Peter
How Does Tom Gores Do it?
Most of the news about Tom Gores has to do with the Detroit Pistons, so it’s always great to hear some business news about him and Platinum Equity.
“This is a good story for Michigan,” Remenar said. “It’s a good story for Michigan, Platinum Equity taking two businesses in need of growth capital and providing it, to create a stronger, more capable auto supplier.”
Carlos Slim: How Great Fortunes Are Made
If you study the history of how great fortunes have been made over the past 160 years or so [1], you come to understand that there are just a few growth strategies or “tycoon plays.” One way is to focus on building up a single company to a colossal size. Think of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and the Google Guys as examples. However, the more common way is through a combination of building a single company with sales growth and wheeling & dealing in acquisitions. A third way is to be a deal-maker exclusively who just wheels & deals in companies.
It’s important to understand that even the single company builders have to eventually resort to acquisitions because it’s the only proven way to maintain high growth over a prolonged period of time. Do you want to shoot for billionaire or tycoon status? If you do, you will need to sustain a hyper rate of growth over many years.
Frankly, I can’t think of any company off the top of my head that grew to a large size without acquisitions. If you know of one, let me know.
Although Warren plays the tycoon game of buying companies at the topmost level, much of his advice is still relevant for smaller players.
Baz Luhrmann’s version of The Great Gatsby is almost here. I have been anticipating seeing this one for two years.
Of the four or five trailer versions for The Great Gatsby this is the best one as it provides some insight in what droves the protagonist. He’s a man with a past he wants to bury. Mad Men’s Don Draper is a similar character. As someone once said, “Reality is something you rise above.” Both men achieve this to varying degrees.
Here’s the trailer:
So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a 17 year old would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end. – F Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
One of these days I plan to do a Top 10 Billionaire Movie List but all I have time for today is a quick heads-up that the long-awaited 5th version of The Great Gatsby comes out in early May. This is the one with Leo DiCaprio in the lead role and, going by the trailers, he may just pull the part off successfully. Although I do have a few quibbles with some of the other casting choices, Tobey McGuire was an excellent pick for Nick Carraway the narrator and my favorite character in the story.
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