Acquired

Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal have turned business history into appointment listening. What started in 2015 as a podcast about tech acquisitions has evolved into something much more ambitious: multi-hour episodes they call "conversational audiobooks" that dissect how the world's most important companies were actually built. Each episode of Acquired now reaches over a million listeners, making it the number-one technology podcast on both Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The research that goes into each episode is staggering. When Ben and David covered TSMC, they flew to Taiwan to conduct a rare English-language interview with founder Morris Chang. Their episodes on companies like Coca-Cola, IKEA, Hermes, and Nintendo often run three to four hours and contain the kind of detail you'd normally find only in a dedicated business biography. They celebrated their tenth anniversary in January 2026 with a special episode featuring Michael Lewis. The format works because Ben and David genuinely enjoy the material. Their excitement is palpable when they uncover a strategic decision that shaped an entire industry, and they do an excellent job of explaining why a particular move mattered in its historical context. The show has also expanded into live events, including a Radio City Music Hall show featuring Jamie Dimon and Andrew Ross Sorkin that was released as the podcast's first "concert film." Acquired is essential listening for anyone who wants to understand not just what successful companies do, but why they made the specific choices that set them apart. The episodes are long, but they earn every minute. If you care about business strategy at a deep level, you'll find yourself reorganizing your schedule to make time for each new release.