Coca-Cola
11/24/20254 hr 4 min
Coca-Cola is… sugar water. And somehow it’s also America, Christmas, summertime, friendship and happiness. Today we tell the story of how The Coca-Cola Company amazingly transmogrified a beverage into emotion in all of our collective psyches, and ALSO built one of the most incredible scale economy businesses of all-time. And oh yeah, there’s also cocaine, WW2, Mad Men, Warren Buffett, James Dean, Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Michael Ovitz, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, McDonald’s and Monsanto. So cozy up to the fire with your favorite images of Santa Claus and Polar Bears and enjoy an ice-cold episode of Acquired — always delicious, always refreshing.
Sponsors:
Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘25 Season partners:
- J.P. Morgan Payments
- WorkOS
- Shopify
- Sentry — Link to ACQ Cassette Players, use code “audiophile”
Links:
- Sign up for email updates and vote on future episodes!
- The Hilltop ad / Mad Men finale
- Pepsi Challenge commercials
- Pepsi’s Michael Jackson commercials
- Coke’s Bill Cosby commercials
- Two liter bottles inflating
- Worldly Partners’ Multi-Decade Coca-Cola Study
- For God, Country, and Coca-Cola
- Secret Formula
- All episode sources
Carve Outs:
More Acquired:
- Get email updates and vote on future episodes!
- Join the Slack
- Subscribe to ACQ2
- Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!
Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsBen Gilbert· Host0:00
David, I cannot believe we're about to do a four-hour podcast on syrup, sugar, and water. I mean, that's the entire business, is just syrup, sugar, and water combined, and it's a $300 billion company.
David Rosenthal· Host0:13
Well, Ben, you know what I'm gonna say to you in response to that. (instrumental music) (laughs) Do you wanna sell sugar water for the rest of your life? Or do you wanna come with me and change the world?
Ben Gilbert· Host0:20
Ooh, save it, David. Save it.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:23
(laughs) (laughs) Who got the truth? Is it you? Is it you? Is it you? Who got the truth now? Hmm. Is it you? Is it you? Is it you? Sit me down. Say it straight. Another story on the way. Who got the truth?
Ben Gilbert· Host0:41
Welcome to the Fall 2025 season of Acquired, the podcast about great companies and the stories and playbooks behind them. I'm Ben Gilbert.
David Rosenthal· Host0:49
I'm David Rosenthal.
Ben Gilbert· Host0:50
And we are your hosts. Charlie Munger has a famous thought experiment. It's the 1880s. You wanna build a company from scratch that eventually becomes worth two trillion dollars, starting with just two million. So you're looking for a one million X return, or as Charlie puts it, "A Lollapalooza outcome."
David Rosenthal· Host1:09
(laughs) Of course he does.
Ben Gilbert· Host1:10
Very Charlie.
David Rosenthal· Host1:11
(laughs) Very Charlie.
Ben Gilbert· Host1:12
The constraint is, it must be a non-alcoholic beverage business.
David Rosenthal· Host1:17
Okay.
Ben Gilbert· Host1:18
And another constraint, it must throw off many billions of dollars in dividends (laughs) along the way to your shareholders.
David Rosenthal· Host1:24
(laughs) Okay.
Ben Gilbert· Host1:25
This sounds almost impossible, but what ideas could you possibly dream