Tesla, SpaceX with Starlink, xAI, X, and Cursor inside it, Neuralink, and the Boring Company, read as one enterprise in October 2026: what each business does, earns, and is worth, the mergers and the record listing that made SpaceX the larger company, the politics from the subsidies to DOGE, the companies abroad, and how all of it depends on one person. Where the subject argues with itself, from why Tesla's sales fell to DOGE, each side's case comes before the course's reading. Opens with the key numbers and a Who's Who.
Collection 10 — Companies
One enterprise at a time: the businesses, the numbers, the people, and the risks.
The company Warren Buffett built over sixty years and handed to Greg Abel in 2026, read in October 2026: what it owns and who owns it, the insurance float that funds everything at a negative cost, the railroad, the utilities, and the businesses, the portfolio and the cash, the five choices for every dollar, and the succession's first year. Where the subject argues with itself, over the conglomerate, the cash, and whether the machine was the man, each side's case comes before the course's reading. Three worked examples, from the value of float to Berkshire against the S&P 500 since 1965. Opens with the key numbers and a Who's Who.
The largest bank in the United States, read from the inside in October 2026: two centuries of mergers and rescues, from Aaron Burr's water company to First Republic; how a bank earns, and the balance sheet Jamie Dimon calls a fortress; the capital rules rewritten in 2025-26; Chase's branches and cards, the investment bank, the payments business that moves nearly $12 trillion a day, and the asset manager; the $19.8 billion technology budget, AI, and the deposit token; its failures and fines; Dimon and the race to succeed him; its fights in Washington; and what investors pay for it. Where the subject argues with itself, from the crisis deals and a cap on card rates to private credit and debanking, each side's case comes before the course's reading. Worked examples run from a quarter's income statement to what a multiple of tangible book implies. Opens with Key Numbers, a Who's Who, and a list of terms. Education, not investment advice, and it says so.** **