We Study Billionaires

→ WHAT IT COVERS Kyle Grieve and Shawn O'Malley analyze QXO, Brad Jacobs' latest roll-up targeting the $300B North American building products distribution industry. Jacobs, who previously generated 55x returns at United Waste and 50x at XPO, aims to reach $50B in revenue within a decade through acquisitions of Beacon Roofing, Kodiak Building Partners, and TopBuild.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Shawn O'Malley and Daniel Mahncke analyze Grab Holdings, the Southeast Asian super app that forced Uber to exit the region entirely. The episode covers Grab's origin story, its cash-payment architecture, proprietary mapping system, fintech flywheel, path to profitability, and key risks including regulatory take-rate cuts and loan book opacity across eight countries.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Daniel Mahncke pitches Wix as a value opportunity trading at 4-5x free cash flow after a 30% post-earnings drop, arguing the market misunderstands the company's transition from a drag-and-drop website builder into an AI-native platform anchored by its 2025 acquisition of Base 44, a vibe-coding tool growing 50% every 12 weeks from $3M to $150M ARR.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Kyle Grieve and Shawn O'Malley analyze Lifco AB, a Swedish serial acquirer with 275+ acquisitions across dental, demolition robotics, and industrial niches. Since its 2014 IPO, Lifco has compounded earnings at 14% annually, grown free cash flow at 23% CAGR, and never diluted shareholders, making it a candidate for their intrinsic value portfolio.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Kyle Grieve and Shawn O'Malley analyze NVR Inc., a homebuilder that reduced its share count 80% over three decades while compounding EPS at 15% annually since 2000, growing from $10 to $6,200 per share. The episode examines NVR's capital-light lot purchase agreement model, competitive positioning, margin compression risks, and a three-scenario valuation suggesting shares need a 38% discount to justify investment.

→ WHAT IT COVERS David Fagan, managing partner at MBF Chartered Professional Accountants in Nova Scotia, joins host Stig Brodersen to examine why investors and business owners gravitate toward complexity despite evidence that simple strategies consistently outperform. The episode draws on behavioral psychology, mental models like Occam's razor, and real client case studies to build a case for disciplined simplicity across investing, business, and personal finance.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Hosts Daniel Mahncke and Shawn O'Malley analyze Sea Limited (NYSE: SE), the Southeast Asian conglomerate spanning mobile gaming (Garena/Free Fire), e-commerce (Shopee), and fintech (Money). The episode examines whether Shopee's 52% regional GMV share, its Brazil expansion competing directly with MercadoLibre, and its fintech flywheel justify a potential 10x return from current levels.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Sean O'Malley and Kyle Grieve analyze Formula One Group (Liberty Media) as a potential investment, examining its 100-year exclusive commercial rights contract expiring 2110, three revenue streams generating 24%+ free cash flow margins, $3.4B debt load, MotoGP acquisition, and whether current pricing near $80 justifies ownership versus a target entry below $65.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Kyle Grieve and Shawn O'Malley analyze Formula One Group (FWONA), a Liberty Media subsidiary holding exclusive commercial rights to F1 racing until 2110. The episode covers F1's three revenue streams, its complicated tracking stock structure, the $3.7B MotoGP acquisition, debt load of $3.4B, and a five-year valuation model targeting a $65 entry price for adequate margin of safety.

→ WHAT IT COVERS William Green interviews author David Epstein about his book *Inside the Box*, which argues that constraints—deadlines, limited resources, structured routines, and deliberate boundaries—consistently unlock creativity and productivity rather than suppressing them. Drawing on Herbert Simon's bounded rationality framework, Epstein examines how individuals, athletes, and organizations from Pixar to Isabel Allende use self-imposed limits to channel broad capabilities into meaningful...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Daniel Mahncke and Shawn O'Malley analyze whether Microsoft, trading at a forward PE of 20x after a 35% six-month selloff, represents a misunderstood AI opportunity similar to Alphabet in early 2025. They examine all three business segments, the OpenAI partnership dynamics, Azure's competitive positioning, CapEx implications, and a base-case valuation of approximately $500 per share versus a bear-case of $280.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Mohnish Pabrai joins We Study Billionaires during Berkshire weekend to discuss Greg Abel's transition as Berkshire CEO, why only 4% of stocks drive all market returns, the catastrophic cost of selling winners too early, concentration versus diversification, and the met coal thesis connecting IPSCO, Console Energy, Alpha Metallurgical, and Charlie Munger's final trades. → KEY INSIGHTS - **The 4% Rule of Compounding:** Only 4% of U.S.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Kyle Grieve and Shawn O'Malley analyze OTC Markets Group (OTCM), a 130-person company running infrastructure for 12,000+ securities — more than NYSE and Nasdaq combined. The episode covers OTCM's three business segments, competitive moat, regulatory risks, management quality, and a valuation model projecting ~16% IRR plus a 4% dividend yield from current prices.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Chris Bloomstran of Semper Augustus joins Stig Brodersen to assess Berkshire Hathaway's 2025 intrinsic value at approximately $1.25 trillion (B shares worth ~$5.70), analyze Greg Abel's first shareholder letter, examine why reported operating earnings misled markets by nearly $3 billion, and evaluate broader S&P 500 valuation risks tied to record profit margins of 12.8% against a 26x earnings multiple.

→ WHAT IT COVERS CoStar Group, a $30B commercial real estate data company with 59 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth, faces a battleground moment as it burns through a $5B residential bet on homes.com to challenge Zillow, while activist investor Third Point demands a board overhaul and $300M spending reduction, forcing a reckoning between its profitable core franchise and an uncertain consumer pivot.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Clay Finck and Daniel Mahncke analyze four companies — MercadoLibre, Amazon, Constellation Software, and Hermes — examining how AI, robotics, and secular growth trends affect their long-term earnings power. The episode also marks Finck's final appearance as a We Study Billionaires host, with Mahncke stepping into an expanded hosting role.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Hosts Sean O'Malley, Daniel Mahncke, and Kyle Grieve review the Intrinsic Value Portfolio heading into 2026, covering top holdings including Alphabet at 14%, Airbnb at 11.5%, and Uber at 10.5%, while announcing the removal of Copart and TransDigm in favor of expanding Amazon to 9%, and updating watchlist companies Trade Desk and FICO after 70–85% price declines.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Matthew Mc, head of the global value team at First Eagle Investments overseeing $130 billion, outlines a framework for building resilient wealth during geopolitical and economic turmoil. He covers portfolio construction using "variegation," positional assets like gold, scarce-market-position businesses, valuation margins of safety, and the psychological discipline required to maintain a patient, long-horizon investment approach across multiple decades.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Kyle Grieve and Daniel Mahncke analyze Wise PLC, a cross-border payments company that compounded reported profits at 90% annually over five years yet delivered only 1% annual returns since its 2021 IPO at 390x earnings. The episode covers Wise's unique liquidity-matching business model, four revenue streams, competitive positioning against banks and fintechs, scale economics, and a five-year destination analysis projecting £450 billion in payment volume.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Kyle Grieve reviews *Stock Market Maestros* by Lee Freeman-Shor and Claire Finn-Levy, profiling 12 elite fund managers whose median hit rate sits at 49%. The episode examines three performance metrics—behavioral alpha score, hit rate, and payoff ratio—and how five distinct investor archetypes manage winners and losers to generate market-beating returns.