Fernando Cao Zheng Profile picture
Co-Founder at @ThoughtleadrX. We build brands on 𝕏 (and beyond) for incredible founders | 2+ Billion views for clients | Book your discovery call 👇
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Nov 29 18 tweets 6 min read
In 2023, Argentina was dying:

• Central Bank $12B in debt
• 50% poverty rate
• 7,500% inflation

Then Javier Milei became President.

11 months in, he's pulling off the greatest economic turnaround ever.

In a 2-hour pod with Lex Fridman, he revealed exactly how he did it🧵 Image When Milei took office in Dec 2023, Argentina was imploding:

• Inflation in the first half of December was at 7,500%
• GDP down 15% over the previous decade
• Central bank reserves: minus $12 billion
• Nearly 50% in poverty

The situation was worse than anyone imagined...
Nov 28 23 tweets 7 min read
Everyone thinks Black Friday is about shopping.

But the original Black Friday was a $450 million gold heist that brought America to its knees.

Two men used the President's own family to orchestrate the biggest financial scandal of the 19th century.

Here's the forgotten story: Image Post-Civil War America was in chaos.

The federal government was drowning in $3 billion of debt.

Treasury Secretary Boutwell had a plan: Sell government gold reserves to stabilize the dollar and reduce inflation.

But this created a perfect opportunity for manipulation...
Nov 27 19 tweets 6 min read
In 2018, Tesla was one month from bankruptcy.

Production was "hell" & they were losing millions every day.

So the board promised Elon Musk $56 BILLION if he saved the company.

No-one thought he could do it — but what happened next shocked everyone...

Here's the full story🧵 Image Let's set the scene:

2018. Tesla was at a crossroads.

The Model 3 launch had been brutal. Production delays plagued the company. Losses mounted quarter after quarter.

Short sellers were circling. The media predicted bankruptcy.

But something bigger was brewing...
Nov 25 23 tweets 7 min read
Jake Paul's new business will destroy the $102 BILLION betting industry.

Not because they transformed 'Hawk Tuah' into Spotify's #3 podcast.

But because they cracked the code of Gen Z attention (it's so simple, you'll laugh):🧵 Image
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Jake Paul and Joey Levy built a multi-billion-dollar sports empire by breaking every rule in the playbook.

In 18 months, they've:

• Amassed 7M+ followers
• Generated 4B+ impressions
• Captured 500K+ paying users

But their most genius move? Something no-one saw coming...
Nov 24 19 tweets 6 min read
This $400 billion company spends $0 on advertising.

They LOSE money on purpose & they make 130 million people PAY just to enter their shops.

And this year, their empire eclipsed McDonald's and Coca-Cola's.

Here's how they defied every business rule — and won: 🧵 Image In 1983, most retailers were obsessed with glitz and glamour.

They'd mark up products 50%+, pour millions into flashy ads, and stock everything under the sun.

The focus? Short-term profits at all costs.

Then Costco came along with a radical idea:
Nov 23 13 tweets 5 min read
This man can predict the future.

He foresaw the rise of EVERY social media & invested early in Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter & Ethereum.

And he just said, “Attention is the new oil”.

Gary Vee’s 5 wild predictions on the future of wealth creation (& why you should care): Image Prediction 1: The Attention Economy

Every second of your day is filled with companies bombarding you.

Attention is the new currency. And Gary's predicting a gold rush.

So much so that Gary's new catchphrase is 'I day trade attention'.

What does this mean for you?
Nov 21 18 tweets 6 min read
This is the greatest heist in business history.

This guy sold his company for $550M...

Then bought it back for JUST $1.

The original buyers lost $800M in the process.

Here's the incredible story of how Dave Portnoy won his company back 🧵 Image 2003: Dave Portnoy launched a free weekly publication in Milton, Massachusetts.

It was a simple paper focused on gambling & fantasy sports projections, distributed across Boston's metropolitan area.

Most commuters ignored it.

Until 2004, when everything changed: Image
Nov 16 13 tweets 5 min read
I bet my life savings Jake Paul will be a billionaire by 2029.

Not because he's the face of "YouTube boxing" which has grown to a $1 BILLION per year industry.

But because he cracked the secret code of Gen Z attention (it's so simple, you'll laugh): Image In 2013, Jake Paul was just another kid making 6-second videos on Vine.

By 2016, he landed a Disney Channel role. But in 2017, Disney fired him. His career seemed over...

Then he did something nobody expected:
Nov 16 19 tweets 6 min read
The man who heals what doctors can't:

Will Ahmed.

He took on Nike & Apple to build a $3.6 BILLION healthcare revolution.

Now Michael Phelps, LeBron James & Patrick Mahomes can't live without his product.

Whoop's blueprint to blowing up a business is unmissable🧵 Image
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Meet Will Ahmed:

A Harvard student-athlete in 2010 who was pushing his body to the limit every day.

But despite being a D1 athlete with world-class coaches, he had NO idea if his training was helping or hurting him.

Here's why that mattered: Image
Nov 15 18 tweets 6 min read
In 1974, Muhammad Ali destroyed George Foreman.

Foreman spiraled into depression. Became a recluse. Lost millions of dollars.

Then a kitchen appliance made him richer than all his fights COMBINED.

Here's how George Foreman revolutionized celebrity businesses forever 🧵 Image Zaire, 1974. The air was thick with tension.

George Foreman stood undefeated. 37 knockouts in 40 fights. A destroyer who seemed unstoppable.

Until Ali revealed his secret weapon...

A strategy so simple, yet devastating, it would break Foreman's spirit:
Nov 14 18 tweets 6 min read
This man predicts the future.

He's been fighting wokeism for years & he invested early in Bitcoin, Twitter, and Uber.

And he just said, "A man who regains his voice can never be silenced again".

Naval Ravikant's 4 predictions on social media, attention & wealth creation: Image Naval Ravikant is modern-day prophet.

His musings on startups & the internet paved a generation's way to wealth.

Thanks to him, "ownership," "leverage," and "long-term games" became the everyday language of today's entrepreneurs.

His recent stances have been incisive too...
Nov 13 21 tweets 6 min read
Google tried to buy this zero-revenue startup for $1 Billion.

Then Mark Zuckerberg countered with a $19 BILLION offer & everyone called him insane.

Now, that "startup" is used by 2 Billion people.

How Mark Zuckerburg quietly made the best tech investment ever🧵 Image 2009: Two ex-Yahoo engineers were frustrated.

Every time they missed a call at the gym, they had to check multiple apps to see if friends were available.

"What if you could see statuses next to names in your phone's address book?"

That simple frustration would birth a $19B company:
Nov 12 17 tweets 5 min read
In 2018, Mark Zuckerberg was one of the most hated CEOs on the planet.

6 years later, he wears chains, surfs in tuxedos & fights Lex Fridman.

Everyone seems to love him.

It's the most brilliant PR transformation of the century & everyone should understand how Zuck did it 🧵 Image
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2004: A nervous 19-year-old in flip-flops launches Facebook from his dorm room.

2024: A confident 40-year-old in gold chains wakeboarding while holding the American flag.

What happened in between?
Nov 10 19 tweets 6 min read
In 1996, Marvel Comics was dying.

Their top talent had quit, they were losing fans, and they were bankrupt.

Until they made ONE gamble that changed everything & led to the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Here's the full story: Image Let's rewind to the early 90s.

Marvel Comics was on top of the world:

• X-Men #1 sold 8M copies (most successful comic ever)
• Spider-Man was a household name

Collectors bought multiple copies of everything.

Until it all came crashing down:
Nov 9 17 tweets 6 min read
Despite 13 years as an NBA superstar...

Magic Johnson made more money in ONE DAY from Starbucks than he did in his entire basketball career.

His retirement made him $600 MILLION.

It’s the most incredible story. Here’s how he did it: Image Growing up in Lansing, Michigan, Magic would help his father collect trash.

His father worked two jobs - General Motors assembly line and trash collection.

One cold Saturday, young Magic tried cutting corners:
Nov 8 16 tweets 5 min read
The largest business experiment in history...

Microsoft is watching how 900M professionals live, work, and succeed.

But no one realizes what they're really building with this data.

The fascinating truth about Microsoft & LinkedIn's master plan🧵 Image The story starts in early 2016.

LinkedIn was in trouble:

Their stock had plunged 40% overnight. Ad revenue growth had crashed from 56% to 20%.

Wall Street was ruthless: "overvalued," "no path to growth," "failing platform."

But Satya Nadella saw something others missed:
Nov 7 18 tweets 6 min read
Everyone laughed when Google bought a 22-month-old startup for $50 Million...

Now, that "startup" has 3.9 BILLION users.

It makes more money than Snapchat, Airbnb and Uber COMBINED.

Here's how a "tiny" purchase now powers half the world: 🧵 Image 2003: A tiny startup in Palo Alto had a wild idea.

Not for phones — but for digital cameras.

The founder, Andy Rubin, wanted to create an OS that would connect cameras to the cloud.

But then something fascinating happened:
Nov 6 18 tweets 5 min read
In 2011, Apple were on the brink of crisis.

Steve Jobs was gone. The iPhone was struggling against Android. Apple were fighting 50 lawsuits.

Until ONE man quietly took over and transformed Apple into a $3 TRILLION empire…

Here's the full story: Image In 1998, Apple was bleeding money fast.

Revenue had plummeted from $11 billion to just $6 billion. Products sat collecting dust in warehouses for months.

The company was dying. Then Steve Jobs made the most important hire in Apple's history...
Nov 5 19 tweets 6 min read
This $200M podcast nearly destroyed Spotify.

ONE episode triggered artists to boycott the platform.

But instead of apologizing, Joe Rogan revealed a dark truth about the mainstream media...

Here's the full story (and why you can't ignore it): Image In 2009, Rogan started a tiny podcast in his friend's living room.

No sponsors. No studio. Just long conversations.

By 2015, he was getting 11M downloads/month.

But that was just the beginning:
Nov 4 18 tweets 6 min read
This is the world's greatest education company.

They have 800 MILLION students — but zero classrooms.

Everyone can't stop talking about their controversial methods.

Here's how they got Gen Z addicted to learning: 🧵 Image In 2024, Duolingo isn't just an app. It's a cultural phenomenon.

Their numbers are breaking records:

• 21.4M daily active users
• $531M revenue (up 44% in 2023)
• #1 most downloaded education app ever

But 12 years ago?
Nov 2 16 tweets 5 min read
In 2016, election polls failed miserably.

But in 2024, people have bet $1.9 Billion on Trump winning using THIS revolutionary platform instead.

Polymarket has become America's new obsession.

The story behind the platform predicting the future (& why you should care)🧵 Image
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2016 shattered our trust in polls.

Every major polling company got it wrong. Not just wrong - spectacularly wrong.

The kind of wrong that makes you question everything.

2020? They failed again.

But in that chaos, something fascinating emerged...