background. We weren't even the people who in grade school were trying to sell stuff to our friends. We were not that business-minded, the threesome that founded the Motley Fool. Sem Verbeek: That's important, I think, for everybody also to know that's not so much about how you started, but it's about how you keep developing as a human and as an entrepreneur. My second question is, as you were assembling that team and those people around you, I know you're famous for your Rule Breaker investing stocks and the traits that you look for in companies. What are maybe some of the traits that you look for in people that you want to have around you, maybe personally and professionally? David Gardner: Well, I think, first of all, character matters most to me. One thing I really appreciate about you is I know I'm talking to a person of character, somebody who was raised in a family that understood that, and both for your older sister and for you and no doubt for what you do as a leader, because part of what you've done is you've actually gone on to graduate the business program at the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, which is, above and beyond. And you've also represented your players to the ATP and said, can we make it better, especially for people who are not as successful as some of us, who can keep their professional career going with the ATP without overspending what they're making? I just want to call you out as somebody whose character I admire. I do think I'm a good judge of character, and no one's perfect, by the way. I'm aware of a lot of my own flaws, and sometimes I can see flaws in other people, but I would say that it starts there, with people who you can trust. I think trust is the coin of the realm globally and always has been and always will be. I think building trust with people of great character, obviously, you also want to make sure that you have people who are doing the things that you're not good at. Any team of three co-founders there are going to be a bunch of things that we're not that good at that we need to look for. There's some combination of just who you would hire anyway. Sometimes in American sports, we say, who's the next draft pick, best available athlete? Doesn't matter what position they play or what their role is. But then other people are saying we specifically need this type of player in this type of context. I think there's a balance there, but what I really mean to say is you want. You want both people of character and people who fill gaps for whatever the organization is you're building. Sem Verbeek: If I can finish with maybe one last question. David Gardner: Thanks. Sem Verbeek: In tennis, you go through ups and downs results-wise. You're going to have a few losses in a row. Most of the weeks that I play, I lose. You don't win a title every week. As we relate that to the market volatility, and in 31 years, you've had a lot of ups and downs, and I think you know now, and your credo is the market goes up more than it goes down. What were those early years for you like? How did you handle the down periods when you didn't have the experience of three decades of investing, and how did you still keep true to your another credo is just keep swimming? [laughs] How did that happen in the early years? David Gardner: Thank you. In fact, that was our theme in 2022 for this podcast. I remember our conversation. I went back there again, and I said, along with Dory from the movie Finding Nemo, through all markets, but especially ones that hurt to be part of in 2022, was one such Just Keep Swimming. I think we updated the phrase because you're a tennis player to Just Keep Swinging. I obviously think resilience is such an important human trait. I think we have to learn as many good lessons from when things work as looking for lessons when things don't work. I think, obviously, when things aren't working, you can take solace in the notion that, well, I either win or I learn. I think that's a good attitude. The good news is the reality is the stock market goes up more often than it goes down. It rises two years in every three. I think those off years, which keep happening, they're going to keep happening the rest of our lives; you just have to realize the full context of it. Especially if you have made that whole life commitment to your financial future and to those around you, your family, that one day we all hope to have or we're part of. The legacy that we hope to leave, I think it's so important to just be in it the whole time. I never counsel Motley Fool members or listeners to jump in and then jump back out of the market and come back. Buy low, sell high is a phrase I hate because it says sell, and it has everybody thinking they should be jumping out. What's my target price? Sem, I would say as an early entrepreneur, as an early stock picker, I certainly made some bad stock picks, but the good news is my good ones just wiped them all out, and I couldn't have understood that in full at the time until you start seeing the math of losing to win. The reality is like venture capitalists, who typically, at their most successful, have a lot of losers, but their winners wipe all their losers out. That's why Venture Capital works in this country and in the world at large. I think it's true of our stock market investing, as well. I don't know if I gave a good answer to that, but those are some. You're catching me off guard a little bit. I love that you're asking me questions. I'm supposed to be asking you questions. I'm going to go back to that now, [laughs] but I really appreciate that opportunity. I also want to call out how much fun it is to be in studio with you. I'm so glad you're here in Washington, DC, this week. I know you're playing in a tournament. I hope you do very well this week. Sem Verbeek: Thank you. David Gardner: But that really is the reason we're getting to share this together. I didn't know you were going to start surprising with questions on my pipe. [laughs] Sem Verbeek: Well, after years of listening and interacting on Twitter, I know there are so many fans of yours and Motley Fool members, hopefully, that would vie for this opportunity that I have right now. On their behalf, thank you for answering some questions. David Gardner: Well, thank you. That's so gracious. Now I have a few more for you. I was thinking about just Rule Breaker DNA. DNA, I guess, is not a biological term here. It's more about a mindset and how you have benefited from both being an investor playing the long game and also somebody who's at the forefront now of a sport that many people love. But even if it weren't just tennis, just any sport. I love when breaking rules works. I wanted to ask you a few questions about that. I have three. The first one is I wanted to talk about data and technology now, Sem, because I would say investors love a good mote, a good sustainable advantage, and increasingly, we find that it's when a company has a technological advantage over its peers or sometimes even from a David position, much smaller than Goliath, but it has a better trick up its sleeve in some way, shape, or form. I'm wondering with that Rule Breaker mentality, do you care about and note things analytics in and around your performance, wearables? Somebody said hawk-eye, AI scouting. How technologically helped or focused are you or not at this stage of your career? Sem Verbeek: We definitely try to look at it as much as we can. I think another parallel with the information age of the markets and investing is that you have to tune out the noise to look at the data that really matters. That's just a matter of trial and error, especially with AI going into tennis now, as well. You can go into data that is so granular, based on every point and court position and score line, and all of that. You can make it as I don't want to say convoluted, but you can make it as precise as you want. But the trick really is to find those data points that matter to your game and that matter to the game of tennis at large, as well. But that's going to be unique to everybody, just as everybody get analysis paralysis when figure out when to buy or when to sell or whatnot. I think if you focus on the few things that produce so many of your results, I think you should definitely take advantage of that in sports as well. David Gardner: Love it. Going back to baseball and Bill James back in the day, I've always loved analytics around sports. I think they do provide such powerful insights. We also are living in a world of infinite data. I imagine somebody could just get buried in their own data and unable to lift their tennis racket because they're so overwhelmed by all the things they could be thinking about when they're actually trying to play a point of tennis. By the way, one thing I remember from you when you last visited is a tip that you gave to all of us as doubles players is when you're at the net, keep your racket up. [laughs] You even said, I need to remind myself of that. Does that continue to be important? Sem Verbeek: Yeah, absolutely. Some habits are hard to break, for sure. [laughs] David Gardner: I guess there's probably analytics that would show you what happens when you're not keeping your racket up, and that's why you say, keep your racket up at the net, all weekend warriors, when you're playing doubles. Sem Verbeek: Yeah, absolutely. No, I think again, I'm a big fan of, if I pronounce it correctly, the Pareto principle, where 20% of the things that you have are available produce around 80% of the results. I think that's so important in tennis, as well. You've got to find the tactics or the patterns or the strokes that really work for yourself and work for your game and build off of those. I think analytics are definitely a tool you can use to help with that. David Gardner: Are you conscious that across the net, there are opponents being driven by that themselves? Is that pretty much Du Ruger today? Is that how things work, or is it still edgy and you're not really sure who's really looking at what data? Sem Verbeek: One thing about maybe the world of tennis or athletics in general, that I'm not a big fan of, is that when people find something that works, they tend to try to keep it a secret. They don't want to share those principles or the methods or whatever. I try to make it a point for myself, at least, to share those things that do work for me. David Gardner: Fantastic. Sem Verbeek: As you eloquently put on your podcast, when you light your own candle, you don't have to burn someone else's, if that makes sense. I'm not so sure exactly. Everybody has a unique approach to it. It does feel like the more successful athletes and teams or people are using technology and analytics to their advantage. David Gardner: Before we move to my Number 2 Rule Breakery question, Sem, what is an example for you of an insight that you've gotten from data or analytics that has changed how you play? Sem Verbeek: It's really the serve patterns for myself, especially on, let's say, the pressure point. You can see exactly the tendency that you have of, OK, I'm going to serve this serve out wide or at their body or down the T. That has really provided a pattern for me over the years to say, oh, when things feel like they're tight or when there's a little pressure, I tend to go here. Sometimes that can be an advantage for me because I know that maybe my best serve, but sometimes it's also good to know that, hey, they have that information available as well. Maybe we try to break the rules a little bit and go the opposite direction. But I think that has really helped me know exactly what my tendencies are. David Gardner: That is so cool. Thank you for answering Question Number 1. Question Number 2, Rule Breakery. David Gardner: I'm going to try to make a really lame analogy. Just work with me. Work with me, which I know you will you do it so well. Whatever is hit your way, you're ready with rack it up. I'm going to try to compare portfolio construction for investors to tournament scheduling. This is something that you would understand much better than I, but choosing which events to enter feels like in some ways, asset allocation for athletes. Could you make us a little smarter about your mindset, both as an investor constructing a portfolio, and then an entrepreneur literally deciding for himself and his organization, his team, those around him, what he should do next and what he shouldn't do next. Sem Verbeek: Absolutely. The way it works on the tennis tour is that the different level of tournaments give you an amount of ranking points based on how well you do. It goes from the ATP 250 level gives you 250 points if you win the tournament, 500 500,1000, etc, Grand Slam will give you 2000 points. The different services in tennis are hardcore grass and clay court. Throughout the year, you have the option of choosing what surface you want to play on depending on the calendar. I think that is definitely a big part of how I schedule my tournaments is what surface is it on? If I can relate that to portfolio construction is invest in what you know and what you know you're good at. Love it. Maybe there's something to be said to try to break a certain rhythm or something, but we tend to stick to what we know we can produce our best tennis at, and I think that's a good investor lesson Number 1. The lesson Number 2 is a little bit out of our control because we signed up for a tournament with our ranking, and that ranking has to be good enough in order to get into the tournament. You can look at past cutoffs in tournaments to see if you have a reasonable, good shot of getting into that tournament. As one of the rule Breaker traits is you want good price appreciation in the past. David Gardner: Yes. Sem Verbeek: You can look at data from previous tournaments to see, are we going to get into that tournament or do we need to look at other tournaments to make sure that we get to play a tournament like that? Then third, it really depends on where we are in the season and how many tournaments we've played in the weeks or months prior. As a tennis player, especially as a doubles player, you have full control over your calendar, so you can play as much as you want to. But the way it works for your ranking is that your best 18 results count for the points on hiking. Even if you play 35 weeks in a year, your best 18 counts. David Gardner: I like that. Sem Verbeek: I think it's a good system. What we have to be mindful of is OK, how many results do we already have that will count toward our ranking? Do we need a certain amount of points to make the cutoff for this tournament? Also, how much time do we have at home with family, or do we get to schedule a training block and things like that? If I can relate it back to portfolio allocation, let's say Andre and I in Australia had a really good result. Let's say that's a stock that has gone up a lot in quite a short amount of time. For some, if it's about their sleep number, it might be a good idea to trim back a little bit. For us, trimming back means taking some time to recharge, maybe working on our game not in a tournament setting, but that then take one or two weeks and then go back with a fresh mindset into the next few tournaments, because it's very easy to want to try to keep riding high if you're playing well. But one thing that has over the years, definitely not worked for me is trying to write that momentum. I think once you made a plan with your partner or your coach and you like that plan, sure, you have to be a little bit flexible, as Morgan Housel always says, the only thing is you plan for is your plan, not according to plan. Both positively and sometimes negatively, but stick to that schedule. Dalica's average, if you want to, set a regular interval, and don't try to chase momentum just because you feel like, I'm playing well now, so I have to keep playing. Then when things don't go so well, you panic because I'm not playing well. Should I take more time off? Should I keep playing even more? But set to the schedule that you intended to beforehand and let the results speak for themselves. David Gardner: Well, said, so it wasn't that bad a metaphor. Sem Verbeek: No it was great. David Gardner: I know you have a longtime coach, Jacob Meyer. I always think of coaches as giving us pointers about our serve or our backhand. Are you making the calls when it comes to your decision about how to allocate where to be? Is it in partnership with Jacob or with your father, who's a very wise and smart person or your partner, who actually makes the call in terms of where you're going to be next? I assume it's you. Sem Verbeek: Yeah. David Gardner: How much do you feel like it's on you versus the team making a decision? Sem Verbeek: In the end, the responsibility ends with me and my Doubles partner. But we will never make decisions without consulting whoever is part of the team. I think it's like you said, in answering my questions, it's so important to know maybe what your blind spots are. To have people fill those gaps because again, as you said, nobody's perfect. I can get insecure. I can get over hyped. I can get in all emotional states, it may cloud my judgment a little bit. Then one of the things that Jacob is particularly good at, I found is looking farther into the future than I can. David Gardner: Brilliant. Sem Verbeek: Sometimes, as a tennis player, you're very much looking at this week or the next month. He's been brilliant at looking at months later and even years later. Both he keeps us grounded, but he also has good insight into what if you do well here, or we should take maybe this tournament off, because winning one more match in a later round of a grand slam means much more than winning a match, let's say, a 50 tournament. That's what he's very good at. Sometimes it's difficult for us as tennis players when you're in the rhythm of tournaments to realize that because you just want to win more matches. David Gardner: What a fine coach and therefore, what a good long term partnership. By the way, shout out to coach Ryan Redondo, who you mentioned three years ago, such an important relationship for you. You're college coach at University of the Pacific. Obviously, you are coachable and you appreciate coaching. How many days a year do you spend in your native city of Amsterdam? Sem Verbeek: Wow. Good question. Not a whole lot. I would say maybe a month out of the year in total. Month and a half, depending on how well we do. David Gardner: When did you know you were going to be playing in Washington, DC in the tournament this week, speaking of asset allocation? Sem Verbeek: Again, just like any other tournament, the cut off for the entry list was about two weeks ago. I knew that during Wimbledon that we got into the tournament. Then as Wimbledon in the mixed doubles went better and better, I had a conversation with my doubles partner, Andre and said, Hey, what is your perspective? Because unfortunately, he was not there in the second week of Wimbledon anymore. I knew that I was not going to be playing the week after Wimbledon. If we had not played Washington, that would mean we are three weeks apart from each other and not playing together. That's a conversation that he and I have. What does this result mean for me, but also for you and for our partnership? It was the day after the Wimbledon Final, where we called, and we committed to playing this tournament, about a few weeks ago. David Gardner: I have my third rule Bakery question for you, but I find myself still fascinated by where we are right now. In brief, Sem, could you describe your travel schedule for any Motley Fool fans who might want to catch you because you're not just playing in Washington, DC on this side of the pond this summer. It's tripped off a whole. Well, trip for you. Give us some dates and places. Sem Verbeek: This week, like you said, I'm going to be in Washington DC, hopefully as long as possible. Then my next tournament is going to be in Toronto. That's going to be next week and the week after that. Then from Toronto, we go to Cincinnati, which also last hopefully two weeks. Then from Cincinnati, we go to Winston Salem. That's the last tournament before we go up to New York where the US Open is at the end of August. David Gardner: You were here for an extended period of time in the United States, a place you're very comfortable. It's sort of a second home for you this country. Sem Verbeek: Yeah, absolutely. I'm extremely grateful for the lessons that it's taught me, the people that it's allowed me to meet, and, yeah, helping develop me into the tennis player and Human that I am today. David Gardner: Fantastic. My third and final Rule Beakery question, Sem, I'm thinking about your training and/or your strategy as a tennis professional. I think the rule Breaker vesting podcast audience loves when somebody finds an edge that others overlook or sees something that other people aren't seeing. How about something that you do that breaks the rules a little bit, goes against conventional wisdom or what maybe you were initially told as somebody who's training or with your strategy in the game of tennis? Sem Verbeek: As I alluded to earlier, I don't like keeping secrets. For anybody who wants to copy, this freely feel free. Love it. No, so I was in Atlanta a few days before here in Washington, and the reason I was there is because I go to a neurology clinic over there in Atlanta. That's called the Georgia Chiropractic Neurology Clinic. I've been going there for a few years now to not only do brain training, but just get my body right, as well. I think neurology training and brain rehab is such an overlooked part of professional sports in general. We do all of this physical work, mental work, emotional work, tactical work. What we noticed, and this is a big compliment to Jacob Meyer, as well, who said a lot of movement patterns and a lot of reflexes and habits are formed in your brain, and the better your brain can function, the better athlete you're going to be and yeah, it's been an amazing, I think, I would say six years that I've been going there. That's definitely an edge that I found worked. They are amazing people over there. A big shout out to them as well. Now I look forward to continuing my partnership with them for years. David Gardner: Our final section. Yes, Sem Verbeek has graciously consented to play our game of buy sell or hold. Sem, I'm going to be asking you about things in and around your world and our world, too, and ask you, these are not stocks. But if they were stocks, would you be buying right now, selling or holding, and a few sentences as to why? You ready? Sem Verbeek: I'm ready. David Gardner: Excellent. Buy Seller Hold Wimbledon's all white dress code. Sem Verbeek: Strong buy. David Gardner: Why? Sem Verbeek: Strong buy. I think the tradition and the classiness it represents is something unique to that tournament, and I think it helps the tournament stand out from the whole tennis calendar. David Gardner: It definitely does. Plus, white looks really good on green as a backdrop. Sem Verbeek: Yeah, exactly. I think they chose the right color to have it all represented on court, yeah. Strong buy. David Gardner: Number 2, I don't even know if this is a thing. AI coaches in pro tennis. We talked some about real time analytics, pattern recognition. Can you ever imagine having an AI coach literally coach AI rivaling the wisdom of old school human coaches? Sem Verbeek: Oh, I'm going to say. David Gardner: Jacob is listening, probably. Sem Verbeek: I'm going to say hold. [laughs] I don't see AI replacing coaches altogether, but I do definitely see AI becoming a tool that all coaches will at one point and in different capacities use in coaching, absolutely. David Gardner: Next one up, number three, he's Dutch. He was born in Amsterdam. Dutch directness. Buy, sell or hold culturally efficient and honest or could it use a bit more topspin. Buy, sell or hold Dutch directness, Dutchman? Sem Verbeek: Another hold for me. I am not very good at being direct, so it's something that I'd like to add to my toolbox when it is appropriate. But it's been definitely the Dutch are blunt, for sure, for good or for bad. Something I'd like a little bit more of in my own character, but I think a hold for now. David Gardner: Very good. We're holding so far. That might continue. We're about to find out. Now, three years ago, we were joined by George Khalaf who I know is listening this week, our executive director of the Motley Fool Foundation, George himself, a very talented tennis player and lifelong fan and coach and father and all the rest. George would probably want me to ask about pickleball. Sem Verbeek, buy, sell or hold the Pickleball takeover. Sem Verbeek: As a tennis player, as someone who is an advocate for sports, big buy, for sure. It's I like my tennis, but I realize it's a great avenue for people to be active, to be outside, to be part of a community. If they take the spots of tennis courts, it's a cell for me, but if they can have their own space, I think it's a great way to stay active, so that would be a buy for me. David Gardner: Very nice. I like how you're of both minds about that. I really have noticed about you, Sem, that you're very well integrated with your thinking. I feel as if I'm talking to somebody who can see both sides of things, and that might come down to some brain training and six years in Atlanta, or just being really raised as a good kid and a smart guy growing up. But thank you very much. I appreciate that. Let's go to Number 5, two more here for you. Number 5, we're going to go with orange as a power color. From the Dutch flag to Rafa's clay court kits, can you really not feel faster in orange? Buy, sell or hold orange as a power color. Sem Verbeek: Really strong buy. That is just purely based on my patriotism for my country. Now, as someone who grew up a lifelong football or soccer fan, the Orange kits have always meant a lot to me, especially during Euroupe World Cup times, that everybody in the Netherlands starts wearing orange. Hopefully, I'll be representing my country in tennis in Orange soon. I know, Orange has a special place for me. David Gardner: I bet it does. That was a softball, but we're having fun here. I do remember from our conversation a few years ago how meaningful it was for you to be able to hold the hand of one of your football heroes in your native city of Amsterdam as a kid, how that inspired you. Sem Verbeek: Definitely. To come so close to such a great footballing legend, really, was, like you said, inspiring. For young young Sem, that was a dream come true. That was very cool. David Gardner: Who was that star? Sem Verbeek: His name is Wesley Snyder. David Gardner: Wesley Snyder. That's right. I remember as the camera panned past the whole full lineup of the players holding a kid's hand, you were a little taller. Sem Verbeek: Sorry, Wesley. Sorry. David Gardner: Sem, last one for you, we've gone from the sublime to the ridiculous. Let's go with Olympic E sports in 2025 and beyond. A legitimate medal event or flashy sideshow next to something like tennis or the hundred meter dash, buy, sell or hold Olympic E sports. Sem Verbeek: I would say buy. What those people are doing is considered Dalen in my book. They may not have the physical prowess as the Olympic athletes in not E sports, but in regular sports do, but I think talent should be celebrated, no matter where it is. As someone who's invested in the gaming industry, I would very much like to see that. But no, like I said, I don't think we have to compare medals or accomplishments of it in that way. But I think if you can showcase that video game talent on a global stage, then strong buy for me. David Gardner: Thank you. As a lifelong video gamer, myself, not so good at tennis myself. I appreciate that answer. I'm sure many other do. Sem Verbeek, I appreciate your presence, both the physical presence we're enjoying today in Washington, DC, Alexandria, Virginia Fool HQ Studios, is on Twitter X among other places. Of course, you can sometimes watch them on TV these days, depending on which tennis match might be on this week. I am delighted to have had this time with you, and I wish you the very best and look forward to your next visit. Sem Verbeek: Thank you. It's been a pleasure coming here. You have been an inspiration of mine for years now. Even though they say never meet your heroes, I'm very glad and it's been a pleasure to finally met you in person. David Gardner: Fool on. Sem Verbeek: Fool on. David Gardner has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends BlackBerry. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Sem Verbeek: 2025 Wimbledon Champion and Friend of The Motley Fool was originally published by The Motley Fool Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Bloomberg
TA Considers €4 Billion Sale of Software Firm Unit4
TA Associates is considering a potential sale of Dutch enterprise software company Unit4, according to people familiar with the matter. The investment firm has asked a select group of banks to pitch for a sellside mandate as it seeks to prepare Unit4 for the sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. TA may seek a valuation of around €4 billion ($4.7 billion) for Unit4, some of the people said.
