#business

Business History podcast episode on Jay Gould, a 19th-century 'Robber Baron' who built his fortune through stock manipulation and bribery rather than producing goods or services, prompting reforms aimed at preventing similar figures from gaining power.

Michael Girdley traces Taco Bell's rise from a single 1962 stand to a $15.6 billion franchise empire, showing how an eight-ingredient menu and a cook-nothing-in-store assembly model (K-Minus) produced margins that beat McDonald's and a late-night "fourth meal" window no competitor has cracked.