Items25The creator’s order
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Warren BuffettBorn 30 Aug 1930Berkshire Hathaway grew by buying established businesses and giving their managers considerable operating freedom. Buffett concentrated on where the next dollar should go, rather than imposing a single product or management system across the group. His acquisition criteria required capable…0i - 2
Henry Earl SingletonSingleton built Teledyne through acquisitions in the 1960s, then changed course when buying businesses became less attractive. Large share repurchases became a central use of cash during the following decades. His case challenges the assumption that an expansion strategy must remain permanent:…0 - 3
Thomas Murphy (broadcasting)Born 31 May 1925Murphy combined acquisitions at Capital Cities with decentralised operations and close attention to expenses. The purchase of ABC, completed in 1986, was a much larger step than the broadcasting properties that had built the company. He belongs beside Buffett and Singleton because the useful…0i - 4
John C. MaloneBorn 7 Mar 1941At TCI, Malone used acquisitions, borrowing and cash generated by cable systems to build scale. His oral history describes purchasing a Pittsburgh system with borrowed money and reducing its leverage as cash flowed in. He also recalls periods when debt and commitments nearly overwhelmed the…0 - 5
Mark LeonardLeonard built Constellation Software by acquiring specialised businesses serving narrow markets, while retaining substantial local decision-making. The repeatable unit was a useful software company with established customers, not a single mass-market product. His 2021 shareholder letter also…0 - 6
Bob IgerBorn 10 Feb 1951Iger expanded Disney's portfolio through Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm, bringing characters and creative businesses into a company able to distribute them across films, merchandise and attractions. The much larger Fox transaction in 2019 added further content and control of Hulu. These deals…0i - 7
Satya NadellaBorn 19 Aug 1967Microsoft under Nadella combined internal investment in cloud services with acquisitions including LinkedIn, GitHub and Activision Blizzard. This was expansion through several connected businesses rather than a single replacement for Windows. The combination is the point of comparison: developing…0i - 8
Michael DellBorn 23 Feb 1965Dell's acquisition of EMC in 2016 extended the business far beyond personal computers into enterprise infrastructure. The enlarged group also carried substantial debt. In 2021, the VMware separation generated cash that Dell used to repay borrowing. His example shows two linked decisions: acquiring…0i - 9
Masayoshi SonBorn 11 Aug 1957Son's Vision Fund, launched in 2017, placed unusually large sums behind technology businesses expected to expand rapidly. It aimed to finance the scale needed for the next generation of companies, rather than wait for growth to fund itself. The fund's subsequent large losses make the trade-off…0i - 10
Jack WelchBorn 19 Nov 1935Welch reshaped GE through disposals, acquisitions and a major expansion of financial services. His insistence on strong market positions accompanied a willingness to close or sell operations that did not fit. The approach built a much larger conglomerate, but also imposed substantial costs on…0i
