One man vs $50B oil giant

In one hour, he changed everything.

No shouting.
No threats.

Just a cold plan and $2.5B to back it up.

Wall Street’s most ruthless activist: John Pike doesn’t bluff.

The Elliott Management partner just launched one of the most aggressive proxy fights the energy sector has seen in years

This is how Pike is reshaping the future of oil giants like Phillips 66 and BP:

Thoma Bravo just pulled off the ultimate $10B deal:

The flight software empire inside Boeing

Thread👇 What was acquired?

Jeppesen (aviation data pioneer since 1934)

AerData (aircraft records, lease mgmt)

OzRunways (pilot app for Australia)

Together = the digital core of commercial flight ops.

The King of Bankruptcy.

Wilbur Ross made billions buying bankrupt companies.

Here’s his distressed investing playbook🧵👇 Ross Wilbur hunted collapse.

His edge: mastering Chapter 11 and turning chaos into cashflow.

He wasn’t buying companies — he was buying control, leverage, and optionalities others ignored.

Imagine if forests became more valuable than real estate.

And carbon credits outperformed SaaS.

Here’s how a new wave of PE funds is quietly scaling nature.

Thread 🧵 Nature is no longer just a cause.

It’s becoming a core business strategy — and one of the most underpriced asset class on Earth.

Over 50% of global GDP depends on nature.

But 97% of nature-based projects still lack private capital (EIB, 2023).

That’s not a gap.

That’s a generational opportunity.

Private Equity’s Worst Nightmare.

Oxford professor Ludovic Phalippou ran the PE numbers.

What he found shocked Parliament.

He’s the reason Norway’s $1.5T fund rejected private equity.

Here’s what he found and why it still matters 🧵 In 1998, Ludovic Phalippou landed in LA with a scholarship and a suitcase.

At USC, he crushed his economics PhD — and was stunned by how open the U.S. system was.

In France, he says, your background limits your future.

In America? "No one cares. You just go."

Brookfield moves billions by selling to itself.

They use insurance money to buy assets from… themselves.

Brilliant strategy or financial illusion?

Thread about the FT Investigation A Manhattan landmark was sold… to itself.

Last July, Brookfield quietly sold a stake in One Liberty Plaza—a 54-story NYC tower.

The buyer and seller? Both Brookfield.

And this was just one of dozens of similar deals in 2024.

German Berkshire Hathaway?

33-year-old German investor managed hundreds of millions…

Then he shut down his fund to build Europe’s next Berkshire Hathaway...

Why would a rising star in investing walk away from it all?🧵👇 At 25, he launched JMX Capital, an investment firm backed by top-tier LPs.

His style?

- Concentrated, long-only investing
- Deep fundamental research
- Actively unlocking value

But he noticed a fundamental problem in fund management...

From College Dropout to $12 BILLION Empire

Brad Jacobs has founded 7 billion-dollar companies.

He turned $63M into $12B using M&A.

Here's how he did it: 🧵 In 2011, Jacobs invested $63M to acquire a small freight brokerage.

Instead of scaling organically, he bought his way to dominance:

✅ 17 acquisitions in 4 years
✅ $7B+ deployed in M&A
✅ Built a full-stack logistics powerhouse

The stock went from $15 to $102—a 38% annual return.

Danaher is one of the most legendary compounding machines.

21% CAGR for 40 years.

Mitch Rales just broke it all down on @artofinvest.

Here are the key insights 👇🧵 For those who know Danaher, you already understand:

It’s one of the greatest compounding stories in history:

- 21% annual returns.
- 40 years of excellence.
- A 1,800x multiple on invested capital.

Most investors think in quarters.

Mitch thinks in decades.

“If you want a 100x outcome, you need 20-30 years. You can’t build something lasting in 3-5 years.”

Two best friends built a $3.5 BILLION private equity firm

They acquired car washes, funeral homes & Burger Kings.

They just raised $1.2 BILLION in just 4 months.

Here’s how they did it 🧵 Two childhood best friends turned a failed KFC deal into a multi-billion-dollar investment firm.

2014: They tried to buy 5 KFC franchises.

KFC REJECTED them.
🚫 No money
🚫 No experience
🚫 Too young (still in business school)

So they pivoted to Burger King

Tech Private Equity Legends:

Carl Thoma & Orlando Bravo built the largest tech buyout empire.

Here’s a PE masterclass from two of the greatest🧵👇 Learning from Mistakes:

$20 BILLION: Cold Storage Investors

The largest IPO of 2024 wasn’t a tech startup.....

It was a cold storage company.

2 M&A guys turned one warehouse into a $20B empire.

Here’s how they did it: 👇 1/ In 2008, Adam Forste & Kevin Marchetti were 30-year-old PE execs searching for an overlooked industry.

They found cold storage.....an unsexy but essential sector.

Defence is the Opportunity of the Decade.

€800B in fresh capital. A fragmented market.

The next billion-dollar play for Private Equity.

Here’s how to invest:🧵 Private Equity ignored defense for decades.

- The industry was seen as too government-controlled

- Contracts lasted 20-30 years – far beyond PE’s usual hold period.

- Procurement costs were sky-high, making dealmaking unattractive.

Warren Buffett called them the best operators in the world.

Three friends turned a tiny Brazilian brewery into a $152B empire.

They took over Budweiser, Heinz & Burger King.

The untold story of 3G Capital 👇 It started in the 1970s.

Three young men: Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles & Beto Sicupira were hungry.

They built Banco Garantia, a Brazilian version of Goldman Sachs, with two brutal principles:

💰 Extreme cost-cutting – No luxuries, every dollar reinvested

📈 Relentless meritocracy – Only top performers survived

It was a cult of efficiency.

The Texas Oil Kings: $13 BILLION in Deals

Two childhood friends mastered the art of oil deals.

They cracked the code:

Sold 3 companies. Crushed 3 BILLION-DOLLAR EXITS.

The strategy behind their empire🧵👇 1/ Cody Campbell & John Sellers met in junior high, played football at Texas Tech, and even made it to the NFL.

But after one injury, Campbell’s dream ended.

Instead of sulking, they turned to real estate… then made a pivot that would change their lives forever.

Paul Singer is the most feared investor on Wall Street.

He just gave a masterclass on investing.

He crushed Argentina for $2.4B, and built a $72B giant.

Here’s his ruthless playbook: 🧵👇 Introduction to Activist Investing

Private Credit is printing Billionaires.

Wall Street’s biggest players are going ALL IN on this $30 TRILLION opportunity.

A simple primer on Private Credit🧵 The Rise of Private Credit

Private Credit isn’t new—people have privately lent money for centuries.

But today, it’s BIG business.

So big that the biggest PE firms now call themselves “alternative asset managers.”

Why? Because the money is too good to ignore.

1. Private Credit has grown by $1 TRILLION in just a decade

2. It’s now one of the most profitable corners of Wall Street

3. Banks are LOSING market share to private lenders

The era of Private Credit dominance is here.

POV: It‘s 1993.

You bought a nickel mine for $160K

You will sell it for $4.3 BILLION in 3 years.

Thread🧵
In 1993, Robert Friedland bought a failing mine for $160,000.

Three years later, he sold it for $4.3 billion.

Royalty Investing

A $2 TRILLION asset class that produces cash yield from day one.

Blackstone, KKR & Partners Group are already in.

Here’s a primer on royalty investing.🧵 The Rise of Royalties

Royalties are one of the oldest financial instruments in history, yet they remain one of the most underutilized asset classes in private markets.

At their core, royalties are a contractual right to a percentage of revenue, usually in exchange for an upfront payment.

Think:

1. Music royalties (Spotify pays to stream a song)

2. Pharma royalties (Every time a drug is sold, the inventor gets paid)

3. Energy royalties (Oil & gas companies pay landowners for production rights)

For investors, royalties offer predictable, cash-flowing returns with low operational risk.

Boring = Billions.

Most people chase exciting industries.

Wayne Huizenga built three billion-dollar businesses in:

🚛 Garbage collection
🎬 VHS rentals
🚗 Car sales

His roll-up strategy still works today. 🧵👇 Wayne Huizenga wasn’t born into wealth.

His father was an abusive alcoholic.

He dropped out of college after one semester.

For years, he worked blue-collar jobs—pumping gas, driving trucks, washing dishes.

But he had two things that would make him a billionaire:

1. The ability to spot overlooked industries.
2. A relentless drive to scale FAST.

From $0 to $251 Billion in Four Years.

The fastest-growing Private Equity firm isn’t buying companies.

It’s buying other PE funds.

While PE firms fight for deals, Blue Owl is silently taking over the industry itself.

This will change Private Equity forever 👇🧵 The Strategy Nobody Saw Coming

Most PE firms raise a fund, invest, and return capital after 7-10 years.

Blue Owl is playing a different game....one that lets them keep compounding forever.

Instead of just buying portfolio companies, they’re acquiring entire Private Equity and alternative investment firms.

This means:
- No exit pressure
- No fundraising cycles
- Perpetual growth through acquisitions