This week on the Konvoy Newsletter audio edition, host Jackson Vaughan explores the origins, evolution, and reinvention of holding companies in America — from Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust to the decentralized empires of Berkshire Hathaway and Alphabet. As regulatory pressure, financial engineering, and technological disruption have shaped these corporate structures over time, the holding company remains one of the most powerful — and controversial — tools in modern capitalism.

Jackson unpacks how holding companies were born out of the Second Industrial Revolution, how antitrust enforcement reshaped them in the 20th century, and why tech giants and private equity firms are adopting new versions of this structure today. From tax efficiency to risk isolation, this episode explores the strategic logic — and the trade-offs — behind the HoldCo model.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How 19th-century trusts paved the way for modern holding companies
• Why the Sherman Act and New Deal reforms cracked down on corporate concentration
• How Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway redefined the HoldCo with decentralization and discipline
• Why Alphabet and Meta restructured into holding companies in the 2010s
• The key advantages and drawbacks of the holding company model today

Whether you’re building a business, investing in company structures, or curious about the legal and financial levers behind corporate empires, this episode offers a deep dive into one of the most enduring strategies in American business history.

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