In the late 1800s, oil tycoon John D Rockefeller invested in railroads and other supporting industries like the Northwest Equipment Co in Minnesota to diversity his wealth beyond oil. In the 1880s, his fortune was so vast it would be like controlling ~$430 billion today, more influence than any present-day billionaire. He was diversifying well before antitrust scrutiny hit, Rockefeller made sure he’d stay rich even if, and eventually when, Standard Oil was broken up in 1911.

Long time Elon Investor Ron Baron compared SpaceX’s IPO to the early days of the Dutch East India Company’s (VOC) 21 year shipping monopoly in 1602. Peak VOC inflation-adjusted valuation, was ~$8.2 trillion. 4–5x larger than SpaceX’s current ~$1.8–2T valuation. VOC employed 70,000 people globally (nearly 400 years ago).  SpaceX employs roughly 13,000 today. The VOC created its own military forces, and even initiate wars around the world.  The VOC at its peak controlled an estimated half of all global maritime trade. Can $SPCX 10x?

Victoria's Secret has changed its stock symbol to "very sexy":

in 24 hrs, my first tik tok video has over 40k views, 4k likes, 155 comments and 573 bookmarks. this character is basically the monologue in my head that i don't let out in polite society.

"Jaywalking" was propaganda created by big auto, resulting in one of the fastest shifts in public opinion ever recorded. In 1905, if you stood on a busy American city block, the street was a commons. Vendors worked the middle of the road. Kids chased each other between horse carts. Nobody owned it. Then came the car, along with lawyers, the lobbyists, and the propaganda. In 1923, newspapers blamed drivers for pedestrian deaths. By 1924, they were blaming jaywalkers. The secret weapon was a slur. Calling someone a "jay" in the 1920s meant calling them a hick. Too dumb for city life. Stick it in front of "walker" and you didn't have a victim anymore. You had an idiot who deserved what he got, a Jaywalker. Historians call it one of the most dramatic shifts in public opinion ever recorded.

“The true administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government.” - George Washington

I bought and framed some cool old stock certificate from Ticker History if that’s what you’re into

Brutalist Toys “R” Us in Woking, UK. Credit veronicadelica8 on IG

“I am an optimist because I don't see the point in being anything else” - Abe Lincoln. Born 217 years ago, today.

Throwback Monday

🚨 Going live with Mr. Financial History (@InvestorAmnesia) tonight. Come and get a piece of stock market history and learn a thing or two. 6:30PM EST ! whatnot.com/s/VW27t2mz

Stock exchanges are so boring compared to this 1600s alternative... The Dojima Rice Exchange in 17th century Japan (aka world’s first futures market) had some crazy quirks: Opening bell? Lame! • Each day, officials lit a cord on fire, and trading continued until it went out. • Price at extinguishment = official closing price. • Still trading after close? Officials dumped water on such traders. Investors gaming the system: • Traders on a hot streak would fan the flame to keep the fire burning longer. • Traders losing money would blow the flame out to end trading.

29 years I debated whether I could afford to spend $50K to buy the domain name I really wanted for Netflix (replay.com). I decided that was crazy money. Netflix it was. Now they can afford to pay 70 Billion for something. Who woulda thunk.

one of my favorite episodes in financial history. the reason they paid the dividend in spices was to burn short sellers who had to deliver those spices in kind to the people they had sold to. and isaac lemaire was shorting because he wanted to find his own path to the east indies, which he did. and then the dutch government said nah and he died penniless. you can’t arbitrage the government.