Acquired
Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal
Every company has a story. Learn the playbooks that built the world’s greatest companies — and how you can apply them.
Sponsorship
Aug 2026 – Oct 20263 episodes scanned. 15% of ad slots promote the show's own products.
Sponsor names by month, new sponsors, and ad position and format are part of the paid data.
Recent Episodes
Seinfeld
Oct 19, 2026This Acquired episode, hosted by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, examines the business history of the sitcom Seinfeld rather than an interview with an outside guest. It traces Jerry Seinfeld's stand-up career, NBC's decision to develop a show with him and Larry David, and the show's enduring audience and streaming value decades after its finale. The episode also covers the trivia, fan-favorite episodes, and carve-outs the hosts chose to include.
Home Depot
Sep 14, 2026This is an Acquired episode on Home Depot, the retail giant founded in 1981 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank after being fired from Handy Dan. Hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal trace Home Depot's unlikely origin story—a company built by retail operators with no hardware expertise—and explain how it became the highest-returning stock in the S&P 500 over 45 years, compounding at nearly 25% annually. The episode covers the key figures (Marcus, Blank, investment banker Ken Langone, and later CEO Frank Blake), the revolutionary warehouse format that transformed fragmented hardware retail, and the multiple tailwinds including aging U.S. housing stock, the DIY movement, and pro market expansion.
Disney: The Renaissance and the Empire
Aug 10, 2026Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal explore Disney's transformation from a company worth more dead than alive in 1984 to a global media empire. The episode chronicles Michael Eisner and Frank Wells' legendary turnaround, the Disney Renaissance driven by animated musicals like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, strategic acquisitions including Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm, and the company's current struggle to navigate streaming disruption and the decline of traditional media economics.
The Walt Disney Company
Jun 22, 2026Vanguard
May 18, 2026Acquired Live at Radio City Music Hall (Presented by J.P. Morgan)
Oct 1, 2025Chase Center + Summer Update
Aug 8, 2024Charlie Munger
Oct 30, 2023Short: The Death of Sega
Apr 18, 2023
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