Episode 26: Marvel

Topics covered include:

• Marvel’s corporate origins as "Timely Publications”, created in 1939 by pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman in NYC, with the publication of Marvel Comics #1
• Creation of enduring characters such as Captain America, the Fantastic 4, Spider Man, The X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk and more
• Adoption in 1961 of the "Marvel Comics” brand, and writer-editor Stan Lee’s transition of the company towards focusing on edgier characters and stories targeted at older audiences
• Marvel’s first sale in 1968 to the Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation (later Cadence Industries)
• The company’s “turbulent” corporate history through the 1980’s and associated mergers, acquisitions and lawsuits
• Marvel’s reinvention as a film-focused media company in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s with the launch of Marvel Studios
• Disney’s ultimate acquisition of the company for $4.2 billion in August 2009, during the depth of the great recession
• Marvel's—and in particular Marvel Studios’—performance since the acquisition

Sponsors:

Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25
ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn

Followups:

• People like Spectacles!

Hot Takes:

• Shoutout to Hightower & VTS merging

The Carve Out:

• Ben: Westworld
• David: Overdrive

More Acquired!

• Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
• Join the Slack
• Subscribe to ACQ2
• Merch Store!

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC