Latest news with #DavidRosenthal
Bloomberg
24-02-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Here's What It Takes to Make a Great Company
People love listening to stories about making it big, and there are no shortage of success stories in the world of global business. There's TSMC, which has grown to become the most important producer of semiconductors. There's Hermès, which has been a power player in luxury consumer goods for over a hundred years now. Or how about Starbucks, Berkshire Hathaway, Renaissance Technologies, or Ikea? The list goes on and on. But what actually makes a company great? And why do some businesses succeed where others fail? The Acquired podcast has become a must-listen for their study of some of the most interesting companies in the world. In this episode, we speak with Acquired co-hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, about what makes a business truly great.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook's board ‘tried to fire' him after rejecting Yahoo's $1B offer in 2006
Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook, once a simple networking site built in his Harvard dorm room, has grown into Meta Platforms — a $1.7 trillion force dominating social media and artificial intelligence on a global scale. Which is why it's surprising that the entrepreneur was nearly laid off from his own company in 2006. Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead One dozen eggs in America now costs $4.15 — and $14.35 for a pound of sirloin steak. Both record highs. 3 simple ways to protect your wealth in 2025 These 5 magic money moves will boost you up America's net worth ladder in 2025 — and you can complete each step within minutes. Here's how 'Yahoo wanted to buy the company for a billion dollars and everyone on the management team wanted to sell it,' he told David Rosenthal and Ben Gilbert in a recent episode of the Acquired podcast. 'And the board tried to fire me. Everyone else on the management team left … I hadn't done a good job communicating the long-term vision.' Nearly two decades after the deal fell through, Meta Platforms is worth significantly more than $1 billion and is now the seventh most valuable company in the world. Zuckerberg's savvy move highlights a key lesson for long-term investors: don't sell your winners early. Here's why focusing on long-term growth is better than taking quick and easy wins along the way. Even the best hyper-growth companies take several years, if not decades, to live up to their full potential. Developing ground-breaking technology or successful consumer products takes time, even if an elite group of experts are working on it. OpenAI, for instance, was launched in 2015 but took seven years to release ChatGPT, their leading large language platform. Similarly, Amazon took five years to open its marketplace to third-party sellers. And, for the first 25 years or so of its existence, Apple exclusively sold desktop computers and nothing else. Assuming Amazon was just a book retailer or that Apple was just a computer company would've been a mistake for any investor trying to value these stocks. Missing out on the long-term vision would've been an expensive error. An investor who purchased Amazon stock when it was first publicly listed in May 1997 would have made a stunning 2,877% return by selling the stock three years later. However, if the investor held onto the stake indefinitely, they would have enjoyed a total return of more than 260,000%. In other words, compound growth works best on longer time horizons. As Charlie Munger once said, 'The first rule of compounding: Never interrupt it unnecessarily." Read more: 82% of Americans are missing out on a savings account that pays over 10 times the national average Another reason why you shouldn't cut your winners and sell early is because there are few good alternatives available. Hyper-growth stocks are extremely rare and difficult to find. Tech giants like Nvidia, Apple, Amazon and Tesla have created generational wealth for early investors, but it's difficult to predict the next hyper-successful multibagger stock. In fact, most stocks underperform the index. In 2024, only 28% of the stocks included in the S&P 500 outperformed this index, according to a recent report by First Trust. That's why it's important to diversify your investments with varying levels of risk both inside and outside the stock market. Picking stocks is a difficult endeavor. It takes time, effort, research and a fair bit of luck to find a robust growth stock with excellent leadership. Selling such high-quality growth stocks early is counter-productive. This is why it's so important to let the winners in your portfolio keep winning over the long term. Self-made $500M mogul Ben Mallah reveals his 'essential' US portfolio that he says Amazon 'can't hurt' — here's his secret formula and how you can copy it in 2025 I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Jamie Dimon issues a warning about the US stock market — says prices are 'kind of inflated.' Crashproof your portfolio with these 3 rock-solid strategies This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. Sign in to access your portfolio
