The Timeless Investor Show
The Timeless Investor Show explores how serious thinkers build wealth, resilience, and lasting success across generations. Hosted by Arie van Gemeren, CFA - The Timeless Investor Show connects history, philosophy, and real-world investing lessons into practical frameworks for today's investors, with a core focus on real estate investing. We study empires, cycles, currencies, and capital stewardship - and translate timeless principles into real-world action. Think well. Act wisely. Build something timeless.
Episodes
What if China had a 100-year head start on European colonial dominance—and threw it away?
In 1405, nearly a century before Columbus, Chinese Admiral Zheng He commanded 317 ships and 27,800 men. His fleet was the largest in human history. His flagship was five times bigger than the Santa Maria. He reached East Africa, mapped the Indian Ocean, and built trade networks across three continents.
Then, within years of his dea...
December 27, 1772. Clifford & Co.—one of Europe's most prestigious banking houses—shuts its doors with nearly $1 billion in liabilities (in today's money). Within weeks, the contagion spreads: 20 banks collapse across Amsterdam, London, Hamburg, and beyond. The world's first global financial crisis.
The culprit? Mortgage-backed securities on Caribbean plantations, marketed as "safe and stable&qu...
What happens when the world's most trusted currency becomes worthless overnight? Not through war or conquest, but fraud so massive it brings down an empire.
This is the story of the Potosí mines scandal - how Spanish officials debased silver coins, stole billions, and destroyed the foundation of global finance in the 1600s. The Spanish Empire went from controlling 25% of the world to defaulting repeatedly, all bec...
Black Friday 1866: The Banking Collapse That Changed Finance Forever | Shadow Banking Crisis History
In May 1866, the world's largest financial institution collapsed in a single day, triggering the first global banking crisis and reshaping modern finance forever. Overend, Gurney & Company wasn't just any bank - they were THREE TIMES larger than their nearest competitor and considered the safest institution in the world. When they fell, over 200 companies failed, the Bank of England abandoned the gold st...
In 2008, Brad Minsley faced every real estate developer's nightmare: $500 million in loans called across 27 banks. Most operators would have been wiped out. Instead, Brad fought back, survived the crisis, and used those hard-won lessons to build Ten Federal - one of the most innovative self-storage companies in America.
Today, Ten Federal operates 120 facilities with revolutionary automation technology, proprietar...
They called him the Rothschild of the East. But while the Rothschilds moved paper, David Sassoon built infrastructure.
In 1829, he fled Baghdad with nothing but two saddlebags of gold. By 1860, his family controlled the largest trading house in Asia. By 1940, they owned half of Shanghai.
This isn't just another rags-to-riches story. It's a masterclass in turning displacement into dynasty.
In this episode, we ex...
1621. The Thirty Years War is bleeding German treasuries dry, and desperate princes discover what seems like the perfect solution: improve their coins by making them cheaper to produce. What could go wrong?
Everything.
In this deep dive into one of history's most overlooked financial disasters, we explore how professional coin clippers called "Kipper & Wipper" accidentally created Europe's first ...
The president had a bullet lodged in his chest and gold coins in his pocket. His enemy controlled America's entire money supply. What happened next changed American finance for 200 years.
In 1833, President Andrew Jackson did something unthinkable - he destroyed the most powerful financial institution in America. The Second Bank of the United States controlled the nation's money, could create credit from noth...
Most people think Ray Kroc built a hamburger empire. They're wrong.
Ray Kroc built the world's largest real estate company, and he just happened to serve hamburgers on top of it. By the time of his death, McDonald's owned more retail real estate than any other company in the world - not Walmart, not Sears, McDonald's.
In this episode, we unpack how a 52-year-old milkshake machine salesman turned a si...
The year is 1720. A Scottish murderer who escaped death row has just become the richest man in history. He controls France's entire money supply, tax collection, and colonial trade. In six months, he'll flee Paris dressed as a woman, leaving behind the world's first modern financial collapse.
Meet John Law - convicted killer, mathematical genius, and the man who created paper money, quantitative easing, ...
After 8+ years and $150M+ in real estate acquisitions, here's what actually drives returns: operations, not deals.
In this special episode, I break down the operational lessons that separate winning real estate investors from the rest. From why I stopped talking to middle management and started calling leasing agents directly, to the $2,200 water heater mistake that taught me about cost control.
What You'll Le...
In 1885, Florida was nothing but swamps and mosquitoes. By 1915, it was America's winter playground. One man made that transformation happen: Henry Flagler.
This is the story of the most audacious real estate development project in American history - how a 55-year-old Standard Oil co-founder spent $100 million building a 400-mile railroad through impossible terrain to create an entire state's economy.
In this ...
Ron Danz never set out to be a podcast guest. He just quietly built one of the most resilient real estate portfolios in the Pacific Northwest.
Starting with $500 down on a beat-up house near the University of Washington, Ron spent the next 53 years methodically acquiring 2,000+ apartment units and 400,000 square feet of commercial real estate—without ever blowing up.
In his first-ever podcast interview, he shares the ti...
$1.20 a week → $480 million exit. How did a 13-year-old Scottish immigrant become one of the richest men in history?
In this deep dive into Andrew Carnegie's life, we uncover the four timeless principles that built the largest steel empire in the world—and why they're more relevant than ever for real estate investors.
What You'll Learn:
🔍 Information Arbitrage: How Carnegie turned telegraph operator insig...
Most real estate investors think insurance is just a cost of doing business. They're wrong.
Insurance is the ultimate wealth transfer mechanism—and most of us are on the losing side.
In this episode, I sit down with Tony DeFede from Union Risk to uncover how captive insurance programs work, why Warren Buffett has used them for decades, and how real estate investors can flip the script from paying premiums to collec...
Picture this: April 26th, 1478. Florence Cathedral. Lorenzo de' Medici is attending Easter Mass when assassins strike. Knives flash. Blood splatters across marble floors. His brother falls dead. Lorenzo barely escapes with his life.
But here's what's fascinating about this moment—the assassins weren't just trying to kill two men. They were trying to destroy what might be the most successful investme...
When empires face their greatest test, they need leaders willing to be hated for doing what's right.
In 1979, America stood at the crossroads every dying empire faces: destroy the economy to save the currency, or destroy the currency to save the economy. Nixon had already chosen poorly in 1971. By 1979, 13% inflation was bleeding American credibility worldwide.
Enter Paul Volcker—6'7" of unelected, unacco...
The year is 53 BC. In a Parthian tent, molten gold burns down the throat of Rome's richest man. Marcus Crassus - worth $2+ billion in today's money - dies choking on the very metal that made him famous.
But how did a man who lost everything in Rome's civil wars become the ancient world's greatest real estate mogul? And what can his strategies teach modern investors about building generational wealth...
What if one strategic decision in 1677 could create $15 billion in wealth that lasts 345 years?
In this episode, Arie tells the incredible story of the Grosvenor family - the British dynasty that survived the Great Fire of London, two World Wars, multiple market crashes, and Brexit while building one of the world's largest real estate empires.
It all started with Thomas Grosvenor's marriage to 12-year-old Mary...
“In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.”
– Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico
When Julius Caesar set out to conquer Gaul, he didn’t rely on raw force or divine luck. He relied on systems. Strategy. Discipline. And an unshakable understanding of how empires are actually built — and lost.
In this first installment of Letters from Gaul, I explore five ...
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