Rolex
Acquired3 Jan

Rolex

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!

This episode was released on February 23, 2025.

Sponsors:

Links:

Carve Outs:


More Acquired!

© 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.

Episoder(213)

Starbucks (with Howard Schultz)

Starbucks (with Howard Schultz)

Starbucks. You’d be hard pressed to name any brand that’s more ubiquitous in the world today. With nearly half a billion global customer purchases per week across its stores and 3rd party retail chann...

4 Jun 20243h 14min

Microsoft Volume I

Microsoft Volume I

Microsoft. After nearly a decade of Acquired episodes, we are finally ready to tackle the most valuable company ever created. The company that put a computer on every desk and in every home. The compa...

22 Apr 20244h 24min

Renaissance Technologies

Renaissance Technologies

Renaissance Technologies is the best performing investment firm of all time. And yet no one at RenTec would consider themselves an “investor”, at least in any traditional sense of the word. It’d rathe...

18 Mar 20243h 8min

Hermès

Hermès

In luxury, there’s Hermès… and there’s everyone else. Stewarded by one French family over six generations, Hermès sells the absolute pinnacle of the French luxury dream. Loyal clients will wait years ...

20 Feb 20244h 9min

Novo Nordisk (Ozempic)

Novo Nordisk (Ozempic)

Last year Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, overtook LVMH to become Europe’s most valuable company. And the pull for Acquired to finally tackle healthcare (18%...

22 Jan 20243h 44min

Holiday Special 2023

Holiday Special 2023

Ben has some big news. Actually, double big news! On what has become a holiday tradition here at Acquired, we cozy up to the fire to do our annual review of the show “in public”. We reflect on what ca...

18 Des 20232h 18min

Visa

Visa

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 h...

27 Nov 20233h 44min

Charlie Munger

Charlie Munger

We sit down with the legendary Charlie Munger in the only dedicated longform podcast interview that he has done in his 99 years on Earth. We’ve gotten to have some special conversations on Acquired ov...

30 Okt 20231h 6min

Populært innen Business og økonomi

lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
stopp-verden
dine-penger-pengeradet
e24-podden
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-borsmorgen-okonominyhetene
livet-pa-veien-med-jan-erik-larssen
utbytte
pengesnakk
tid-er-penger-en-podcast-med-peter-warren
pengepodden-2
stormkast-med-valebrokk-stordalen
morgenkaffen-med-finansavisen
rss-sunn-okonomi
liberal-halvtime
rss-politisk-preik
finansredaksjonen
rss-markedspuls-2
lederpodden
okonomiamatorene