Today, we will be diving into Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager. Founded in 1985 as a boutique M&A advisory business with $400,000 of seed capital. The firm now manages over $600 billion across private equity, real estate, credit, and hedge fund strategies. In this breakdown, we will start by discussing Blackstone’s business model and ... Show More
Oct 22
Affirm: The Internet’s American Express - [Business Breakdowns, EP.249]
Today we're breaking down Affirm, the buy now, pay later company founded by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin. Affirm processes more than $50 billion in annual purchase volume and is growing over 30%, even after its stock fell more than 90% following its IPO. Joining me is Fraser, an ... Show More
1h 11m
Jul 2026
Applied Intuition: A Billion Intelligent Machines - [Business Breakdowns, EP.248]
Today, we are breaking down Applied Intuition. Our guests are co-founders Qasar Younis and Peter Ludwig, who started the company in 2017 with a mission to make a billion machines intelligent. The simplest way to understand Applied Intuition is that it builds the brains for machin ... Show More
47m 13s
May 2026
Toast: Sticky SaaS - [Business Breakdowns, EP.247]
Today, we are breaking down Toast, a name we have covered before but are revisiting because the story has changed enough to be worth telling again. Most listeners will have tapped a Toast terminal without thinking much about the business behind it. Our guest is Sean Barrett, foun ... Show More
49m 24s
May 2025
Corporate Finance Explained | Private Equity Unlocked: Strategy, Investment, and Corporate Growth
What drives success in private equity? In this episode of Careers in Finance, we unpack the strategies behind some of the biggest PE deals in history, from Blackstone’s transformation of Hilton Hotels to the Dell Technologies buyout. But it’s not just about big names and bold mov ... Show More
14m 35s
Jan 2025
Blackstone President and COO: Investment Decisions, Entrepreneurial Drive and Company Culture
<p>oin Nicolai Tangen as he sits down with Jonathan Gray, COO of Blackstone and former head of its real estate division. Gray shares what drives Blackstone’s success, the evolution of their investment philosophy, and the process for identifying outstanding businesses. He also pro ... Show More
49m 24s
Oct 2025
Bill Ackman - Evolving Investment Playbook, From MBIA to Moats
Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, joins hosts Michael Mauboussin and Tano Santos to trace the arc of his investing journey—from his early days in real estate finance to founding Gotham Partners and eventually building Pershing Square into a $30 b ... Show More
56m 47s
Apr 2023
Blackstone Raises $30 Billion to Prepare for Mounting Distress in Multifamily Real Estate | Money Moves
<p> </p> <p>In this episode of Millionaire Mindcast, the dynamic duo is back. Matty A and Ryan Breedwell talks about, Blackstone raising $30 Billion to prepare for mounting distress in Multifamily Real Estate as well as this past week's updates on world news, finance a ... Show More
43m 44s
Dec 2023
Brookfield CEO: Private vs. public markets, investment style and value creation
<p>Bruce Flatt became the CEO of Brookfield in 2002 when the company was primarily a Canadian-based real estate firm with a market value of $5 billion. Under his leadership, it transformed into a global alternative asset manager, managing over $850 billion in assets acr ... Show More
48m 36s