In 1960s, Las Vegas casinos were "unbeatable."

Then an MIT professor proved the house advantage could be overcome using pure math

His findings forced the entire gambling industry to change forever.

Here's how one mathematician revolutionized both casinos and Wall Street: 🧵
In 1961, Las Vegas was considered invincible.

Blackjack tables were gold mines for casinos, generating millions in pure profit.

But three key developments would soon change gambling forever:

Every year, Hermès burns $500M worth of their own products.

They literally set Birkin bags on fire that cost more than houses.

Most called it insane.

But this "crazy" strategy just made them worth more than Nike + Adidas combined.

Here's the story: 🧵
In 1984. Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas made their iconic Birkin bag impossible to buy.

The official reason? Quality control.

But beneath the surface, a bigger strategy was brewing:

The complete reinvention of how luxury brands create value.

In 2014, AMD was dying. Their stock was $2 and Intel owned 99% of the server market.

Then a brilliant engineer took over as CEO... And did the unthinkable.

Here's how Lisa Su orchestrated the greatest comeback in semiconductor history: 🧵 In October 2014 AMD's board appointed Lisa Su as CEO.

What followed reshaped the semiconductor industry forever...

The official reason? AMD needed fresh leadership.

But beneath the surface, the company was dying:

- $2.2 billion in debt
- Stock price at $2
- Less than 1% server market share
- Three straight years of losses

In 1945, Japan promised never to build a military again.

But In 2022, they'd had enough and announced a $320 Billion military program.

China was stunned. The US smiled.

Here's the story of how rising tensions in Asia triggered the biggest military buildup since WW2 🧵
In December 2022 Japan announced a historic $320 billion military buildup.

The official reason was Defense modernization.

But beneath the surface, a seismic shift was occurring:

- The end of 75 years of pacifist policy
- The largest military expansion in modern Japanese history
- A fundamental reshaping of Asian power dynamics

This country sits on $30T in resources.

Russia thinks they control it.

China believes they own it.

America hopes to win it.

But Kazakhstan's playing a game no one sees coming.

Here's how they're quietly reshaping the global power balance 🧵
In December 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed.

Kazakhstan inherited the world's fourth-largest nuclear arsenal.

But that's not the real prize.

Beneath its vast steppes lies a fortune that would make oligarchs drool...

He got rejected 8 times trying to enter America.

Then built a product everyone rejected.

Now his app runs the world's meetings.

The mind-blowing story of Zoom's founder and how stubbornness built a $26B company 🧵 In 1997, a 27-year-old Chinese engineer got rejected for his first U.S. visa application.

He would go on to get rejected 7 more times.

But instead of giving up, Eric Yuan kept pushing forward.

What followed would reshape the future of global communication forever...

Indonesia's capital is sinking into the ocean.

Instead of saving it, they're abandoning 10M people to build a $33B city in the jungle.

Insane? No.

It might be the most brilliant power move in Asian history.

Here's the incredible story no one is talking about 🧵
2019: Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced to move the entire capital to Borneo.

The official reason? Jakarta's environmental crisis.

But there's more happening behind the scenes...

Turkey is spending billions of dollars to build the world's most dangerous weapon.

It's not nuclear. It's not an army.

It's water control.

And they just gained power to bring entire nations to their knees.

Here's the story of the Middle East's silent war 🧵
In 1974 Turkey launched the ambitious Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP).

The official reason? Development and hydropower.

The reality? Control over the Tigris and Euphrates rivers – the Middle East's lifeblood.

In 2001, downloading music illegally was easier than buying it.

The music industry's response? Sue their customers.

Then a Swedish coder did something crazy:

He studied the pirates instead of fighting them.

Here's how that created Spotify: 🧵 Stockholm, Sweden was the unlikely epicenter of music piracy.

23-year-old Daniel Ek watched as the music industry crumbled.

Record labels were spending millions on lawsuits.

But beneath the surface, something bigger was happening...

South Korea built a $17 billion defense industry from scratch in just 40 years.

They now make better tanks than Germany.
Better ships than Britain.

And they're about to revolutionize warfare.

the story of South Korea's military revolution 🧵 In 2022, South Korea shocked the world by signing a $13.7 billion arms deal with Poland.

The official reason was supporting an ally.

Behind the surface, something bigger was happening: South Korea was emerging as a major player in the global arms market...

When Lula beat Bolsonaro in 2022, everyone thought it was just another election.

Then Norway unfroze $600M overnight.
China launched a secret initiative.
And illegal cartels started a shadow war.

Here's why the Amazon is worth more than Apple & Microsoft combined 🧵 In October 2022, Lula da Silva defeated Bolsonaro by the narrowest margin in Brazil's modern history.

Lula inherited an environmental disaster:

- Deforestation at 15-year highs
- Weakened enforcement agencies
- Emboldened illegal mining operations
- Invaded indigenous territories

These 2 guys built WhatsApp into a privacy fortress with 1.5B users.

Then Zuckerberg bought them for $19B.

But when he tried to harvest their users' data... they chose principles over profits.

The story of how saying "no" cost WhatsApp founders $1.7B: 🧵 In 2018, Facebook owned the future of social media.

WhatsApp had 1.5 billion users. Instagram was destroying Snapchat.

Zuckerberg seemed unstoppable.

Then two founders made a decision that would shock Silicon Valley forever...

In 2006, Steve Jobs invited Google's CEO to join Apple's board.

By 2009, Jobs was threatening to spend $40B to destroy him.

Here's how one betrayal created the most expensive corporate feud in history 🧵 In 2006 Steve Jobs invited Google's CEO Eric Schmidt to join Apple's board.

The reason was Partnership and innovation.

Google would provide search and maps for Apple's revolutionary new device.

But beneath the surface, it was the fight for control of the mobile future.

In 2023, Ukrainian soldiers turned $500 drones into tank-destroying weapons.

Russia responded with Iranian kamikaze drones to terrorize entire cities.

Now, AI-powered drones are entering the fray.

This is the silent war reshaping how wars are fought 🧵 February 2022.

Russian forces launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The official reason? “Liberating” Ukrainian territories.

Behind the surface, a new kind of warfare is unfolding – one defined by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

For years, drones were used mainly for surveillance.

But in this war, they’ve become weapons of precision destruction.

Everyone's worried about TikTok.

But that's just a distraction.

China is building something far more dangerous:

A digital empire that would control the future of technology.

Here's the terrifying story they don't want you to know 🧵 In 2015, China quietly announced something called the "Digital Silk Road."

The official reason?
Helping developing nations build digital infrastructure.

But behind the surface it was the largest digital infrastructure takeover in history.

While the West focused on headlines about trade wars and tariffs...

Mark Zuckerberg s burning $16 billion per year building a virtual world most people don't believe in.

His investors are furious. Wall Street thinks he's lost it.

But Mark Zuckerberg might just be making the smartest bet of the century.

Here's why: 🧵 October 2021.

Mark Zuckerberg made one of the most audacious corporate gambles in history:

He renamed Facebook to Meta, betting his entire company's future on virtual reality.

What followed reshape the future of technology forever...

The iPhone in your hand, the car you drive, even your AI assistant -

They all rely on Taiwan’s semiconductors.

But what happens if China invades?

The $2.5 trillion global tech supply chain could collapse.

Here’s the story behind the world’s most dangerous dependency 🧵
Morris Chang founded TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company).

The goal? To create a foundry that would produce chips for the world’s most innovative companies.

Three decades later, TSMC became the undisputed leader in advanced semiconductors.

Bollywood studios laughed when Netflix offered them $400M in 2019.

'Streaming will never work in India,' they said.

Today, those same studios are begging for deals.

Here's how Silicon Valley outsmarted India's most powerful film moguls: 🧵
In December 2021, India's biggest movie star - Shah Rukh Khan made a decision that reshaped the future of Indian entertainment forever.

Instead of a theatrical release, he chose streaming.

His production house (Red Chillies Entertainment) launched its flagship film - Bob Biswas directly on Streaming platforms.

The move sent shockwaves through Bollywood.

In 2006, Jensen Huang made a bet that everyone called stupid:

Turn NVIDIA's gaming chips into AI computers.

Wall Street said he'd destroy the company.

18 years later, he's worth $65B and built tech's most valuable company.

Here's the growth masterclass of the decade 🧵 After the pivot to AI, NVIDIA has dominated the market more than anyone thought possible.

Jensen Huang transformed a graphics card company into tech's most valuable AI player.

Here are 4 key decisions that made it work:

She is Falguni Nayar

At 49, she walked away from a million-dollar salary to start from zero.

Her friends called it career suicide.

Today, she's one of Asia's most powerful businesswomen.

The mind-blowing story of Nykaa's rise from 2 orders/day to $13B valuation 🧵 Before founding Nykaa, Nayar spent nearly two decades in investment banking, ultimately becoming one of Kotak Mahindra's most senior executives.

Her experience in finance and deep understanding of what makes businesses successful would prove invaluable in her entrepreneurial journey.

In 2006, Wall Street called Amazon's AWS a "stupid distraction."

IBM's CEO laughed and said "stick to books."

Nearly all tech giants mocked Bezos's side project.

Today, AWS powers 33% of the internet.

Here's how AWS went from side project to $80B empire 🧵 AWS's genesis can be traced back to Amazon's own technological challenges in the early 2000s.

As the e-commerce giant grew, it had built robust internal systems to handle massive scale, peak loads during holiday seasons, and rapid deployment of new services.

In 2003, Amazon's leadership, including Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy, realized these infrastructure capabilities could be valuable to other companies facing similar challenges.