Businesses
How these companies were built, how they make money, and the decisions that defined them.
Showing 48 of 377 businesses
Airbnb
Online marketplace for short-term lodging and experiences. Disrupted the $800B hotel industry.
Amazon
World's largest e-commerce and cloud computing (AWS) company. Started as an online bookstore.
Apple
World's most valuable company. Makes iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and runs a massive services ecosystem.
Berkshire Hathaway
Warren Buffett's holding company. Owns GEICO, BNSF, See's Candies, and major stakes in Apple, Coca-Cola, and more.
Chanel
French luxury fashion house known for Chanel No. 5, the little black dress, tweed suits, and the double-C logo.
Coca-Cola
World's largest beverage company. The Coca-Cola brand is the most recognized in the world.
Facebook (Meta)
Social media conglomerate: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and the metaverse (Quest VR).
Ferrari
Italian luxury sports car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Icon of speed, design, and exclusivity.
Ford
American automaker that pioneered the assembly line and the $5 workday. Made cars affordable for the average American.
Goldman Sachs
Global investment bank and financial services company. Known as the most prestigious bank on Wall Street.
Google (Alphabet)
World's dominant search engine, plus YouTube, Android, Google Cloud, Waymo, and DeepMind.
Hermes
French luxury goods house known for Birkin bags, scarves, and leather goods. The most exclusive luxury brand in the world.
LEGO
Danish toy company and the world's most powerful brand. Makes the iconic interlocking plastic bricks.
LVMH
World's largest luxury goods conglomerate, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Moet, Hennessy, Tiffany and Sephora; 75 maisons in total at year-end 2024.
McDonald's
World's largest fast-food chain with 40,000+ restaurants in 100+ countries. The franchise model pioneer.
Microsoft
Software giant. Windows, Office, Azure, Xbox.
Netflix
World's largest streaming entertainment service with 280M+ subscribers. Pioneered the streaming revolution.
Nike
World's largest athletic footwear and apparel company. Started as Blue Ribbon Sports importing Japanese running shoes.
NVIDIA
Semiconductor company that dominates GPU and AI chip markets. Powers most of the world's AI training.
Rolex
World's most iconic luxury watch brand. Known for the Oyster, Submariner, Daytona, and Perpetual movements.
SpaceX
Aerospace manufacturer and space transport company. Builds Falcon 9, Starship, and Starlink satellite internet.
Starbucks
World's largest coffeehouse chain with 35,000+ locations. Transformed coffee culture globally.
Stripe
Payment processing platform powering internet commerce. Processes hundreds of billions in payments annually.
The Walt Disney Company
Global entertainment conglomerate: theme parks, movies, streaming (Disney+), Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, ESPN.
Toyota
World's largest automaker by volume. Pioneered lean manufacturing (Toyota Production System) and the hybrid car (Prius).
Visa
World's largest payment network. Processes $15T+ in transactions annually.
Walmart
World's largest company by revenue ($600B+). Discount retail giant with 10,500+ stores worldwide.
Adidas
Second-largest sportswear manufacturer in the world. Born from a family feud that also created Puma.
Alibaba
China's largest e-commerce company (Taobao, Tmall). Also cloud computing, fintech (Ant Group), and logistics.
AMD
Semiconductor company making CPUs and GPUs. Lisa Su's turnaround from near-death to AI chip powerhouse.
American Express
Global financial services: charge cards, credit cards, travel, and payments. Premium brand in payments.
Anduril
Defense technology company building autonomous systems and AI for the military. The 'Silicon Valley meets Pentagon' story.
AT&T
Telecom giant tracing back to Alexander Graham Bell's telephone. Was broken up by the government, then reassembled.
Atlassian
Australian enterprise software company (Jira, Confluence, Trello). Built without a single salesperson.
Blackstone
World's largest alternative asset manager. $1T+ in assets under management.
Boeing
World's largest aerospace company. Makes commercial aircraft (737, 787), defense systems, and space vehicles.
Booking.com
World's largest online travel agency. Booking Holdings also owns Priceline, Kayak, and OpenTable.
Chipotle
Fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain with 3,500+ locations.
CostCo
Membership warehouse club: $1.50 hot dogs, Kirkland Signature, bulk buying. 900+ stores worldwide.
Craigslist
Online classified ads site with an intentionally ugly 1990s design. Destroyed newspaper classifieds.
Dell
PC and enterprise technology company. Michael Dell started it from his University of Texas dorm room at 19.
DoorDash
Food delivery platform and largest delivery service in the US. Expanded into grocery and retail delivery.
Duolingo
World's most popular language learning app (100M+ monthly users). Gamified education with an unhinged owl mascot.
Enron
Energy company whose massive accounting fraud led to the largest corporate bankruptcy in history (2001) and destroyed Arthur Andersen.
FedEx
Global shipping and logistics company. Pioneered overnight delivery. 'When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.'
Formula One
World's premier open-wheel auto racing series. Blends technology, speed, glamour, and global audiences.
General Electric
Once the most valuable company on Earth. Has split into GE Aerospace, GE Vernova, and GE HealthCare.
Gillette
Dominant razor and grooming brand. Invented the disposable razor blade and the razor/blade business model.