The Best One Yet
🎬 “Quentin Tariff-tino” — Hollywood’s digital trade war. Warren Buffett’s secret investing sauce. Skechers’ $9B retirement.
Tue, 06 May 2025
Hollywood just entered the Trade War… starring the 1st ever digital tariff (100% on Wicked 2).Warren Buffett is retiring, so we found his secret $$$ sauce… It’s culture, not calculations.Skechers is the 3rd biggest shoe biz on earth… and just sold for $9B thanks to your nana.Plus, the untold origin story of… Google Maps.$SKX $$PARA $NFLX $BRK.B $GOOGOur episode from last year on Berkshire Hathaway’s Greg Abel: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-one-yet/id1386234384 https://open.spotify.com/episode/2zC0iXEvP8BkUDq6lBa4f5Want more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Google Maps: The *Actual* Everything App 🌎Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.“The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Susper Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.—-----------------------------------------------------Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What is the first story about the Hollywood trade war?
Now, Yetis, Jack and I are putting ourselves out there.
We're doing a little reputational risk right now, but Jack, you want to share with the Yetis our thoughts? Is Skechers one of the great American fashion startups? Of all time? I mean, hear us out here. Founded 33 years ago by Robert and Michael Greenberg, a father-son founding duo, baby. I can't think of another father-son company. It's a lovely story. Also an LA-based company.
The father is still the CEO, the son is still the president, and the company is still headquartered right by the beach. They IPO'd in 1999, and get this, sales of Skechers have tripled. from $3 billion 10 years ago to $9 billion today. In fact, Skechers is still in growth mode. Their stock, I'm sorry, their sales jumped 13% last quarter.
In fact, by sales, Skechers is the third biggest footwear brand in America behind Nike and Adidas. That's right. Skechers is walking all over Birkenstock. And when Crocs heard this news... They almost choked on their gibbets. Well, here's the news. Skechers is being acquired for $9 billion by the private equity firm 3G Capital. That's right.
The same PE firm that once acquired Kraft Heinz, Burger King, and Budweiser. The stock jumped 25% on news of the acquisition. In fact, the stock rose so quickly. So fast. Investors pulled a hamstring trying to catch up. Slow down over there. Here's the surprise when Nick and I jumped in T-Boy style. Yes, Jack. Every sneaker brand is defined by top performance. Just do it.
Phil Knight came up with this idea initially in the 1960s. Yeah, we read his autobiography, and he talks about how aspiration is how you sell sneakers. Kind of like how if a Jeep is good enough for World War II, it's good enough for your Costco run. Well, if a Nike sneaker is good enough for the New York Marathon, it's good enough for your gym visit.
And yet, Skechers is the opposite of aspiration. That's right. There is no sneaker more associated with walking, not running, than Skechers. It is literally the only shoe that adds treads to slow you down. The unofficial dad shoe of Stroll and Disney World, too, by the way. And it pairs well with a fanny pack. Oh, it looks fantastic with a fanny pack.
And Jack, remember when Skechers did try to do performance shoes? I do. We covered it on our newsletter before we launched this podcast. Skechers shape-ups. They were purported to tone your calves, your butt, even your abs, because the way the shoe was shaped, you had to be on your tippy toes the whole time. But Jack, what happened in 2016 with those Skechers shape-ups to boof up your booty?
The FTC charged them with deceiving customers, so Skechers paid $40 million in a settlement. But then, yetis, instead of falling down, Skechers made a pivot. They made a generational jump, actually. Basically, Skechers realized the sneaker industry was just too obsessed with the young, with youthfulness. What about the not young? Every shoe company was ignoring the entire population over 55.
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