June 30, 2025 • 30 mins
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 investment empire in human history.
In this episode, I take you inside the original family office. We're going inside the Medici Method—how a wool merchant named Giovanni de' Medici built a real estate empire using strategies that work just as well in today's markets as they did 600 years ago.
What you'll discover:
- Why the Medici weren't just bankers—they were history's first international property empire builders
- How Giovanni used "information advantage + strategic asset accumulation" to create compounding wealth
- The revolutionary accounting system that gave them precision their competitors couldn't match
- Why Lorenzo survived financial collapse when other banking dynasties disappeared forever
- How strategic real estate ownership creates political influence (and more investment opportunities)
- The timeless lesson that saved the Medici: "You can't eat a stock certificate, but you can always collect rent on a building"
Modern applications for today's investors:
- Geographic diversification with local knowledge (not speculation)
- Why real estate isn't just about cash flow—it's about influence and optionality
- How cultural amenities and infrastructure improvements drive property values
- The difference between using leverage as a tool vs. a strategy
- Building systems that create generational wealth, not just annual returns
This isn't just a history lesson—it's a masterclass in building wealth that endures across centuries. From Renaissance Florence to modern America, the principles don't change. Real assets beat paper assets. Strategic positioning beats speculation. And long-term thinking beats short-term optimization.
The Medici figured this out 600 years ago. Their methods are just as relevant today.
If you're serious about building real wealth, this episode will change how you think about real estate investing forever.
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Think Well. Act Wisely. Build Something Timeless.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Timeless Investor Show.
I'm Ari Van Gemeren, real estatefund manager, student of
history, and your host today.
Thank you for joining me foranother week of the Timeless
Investor Show.
If you're on the video versionon our YouTube channel, which if
you haven't checked it out, justcheck it out.
This is my in-laws place in theSan Francisco Bay Area.
(00:22):
I'm excited to be bringing youanother incredible episode this
week.
from the beautiful bay areawhere the sun is shining and all
is good picture this april 261478 florence cathedral lorenzo
de medici is attending eastermass when assassins strike
(00:44):
knives flash into sacred spaceblood splatters across marble
floors his brother giulianofalls dead lorenzo barely
escapes with his life racing tothe cathedral as the crowd
screams But here's what'sfascinating about this moment.
The assassins weren't justtrying to kill these two men.
They were trying to destroy whatmight be the most successful
(01:09):
investment empire in humanhistory because the Medici
weren't just bankers.
They weren't just art patrons,which is what most of us
remember their name for today.
They were the architects ofsomething we take for granted
today.
The idea that strategic realestate ownership creates lasting
political power.
Lorenzo survived that bloodyEaster morning through speed,
(01:32):
luck, two very important factorsto escape knife men, and popular
support.
The people of Florence ralliedto him, not because he owned the
buildings, but because theMedici had built genuine
relationships with the city.
But here's the crucial point.
When Lorenzo's banking empirelater collapsed, Thank you.
(02:11):
I'm going to take you inside theoriginal family office.
We're going to learn how a woolmerchant named Giovanni de'
Medici built an empire usingstrategies that worked just as
well in today's markets as theydid 600 years ago.
Because here's the thing abouttimeless investment principles.
They don't change.
The names might change.
The technology may change.
(02:33):
But the fundamentals of buildinggenerational wealth, timeless
wealth, those are eternal.
Let's talk about the Medicimethod.
The year is 1397.
Most people think medievalEurope was all mud, peasants,
war, devastation, the BlackDeath.
(02:56):
But Florence was different.
Florence was the Silicon Valleyof the Renaissance.
Trade routes converged there.
Money flowed through its marketslike data through fiber optic
cables today.
And in the middle of it all wasa wool merchant named Giovanni
de' Medici, who was about tounderstand something that most
investors still don't get.
(03:19):
You can't eat a stockcertificate, but you can always
collect rent on a good building.
So Giovanni started with wool,but he was watching the money
and he noticed somethinginteresting.
The merchants who got rich andstayed rich were not the ones
with the biggest inventory.
They were the ones who ownedwealth.
the warehouses.
(03:40):
They were the ones who owned theshops where business got done.
They were the ones who owned theland underneath the actual
economic activity.
So Giovanni made a decision thatwould, to sound big here, would
echo through the centuries.
He was going to become a banker,but not just any banker.
(04:02):
He was going to be a banker whounderstood that real assets beat
paper assets every single day.
time.
Here's how we did it.
First, revolutionizedaccounting.
The Medici Bank was one of thevery first to use double entry
bookkeeping systematically.
Think of it like, I don't know,the Excel of the 1400s.
(04:25):
Suddenly you could track assets,liabilities, cash flows across
multiple geographies withprecision that their competitors
simply could not match.
That is operational excellence.
That is what ultimatelyseparates the pros from the
amateurs.
I want to double click on thisreally quickly because it's a
really interesting point.
So I've recently been delvinginto double entry bookkeeping
(04:46):
myself.
And I was curious, why is itsuch a revolutionary
undertaking?
And here's the quick answer forthose of you that don't know.
It is an easy and powerful wayto detect fraud, to detect bad
books.
Double entry bookkeeping isallows you to better understand
(05:08):
the financials understand what'sactually happening and to delve
into other businesses as alender it's invaluable for
understanding how your buildingis performing it is invaluable
it is a truly remarkableremarkable innovation in human
economic history so after thedouble book double entry
(05:28):
bookkeeping what happened nexthere's where it gets really
interesting from a real estateperspective While other banks
were lending money, Giovanni wasdoing something, I think, even
smarter.
He was using his real estate asboth collateral and as part of
his investment strategy.
So when someone needed a loan,Giovanni didn't just want
promises.
He wanted property, buildings,land, things that couldn't
(05:50):
disappear overnight.
And when borrowers defaulted,which happened frequently in
medieval Europe, Giovanni didn'tlose money.
He gained assets.
It's almost like modern-day hardmoney lenders, right?
They have an incredible enviousposition.
They collect high interest, andif it doesn't work, they get the
property.
I know multiple guys in thisbusiness.
(06:11):
They slay it, slay it, and oftenat the detriment of the borrower
that takes their money.
But they are fine.
Either they get theirexorbitantly high interest rate,
or they take the building back,and they own the collateral.
It's incredible.
But Giovanni...
took it even a step further.
The Medici Bank didn't just havebranches in other cities.
(06:33):
They owned buildings in othercities, prime real estate, the
best locations in Florence,Rome, Venice, Milan, London,
Paris.
These were not just offices.
They were anchor investments,strategic positions in the most
important commercial districtsof Europe.
Think about that for just amoment.
While other internationalbusinesses were basically
(06:54):
tourists in foreign markets, theMedici Bank were actual
landlords.
They had skin in the game.
They had local influence.
They had assets that appreciatedindependently of their banking
operations.
And here's the craziest part.
They used their bankingrelationships to identify the
best real estate opportunitiesbefore anyone else knew they
were available.
(07:14):
Someone struggling with debt,the Medici, they knew first.
Prime property coming to market,they had the inside track.
Political upheaval creatingbuying opportunities, they were
positioned to act while otherswere still figuring out what was
happening.
This, guys, is the first andmost important lesson of the
Medici method.
(07:35):
Information advantage plus assetaccumulation equals compounding
power.
They were not just making loans.
They were systematicallyacquiring the infrastructure of
European commerce.
But Giovanni understoodsomething else that modern real
estate investors often miss.
Real estate isn't just about therent.
(07:56):
It's about the influence.
When you own the building whereimportant people conduct
business, you become important.
When you own the neighborhoodwhere powerful families live,
you become powerful.
So the Medici started buyingentire city blocks in Florence,
not just random properties,strategic positions.
They own buildings around thecentral markets.
(08:18):
They own the land near the riverwhere trade goods arrive.
They own properties near thecathedral where political and
religious power And then theydid something that shows, I
think, true long-term thinking.
They started commissioning artand architecture, not just for
status, but for property values.
So when the Medici hiredBrunelleschi to design
(08:39):
buildings, when theycommissioned Donatello for
sculptures, when they fundedpublic works projects, they
weren't just beingphilanthropic.
They were improving theirneighborhoods.
They were increasing their valueof their real estate holdings in
that moment.
And this is something weunderstand today, right?
Great schools, increasedproperty values, walkable
neighborhoods, command premiumrents.
(09:02):
Cultural amenities can and oftendo drive some level of
gentrification.
In the Medici, we're doing urbanplanning, if you will, years
before we had an actual name forit.
So by the time Giovanni died in1429, he had built something
unprecedented, a family businessthat generated income from
banking, but whose real wealthwas locked up in strategic real
(09:25):
estate across all of Europe.
He had created the world's firstinternational property empire
that was disguised as a bank,the Medici Bank.
And that foundation would allowhis descendants to survive
assassinations, politicalupheavals, papal
excommunications, and economiccrashes that destroyed other
(09:47):
wealthy families.
Because when everyone elsefails, People still need
somewhere to live and work.
So Giovanni's son, Cosimo de'Medici, inherited more than a
bank.
He inherited a philosophy, realassets over paper assets, land
beats loans, ownership aboveall.
(10:07):
But Cosimo took it to the nextlevel.
His father, if his father hadbuilt a real estate portfolio,
Cosimo was going to build a realestate empire.
and he was going to usepolitical power to do it.
And here's where the story getsreally interesting for modern
day investors, because Cosimofigured out that in uncertain
times, in medieval Europe, asany of you can guess, was
(10:29):
definitely uncertain.
Traditional diversificationwasn't enough.
You need geographicdiversification, and you also
need political diversification.
You need to own assets inmultiple jurisdictions so that
when one government falls apart,you are not wiped out.
Now, the Medici Bank hadbranches in eight European
(10:51):
cities by 1450.
But think about thisstrategically.
These were not just bankingoffices.
Each bank, each branch wasanchored by significant real
estate holdings.
In London, for example, theyowned properties near the wool
markets.
In Rome, they had buildingsclose to the Vatican, of course.
And in Paris, they held realestate in the commercial
(11:11):
district.
So this gave them somethingreally valuable.
local knowledge, and localinfluence in each market.
So when political upheavalcreated opportunities, and it
always did, the Medici werepositioned to act.
When other internationalinvestors were still trying to
figure out a foreign market forthe distance, the Medici were
locals, and they used this powerto incredible effect.
(11:34):
So when the English crown neededmoney for wars, the Medici
didn't just lend cash, theystructured deals that gave them
additional property rights.
When Italian city-states neededfinancing for infrastructure
projects, the Medici positionedthemselves to own pieces of the
completed project.
But here's what Cosimo's geniusreally shows.
He understood on an intrinsiclevel that in a world where
(11:57):
governments were unstable andcurrencies were very unreliable,
I would argue they're stillunreliable today, but I mean,
even more so then, then theultimate store of value wasn't
going to just be gold or silver.
It was going to be influence.
And the best way to buildinfluence was through strategic
asset ownership.
So the Medici started buyingproperties for political
(12:19):
positioning.
They acquired the buildingswhere important decisions got
made.
They owned palaces wherepowerful families lived.
They held land along the traderoutes to connected cities.
And then they got creative.
As we talked about before, theystarted investing in the arts.
They funded the construction ofthe Platonic Academy.
They were not just supportingeducation.
They made an institution...
(12:40):
that made Florence moreattractive to wealthy, educated
families who might buy or rentMedici properties.
And when they sponsored publicfestivals and events, they were
essentially marketing their cityand their real estate holdings
to the rest of Europe.
This is, as I said before,basically like urban planning
(13:00):
disguised as patronage.
They understood that all of thisstuff was going to increase the
value of their land and itworked.
Florence became the mostdesirable city in Europe.
Property values soared.
The Medici is the largestproperty owners, of course,
captured most of thatappreciation.
But Cosimo's master stroke waspolitical.
He figured out how to use hisreal estate ownership to build
(13:22):
unshakable political influence.
So when you own the land whereall of these things happen,
where the politicians areeating, where they live, where
they meet, you have the control.
The Medici never officiallyruled Florence.
They were technically privatecitizens, but they owned so much
of the physical infrastructureof the power of the city that
(13:44):
they effectively controlled thecity.
It's like being the landlord tothe entire government.
And this gave them somethingtruly priceless, which is very
difficult and I would sayimpossible to emulate today.
They had the ability to shapepolicy in ways that benefited
their own investments, zoningdecisions, infrastructure
spending, tax policy, traderegulation, all influenced by
(14:08):
the family that owned all thestrategic real estate throughout
the city.
So by 1464, when Cosimo died,the Medici had built something
unprecedented, a private realestate empire that generated
political influence, whichgenerated more investment
opportunities, which generatedmore real estate holdings, which
generated more politicalinfluence.
(14:29):
It was a compounding machinemoving in this ever moving
forward wheel that was anabsolute monster.
But here's what I think is oneof the more remarkable points
here.
While other wealthy families ofthe era, the Fugers, the
Welsers, other banking dynastieswere building wealth through
trade and finance, they remainedvulnerable to political changes,
(14:51):
currency devaluation, andsovereign defaults.
When governments changed, thesefamilies often lost everything.
But the Medici were differentbecause they owned the buildings
where the new governmentoperated.
They owned the neighborhoodswhere the new leaders lived.
They owned the infrastructure.
Political change didn't destroytheir wealth.
It often enhanced it because newleaders needed the Medici
properties and the Medicinetworks to govern effectively.
(15:13):
So this is the second lesson ofthe Medici method.
Strategic real estate ownershipcan create political influence,
which can create more investmentopportunity, which can create
more strategic real estateownership.
It's like a flywheel effect.
Let's go into the crisis.
So by 1478, the year of thatbloody Easter morning in
Florence Cathedral, Lorenzo de'Medici, known as Lorenzo the
(15:34):
Magnificent, was running whatmight have been the largest
financial empire in history andin the world.
The Medici bank had assetsequivalent to billions in
today's money.
Their real estate holdingsspanned multiple countries.
Their political influencereached from London to
Constantinople.
But Lorenzo had made a classicmistake that destroys wealthy
(15:55):
families in every generation.
He confused leverage withwealth.
He confused cash flow withhaving ultimate security.
He confused being too big tofail with being too smart to
fail.
So here's what happened.
By the time Lorenzo took overfrom his father, Piero, in 1469,
the Medici Bank was alreadyshowing signs of strain.
(16:17):
Several international brancheshad made very bad loans.
Coordination between distantoperations was becoming
difficult, and Lorenzo himselfwas more interested in politics,
art, and diplomacy than in theday-to-day banking operations
that made his family wealthy.
Meanwhile, same time, otherItalian banks were competing
(16:38):
aggressively, as happens in anycapitalist society.
interest rates were being drivendown, profit margins were
shrinking, and Lorenzo, ratherthan consolidating and
protecting the family's coreassets, was spending lavishly on
political campaigns, artisticpatronage, and maintaining his
position as the unofficial rulerof Florence.
(16:59):
He was also making classicmistakes that destroy family
businesses.
He appropriated funds from thebank to finance personal and
political expenses.
He allowed branch managers tooperate with Insufficient
oversight, probably because hewas distracted.
He chased prestige deals ratherthan focusing on profitable
conservative banking.
And then came 1478.
(17:22):
The Pazzi conspiracy wasn't justan assassination attempt.
It was a coordinated attack onMedici power backed by Pope
Sixtus IV.
Now, when the plot failed andLorenzo survived, the Pope
retaliated by seizing Mediciassets in Rome, excommunicating
Lorenzo and putting Florenceunder interdict.
(17:45):
This was a financial disaster.
The Rome branch of the bankcollapsed, international credit
dried up, years of war followed.
And this, of course, is whenLorenzo's enemies struck.
The Pazzi family, rivalFlorentine bankers, conspired
with Pope Sixtus IV to eliminatethe Medici.
They organized the assassinationattempt I mentioned at the
(18:08):
beginning and again just now.
The plan was simple.
Kill Lorenzo and his brotherduring Easter Mass, seize
control of Florence's governmentwhile the family was in chaos,
and replace the Medici as thecity's dominant power.
Lorenzo's brother, Giuliano,died in the cathedral that
Easter morning.
Lorenzo barely escaped byrunning to the sacristy and
(18:30):
barricading himself inside.
The people of Florence, though,rather than supporting the
conspirators, rallied TrueLorenzo.
They saw the Pazzi as traitors,not liberators.
And the real test cameimmediately afterward.
The banking crisis followed.
It was already destroying theMedici family's empire.
The papal states were at warwith Florence.
(18:52):
Remember, at this time, theVatican was not a tiny little
city-state within Rome.
It was its own military power.
The Pope had secular power.
He had armies.
And on top of this,international lending had
collapsed.
everything that had made theMedici family wealthy for three
generations, what's fallingapart.
(19:15):
And this is when Lorenzo learnedsomething critical about wealth
building that every investorreally needs to try to
understand.
When your primary businessfails, because it can and it
does, you better have assetsthat generate income independent
of that business to protectyourself, call it a fallback,
cash reserve, something toprotect yourself.
(19:37):
So the Medici's Real estateholdings, the palaces, the
commercial buildings, theresidential properties across
Europe, these didn't disappearwhen the bank fell.
They kept generating rent.
They kept providing places forthe family to live and to
operate.
They kept serving as collateralfor new financing when the
family needed to restructuretheir debts.
Physical assets endure.
(19:57):
Even when paper assetsdisappear, buildings will not
just vanish into thin air whenbanking operations collapse.
Land doesn't just go away whenpolitical relationships sour,
and rental income keeps flowingeven when your other revenue
streams dry up.
So the Pazzi thought they coulddestroy the Medici by
eliminating Lorenzo, but theydiscovered something important.
(20:20):
You can't kill a diversified,geographically diversified real
estate portfolio.
The buildings remain, the rentalincome continued, the strategic
positions and prime locationsstayed very valuable.
Lorenzo survived the immediatecrisis by doing what everybody
in the situation does.
He liquidated some properties,he restructured his debts, and
(20:41):
he focused on the core realestate holdings rather than
international banking expansion.
He learned the lesson that hisgrandfather Giovanni had
understood, but that he hadforgotten for a moment.
Real assets beat paper assets,always.
Their banking empire never fullyrecovered, but the Medici family
not only survived, They thrive.
(21:04):
Lorenzo's son became Pope Leo X.
Nice.
His cousin became Pope ClementVII.
Extra nice.
The family produced four popestotal, multiple queens of
France, and remained influentialin European politics for
centuries.
And all of that later successwas built on the foundation of
(21:24):
strategic real estate ownershipthat Giovanni had established
and that survived even when thebanking operations failed.
So this is the third lesson ofthe Medici method.
Real estate holdings can saveyou.
Physical assets can endure whenfinancial assets disappear.
And strategic property ownershipcreates options and
(21:47):
opportunities even in your worstmoments.
What timeless principles can weextract from this 600-year-old
case study in building andpreserving generational wealth?
First, Information advantageplus strategic asset
accumulation creates compoundingpower.
The Medici didn't just buyrandom properties.
(22:07):
They used their relationshipsand international networks to
find the best opportunities.
Today, I think this probablymeans building relationships
with the best brokers, stayingconnected to local market
dynamics, positioning yourselfto act when others can't or they
won't.
Niche down, understand yourmarket, dig in.
(22:28):
That creates power.
you'll be the first in line tosee the best opportunities.
Second, geographicdiversification without local
knowledge is just speculation.
The Medici didn't just ownproperties in multiple cities.
They understood each marketintimately.
They had the undergroundintelligence.
(22:48):
They knew the politicaldynamics, the economic drivers,
the cultural factors thataffected property values.
Modern investors who buy rentalproperties in markets they'd
never visited before in myopinion, are making the opposite
mistake.
I have met so many people whoacquired properties across the
United States.
They've never even been to thatmarket.
Are they doing okay?
Yeah, they seem like they'redoing okay.
(23:09):
Is it smart?
I don't think so.
You need to know your market.
I'd rather invest in a marketthat's next door to me that's
not that sexy, but that I know,than invest in the sure thing
market across the country.
They did a good job at this.
Good investors today do a goodjob at this.
Most of the really bad horrorstories that are coming out and
we're hearing are aboutCalifornia syndicators investing
(23:32):
in Texas or in Denver andmarkets they've never been to
and they don't really understandit.
We're just getting into it.
Third, another lesson from theMedici method, real estate isn't
just about cash flow.
It's about optionality.
and influence.
When you own strategicproperties, you get into the
flow of information thatgenerates value just beyond just
(23:53):
having rental income.
Simple example, you own aproperty in a city.
Your name is now on the map.
You are taken seriously.
You are part of the community.
Brokers will view you as anactual buyer.
So many times we look at marketsand we have an informational
asymmetry because we own thekind of asset that they're
selling.
We buy vintage buildings.
(24:14):
We're big on vintage buildingsright now.
I think they're mispriced.
I've talked about it many times.
We've been buying them.
Who do you think gets the callstoday when a new, interesting
vintage opportunity comes up?
We do.
And the brokers know that.
And they push that story to theseller.
We can offer good pricing onassets.
We create strategic value forourselves by being in the
(24:39):
market, understanding themarket, and And our existing
assets create new investmentopportunities for us because now
the brokers go to their client.
They say, listen, these guys,they buy this kind of building.
I know they do.
They bought three or four in thelast year.
You have to take them seriously.
These are real buyers.
(24:59):
Next, cultural amenities andinfrastructure improvements can
and do drive property values.
The Medici understood this.
It's one of the reasons they'reknown today as one of the
biggest historic patrons of thearts.
Today, this might meansupporting your local schools,
advocating for transitimprovements, or investing in
businesses that might make yourneighborhoods more desirable.
(25:20):
Being a good citizen of yourneighborhood, improving the area
where your property is, right?
Being involved in local politicsis a big one.
Local politics is where all thereal power lies.
We all talk about the president,the Senate, and Congress.
Forget it.
Forget it.
Local politics is where it ishappening.
(25:41):
Why?
Nobody votes.
Nobody votes.
So if you're involved and youparticipate and you give money
and you're participating inlocal politics, you have a huge
influence.
Do you think you have anyinfluence on what happens and
who's elected president of theUnited States?
No.
But you have a big influence onwho gets on city council, a big
influence on local legislation.
Get involved.
Understand it.
Make your city better.
(26:02):
Fifth, leverage is a tool, not astrategy.
Lorenzo's mistake is and it'snot just his mistake, we've all
made the mistake and everyonemakes this mistake eventually,
was to confuse leverage ofwealth and chasing higher and
higher returns rather thanremembering to protect the core
assets.
Modern real estate investorsoften make this same mistake
when they refinance profitableproperties to buy more
(26:26):
properties or when they beteverything on appreciation
rather than focusing on cashflowand asset protection.
There's a really difficult andsad story happening in our local
market here.
in Portland, not Oakland.
And I won't say names, but alocal person that has built a
great generational wealth fortheir family, sold everything
(26:47):
and invested everything in onebig project in downtown
Portland.
And that project is hundreds ofmillions underwater today.
So they bet everything and theylost it.
I don't know the veracity ofthat story, right?
That's the speculation and therumor and what I'm hearing.
So this is complete hearsay.
I'm not saying this is actuallywhat the situation is, but this
is what I've heard from many,many people I trust.
(27:08):
That happens all the time.
Some guys and gals just can'tstop.
You have to know when to stop.
Here's what I find mostfascinating about the Medici
story.
They weren't just successfulinvestors.
They were successful investorswho understood that building
wealth is ultimately aboutbuilding systems that survive.
(27:31):
They were not optimizing forquarterly returns or annual
performance.
They were building somethingtimeless.
And that, to me, is whatseparates the great investors
from the merely temporarilysuccessful ones.
The great ones think in decades,in centuries, not months and
years.
They build assets that getstronger with age, not weaker.
(27:52):
And they create systems thatbenefit their grandchildren's
grandchildren, not just theirnext tax return.
So the Medici method, is notreally about real estate.
It's about understanding thattrue wealth comes from owning
pieces of the infrastructure andthe properties that civilization
needs to function.
And that infrastructure, thebuildings where people live and
(28:13):
work, the land where commercehappens, the physical spaces
where communities gather, thatinfrastructure is always going
to be valuable because humannature doesn't change.
People will always need shelter.
Commerce will always needlocations to operate.
We thought that we would getaway from that, right?
The whole Amazon thing happenedand retail got really crushed
and it was like a decade longcrushing on retail.
(28:35):
Guess what's back, guys?
Retail is back.
It's back, right?
We thought everything would go,like all retail got hammered.
It's not the case.
It's back, right?
And like people will alwaysneed, and power also will always
need a place to operate.
The families who own thoseplaces will always have
influence, options, andsecurity.
(28:56):
So think about your ownportfolio.
Think about your own investmentstrategy.
Are you building paper wealth orreal wealth?
Are you optimizing for thisyear's tax returns or this
century's legacies?
And are you chasing yields orare you accumulating assets?
Because here's the thing abouttimeless investment principles.
They don't care about currentmarket conditions.
(29:17):
They don't care about interestrates or inflation or political
cycles.
They worked in RenaissanceFlorence and they work in modern
day America.
They work when times are good.
And they still work when timesare bad.
The Medici figured this out 600years ago, and their methods are
just as relevant today as theywere when Lorenzo was dodging
assassins in the FlorenceCathedral.
(29:38):
Real assets, geographicdiversification with local
knowledge, strategicpositioning, long-term thinking.
These are not complicatedconcepts, but they're powerful
concepts.
And when you combine them withdiscipline and patience, They
then create something that noamount of financial engineering
(29:59):
can hope to replicate, truegenerational wealth.
Think well, act wisely, buildsomething timeless.
Thanks for listening to theTimeless Investor Show.
If you enjoyed this episode,please subscribe to our podcast
show and share it with othersand join me next week as we
(30:20):
continue exploring timelesslessons for modern wealth
builders.
If you haven't already, alsocheck out the Timeless Investor
newsletter on Substack, where wedo deep dives on incredible
concepts throughout history thatare profound, challenging,
contrarian, and I think fairlyfun to write.
(30:40):
So thank you again.
This is Ari Ben-Gameron, yourhost.
I look forward to seeing younext time.
Have a wonderful week.
Welcome back to the Timeless Investor Show.
I'm Ari Van Gemeren, real estatefund manager, student of
history, and your host today.
Thank you for joining me foranother week of the Timeless
Investor Show.
If you're on the video versionon our YouTube channel, which if
you haven't checked it out, justcheck it out.
This is my in-laws place in theSan Francisco Bay Area.
(00:22):
I'm excited to be bringing youanother incredible episode this
week.
from the beautiful bay areawhere the sun is shining and all
is good picture this april 261478 florence cathedral lorenzo
de medici is attending eastermass when assassins strike
(00:44):
knives flash into sacred spaceblood splatters across marble
floors his brother giulianofalls dead lorenzo barely
escapes with his life racing tothe cathedral as the crowd
screams But here's what'sfascinating about this moment.
The assassins weren't justtrying to kill these two men.
They were trying to destroy whatmight be the most successful
(01:09):
investment empire in humanhistory because the Medici
weren't just bankers.
They weren't just art patrons,which is what most of us
remember their name for today.
They were the architects ofsomething we take for granted
today.
The idea that strategic realestate ownership creates lasting
political power.
Lorenzo survived that bloodyEaster morning through speed,
(01:32):
luck, two very important factorsto escape knife men, and popular
support.
The people of Florence ralliedto him, not because he owned the
buildings, but because theMedici had built genuine
relationships with the city.
But here's the crucial point.
When Lorenzo's banking empirelater collapsed, Thank you.
(02:11):
I'm going to take you inside theoriginal family office.
We're going to learn how a woolmerchant named Giovanni de'
Medici built an empire usingstrategies that worked just as
well in today's markets as theydid 600 years ago.
Because here's the thing abouttimeless investment principles.
They don't change.
The names might change.
The technology may change.
(02:33):
But the fundamentals of buildinggenerational wealth, timeless
wealth, those are eternal.
Let's talk about the Medicimethod.
The year is 1397.
Most people think medievalEurope was all mud, peasants,
war, devastation, the BlackDeath.
(02:56):
But Florence was different.
Florence was the Silicon Valleyof the Renaissance.
Trade routes converged there.
Money flowed through its marketslike data through fiber optic
cables today.
And in the middle of it all wasa wool merchant named Giovanni
de' Medici, who was about tounderstand something that most
investors still don't get.
(03:19):
You can't eat a stockcertificate, but you can always
collect rent on a good building.
So Giovanni started with wool,but he was watching the money
and he noticed somethinginteresting.
The merchants who got rich andstayed rich were not the ones
with the biggest inventory.
They were the ones who ownedwealth.
the warehouses.
(03:40):
They were the ones who owned theshops where business got done.
They were the ones who owned theland underneath the actual
economic activity.
So Giovanni made a decision thatwould, to sound big here, would
echo through the centuries.
He was going to become a banker,but not just any banker.
(04:02):
He was going to be a banker whounderstood that real assets beat
paper assets every single day.
time.
Here's how we did it.
First, revolutionizedaccounting.
The Medici Bank was one of thevery first to use double entry
bookkeeping systematically.
Think of it like, I don't know,the Excel of the 1400s.
(04:25):
Suddenly you could track assets,liabilities, cash flows across
multiple geographies withprecision that their competitors
simply could not match.
That is operational excellence.
That is what ultimatelyseparates the pros from the
amateurs.
I want to double click on thisreally quickly because it's a
really interesting point.
So I've recently been delvinginto double entry bookkeeping
(04:46):
myself.
And I was curious, why is itsuch a revolutionary
undertaking?
And here's the quick answer forthose of you that don't know.
It is an easy and powerful wayto detect fraud, to detect bad
books.
Double entry bookkeeping isallows you to better understand
(05:08):
the financials understand what'sactually happening and to delve
into other businesses as alender it's invaluable for
understanding how your buildingis performing it is invaluable
it is a truly remarkableremarkable innovation in human
economic history so after thedouble book double entry
(05:28):
bookkeeping what happened nexthere's where it gets really
interesting from a real estateperspective While other banks
were lending money, Giovanni wasdoing something, I think, even
smarter.
He was using his real estate asboth collateral and as part of
his investment strategy.
So when someone needed a loan,Giovanni didn't just want
promises.
He wanted property, buildings,land, things that couldn't
(05:50):
disappear overnight.
And when borrowers defaulted,which happened frequently in
medieval Europe, Giovanni didn'tlose money.
He gained assets.
It's almost like modern-day hardmoney lenders, right?
They have an incredible enviousposition.
They collect high interest, andif it doesn't work, they get the
property.
I know multiple guys in thisbusiness.
(06:11):
They slay it, slay it, and oftenat the detriment of the borrower
that takes their money.
But they are fine.
Either they get theirexorbitantly high interest rate,
or they take the building back,and they own the collateral.
It's incredible.
But Giovanni...
took it even a step further.
The Medici Bank didn't just havebranches in other cities.
(06:33):
They owned buildings in othercities, prime real estate, the
best locations in Florence,Rome, Venice, Milan, London,
Paris.
These were not just offices.
They were anchor investments,strategic positions in the most
important commercial districtsof Europe.
Think about that for just amoment.
While other internationalbusinesses were basically
(06:54):
tourists in foreign markets, theMedici Bank were actual
landlords.
They had skin in the game.
They had local influence.
They had assets that appreciatedindependently of their banking
operations.
And here's the craziest part.
They used their bankingrelationships to identify the
best real estate opportunitiesbefore anyone else knew they
were available.
(07:14):
Someone struggling with debt,the Medici, they knew first.
Prime property coming to market,they had the inside track.
Political upheaval creatingbuying opportunities, they were
positioned to act while otherswere still figuring out what was
happening.
This, guys, is the first andmost important lesson of the
Medici method.
(07:35):
Information advantage plus assetaccumulation equals compounding
power.
They were not just making loans.
They were systematicallyacquiring the infrastructure of
European commerce.
But Giovanni understoodsomething else that modern real
estate investors often miss.
Real estate isn't just about therent.
(07:56):
It's about the influence.
When you own the building whereimportant people conduct
business, you become important.
When you own the neighborhoodwhere powerful families live,
you become powerful.
So the Medici started buyingentire city blocks in Florence,
not just random properties,strategic positions.
They own buildings around thecentral markets.
(08:18):
They own the land near the riverwhere trade goods arrive.
They own properties near thecathedral where political and
religious power And then theydid something that shows, I
think, true long-term thinking.
They started commissioning artand architecture, not just for
status, but for property values.
So when the Medici hiredBrunelleschi to design
(08:39):
buildings, when theycommissioned Donatello for
sculptures, when they fundedpublic works projects, they
weren't just beingphilanthropic.
They were improving theirneighborhoods.
They were increasing their valueof their real estate holdings in
that moment.
And this is something weunderstand today, right?
Great schools, increasedproperty values, walkable
neighborhoods, command premiumrents.
(09:02):
Cultural amenities can and oftendo drive some level of
gentrification.
In the Medici, we're doing urbanplanning, if you will, years
before we had an actual name forit.
So by the time Giovanni died in1429, he had built something
unprecedented, a family businessthat generated income from
banking, but whose real wealthwas locked up in strategic real
(09:25):
estate across all of Europe.
He had created the world's firstinternational property empire
that was disguised as a bank,the Medici Bank.
And that foundation would allowhis descendants to survive
assassinations, politicalupheavals, papal
excommunications, and economiccrashes that destroyed other
(09:47):
wealthy families.
Because when everyone elsefails, People still need
somewhere to live and work.
So Giovanni's son, Cosimo de'Medici, inherited more than a
bank.
He inherited a philosophy, realassets over paper assets, land
beats loans, ownership aboveall.
(10:07):
But Cosimo took it to the nextlevel.
His father, if his father hadbuilt a real estate portfolio,
Cosimo was going to build a realestate empire.
and he was going to usepolitical power to do it.
And here's where the story getsreally interesting for modern
day investors, because Cosimofigured out that in uncertain
times, in medieval Europe, asany of you can guess, was
(10:29):
definitely uncertain.
Traditional diversificationwasn't enough.
You need geographicdiversification, and you also
need political diversification.
You need to own assets inmultiple jurisdictions so that
when one government falls apart,you are not wiped out.
Now, the Medici Bank hadbranches in eight European
(10:51):
cities by 1450.
But think about thisstrategically.
These were not just bankingoffices.
Each bank, each branch wasanchored by significant real
estate holdings.
In London, for example, theyowned properties near the wool
markets.
In Rome, they had buildingsclose to the Vatican, of course.
And in Paris, they held realestate in the commercial
(11:11):
district.
So this gave them somethingreally valuable.
local knowledge, and localinfluence in each market.
So when political upheavalcreated opportunities, and it
always did, the Medici werepositioned to act.
When other internationalinvestors were still trying to
figure out a foreign market forthe distance, the Medici were
locals, and they used this powerto incredible effect.
(11:34):
So when the English crown neededmoney for wars, the Medici
didn't just lend cash, theystructured deals that gave them
additional property rights.
When Italian city-states neededfinancing for infrastructure
projects, the Medici positionedthemselves to own pieces of the
completed project.
But here's what Cosimo's geniusreally shows.
He understood on an intrinsiclevel that in a world where
(11:57):
governments were unstable andcurrencies were very unreliable,
I would argue they're stillunreliable today, but I mean,
even more so then, then theultimate store of value wasn't
going to just be gold or silver.
It was going to be influence.
And the best way to buildinfluence was through strategic
asset ownership.
So the Medici started buyingproperties for political
(12:19):
positioning.
They acquired the buildingswhere important decisions got
made.
They owned palaces wherepowerful families lived.
They held land along the traderoutes to connected cities.
And then they got creative.
As we talked about before, theystarted investing in the arts.
They funded the construction ofthe Platonic Academy.
They were not just supportingeducation.
They made an institution...
(12:40):
that made Florence moreattractive to wealthy, educated
families who might buy or rentMedici properties.
And when they sponsored publicfestivals and events, they were
essentially marketing their cityand their real estate holdings
to the rest of Europe.
This is, as I said before,basically like urban planning
(13:00):
disguised as patronage.
They understood that all of thisstuff was going to increase the
value of their land and itworked.
Florence became the mostdesirable city in Europe.
Property values soared.
The Medici is the largestproperty owners, of course,
captured most of thatappreciation.
But Cosimo's master stroke waspolitical.
He figured out how to use hisreal estate ownership to build
(13:22):
unshakable political influence.
So when you own the land whereall of these things happen,
where the politicians areeating, where they live, where
they meet, you have the control.
The Medici never officiallyruled Florence.
They were technically privatecitizens, but they owned so much
of the physical infrastructureof the power of the city that
(13:44):
they effectively controlled thecity.
It's like being the landlord tothe entire government.
And this gave them somethingtruly priceless, which is very
difficult and I would sayimpossible to emulate today.
They had the ability to shapepolicy in ways that benefited
their own investments, zoningdecisions, infrastructure
spending, tax policy, traderegulation, all influenced by
(14:08):
the family that owned all thestrategic real estate throughout
the city.
So by 1464, when Cosimo died,the Medici had built something
unprecedented, a private realestate empire that generated
political influence, whichgenerated more investment
opportunities, which generatedmore real estate holdings, which
generated more politicalinfluence.
(14:29):
It was a compounding machinemoving in this ever moving
forward wheel that was anabsolute monster.
But here's what I think is oneof the more remarkable points
here.
While other wealthy families ofthe era, the Fugers, the
Welsers, other banking dynastieswere building wealth through
trade and finance, they remainedvulnerable to political changes,
(14:51):
currency devaluation, andsovereign defaults.
When governments changed, thesefamilies often lost everything.
But the Medici were differentbecause they owned the buildings
where the new governmentoperated.
They owned the neighborhoodswhere the new leaders lived.
They owned the infrastructure.
Political change didn't destroytheir wealth.
It often enhanced it because newleaders needed the Medici
properties and the Medicinetworks to govern effectively.
(15:13):
So this is the second lesson ofthe Medici method.
Strategic real estate ownershipcan create political influence,
which can create more investmentopportunity, which can create
more strategic real estateownership.
It's like a flywheel effect.
Let's go into the crisis.
So by 1478, the year of thatbloody Easter morning in
Florence Cathedral, Lorenzo de'Medici, known as Lorenzo the
(15:34):
Magnificent, was running whatmight have been the largest
financial empire in history andin the world.
The Medici bank had assetsequivalent to billions in
today's money.
Their real estate holdingsspanned multiple countries.
Their political influencereached from London to
Constantinople.
But Lorenzo had made a classicmistake that destroys wealthy
(15:55):
families in every generation.
He confused leverage withwealth.
He confused cash flow withhaving ultimate security.
He confused being too big tofail with being too smart to
fail.
So here's what happened.
By the time Lorenzo took overfrom his father, Piero, in 1469,
the Medici Bank was alreadyshowing signs of strain.
(16:17):
Several international brancheshad made very bad loans.
Coordination between distantoperations was becoming
difficult, and Lorenzo himselfwas more interested in politics,
art, and diplomacy than in theday-to-day banking operations
that made his family wealthy.
Meanwhile, same time, otherItalian banks were competing
(16:38):
aggressively, as happens in anycapitalist society.
interest rates were being drivendown, profit margins were
shrinking, and Lorenzo, ratherthan consolidating and
protecting the family's coreassets, was spending lavishly on
political campaigns, artisticpatronage, and maintaining his
position as the unofficial rulerof Florence.
(16:59):
He was also making classicmistakes that destroy family
businesses.
He appropriated funds from thebank to finance personal and
political expenses.
He allowed branch managers tooperate with Insufficient
oversight, probably because hewas distracted.
He chased prestige deals ratherthan focusing on profitable
conservative banking.
And then came 1478.
(17:22):
The Pazzi conspiracy wasn't justan assassination attempt.
It was a coordinated attack onMedici power backed by Pope
Sixtus IV.
Now, when the plot failed andLorenzo survived, the Pope
retaliated by seizing Mediciassets in Rome, excommunicating
Lorenzo and putting Florenceunder interdict.
(17:45):
This was a financial disaster.
The Rome branch of the bankcollapsed, international credit
dried up, years of war followed.
And this, of course, is whenLorenzo's enemies struck.
The Pazzi family, rivalFlorentine bankers, conspired
with Pope Sixtus IV to eliminatethe Medici.
They organized the assassinationattempt I mentioned at the
(18:08):
beginning and again just now.
The plan was simple.
Kill Lorenzo and his brotherduring Easter Mass, seize
control of Florence's governmentwhile the family was in chaos,
and replace the Medici as thecity's dominant power.
Lorenzo's brother, Giuliano,died in the cathedral that
Easter morning.
Lorenzo barely escaped byrunning to the sacristy and
(18:30):
barricading himself inside.
The people of Florence, though,rather than supporting the
conspirators, rallied TrueLorenzo.
They saw the Pazzi as traitors,not liberators.
And the real test cameimmediately afterward.
The banking crisis followed.
It was already destroying theMedici family's empire.
The papal states were at warwith Florence.
(18:52):
Remember, at this time, theVatican was not a tiny little
city-state within Rome.
It was its own military power.
The Pope had secular power.
He had armies.
And on top of this,international lending had
collapsed.
everything that had made theMedici family wealthy for three
generations, what's fallingapart.
(19:15):
And this is when Lorenzo learnedsomething critical about wealth
building that every investorreally needs to try to
understand.
When your primary businessfails, because it can and it
does, you better have assetsthat generate income independent
of that business to protectyourself, call it a fallback,
cash reserve, something toprotect yourself.
(19:37):
So the Medici's Real estateholdings, the palaces, the
commercial buildings, theresidential properties across
Europe, these didn't disappearwhen the bank fell.
They kept generating rent.
They kept providing places forthe family to live and to
operate.
They kept serving as collateralfor new financing when the
family needed to restructuretheir debts.
Physical assets endure.
(19:57):
Even when paper assetsdisappear, buildings will not
just vanish into thin air whenbanking operations collapse.
Land doesn't just go away whenpolitical relationships sour,
and rental income keeps flowingeven when your other revenue
streams dry up.
So the Pazzi thought they coulddestroy the Medici by
eliminating Lorenzo, but theydiscovered something important.
(20:20):
You can't kill a diversified,geographically diversified real
estate portfolio.
The buildings remain, the rentalincome continued, the strategic
positions and prime locationsstayed very valuable.
Lorenzo survived the immediatecrisis by doing what everybody
in the situation does.
He liquidated some properties,he restructured his debts, and
(20:41):
he focused on the core realestate holdings rather than
international banking expansion.
He learned the lesson that hisgrandfather Giovanni had
understood, but that he hadforgotten for a moment.
Real assets beat paper assets,always.
Their banking empire never fullyrecovered, but the Medici family
not only survived, They thrive.
(21:04):
Lorenzo's son became Pope Leo X.
Nice.
His cousin became Pope ClementVII.
Extra nice.
The family produced four popestotal, multiple queens of
France, and remained influentialin European politics for
centuries.
And all of that later successwas built on the foundation of
(21:24):
strategic real estate ownershipthat Giovanni had established
and that survived even when thebanking operations failed.
So this is the third lesson ofthe Medici method.
Real estate holdings can saveyou.
Physical assets can endure whenfinancial assets disappear.
And strategic property ownershipcreates options and
(21:47):
opportunities even in your worstmoments.
What timeless principles can weextract from this 600-year-old
case study in building andpreserving generational wealth?
First, Information advantageplus strategic asset
accumulation creates compoundingpower.
The Medici didn't just buyrandom properties.
(22:07):
They used their relationshipsand international networks to
find the best opportunities.
Today, I think this probablymeans building relationships
with the best brokers, stayingconnected to local market
dynamics, positioning yourselfto act when others can't or they
won't.
Niche down, understand yourmarket, dig in.
(22:28):
That creates power.
you'll be the first in line tosee the best opportunities.
Second, geographicdiversification without local
knowledge is just speculation.
The Medici didn't just ownproperties in multiple cities.
They understood each marketintimately.
They had the undergroundintelligence.
(22:48):
They knew the politicaldynamics, the economic drivers,
the cultural factors thataffected property values.
Modern investors who buy rentalproperties in markets they'd
never visited before in myopinion, are making the opposite
mistake.
I have met so many people whoacquired properties across the
United States.
They've never even been to thatmarket.
Are they doing okay?
Yeah, they seem like they'redoing okay.
(23:09):
Is it smart?
I don't think so.
You need to know your market.
I'd rather invest in a marketthat's next door to me that's
not that sexy, but that I know,than invest in the sure thing
market across the country.
They did a good job at this.
Good investors today do a goodjob at this.
Most of the really bad horrorstories that are coming out and
we're hearing are aboutCalifornia syndicators investing
(23:32):
in Texas or in Denver andmarkets they've never been to
and they don't really understandit.
We're just getting into it.
Third, another lesson from theMedici method, real estate isn't
just about cash flow.
It's about optionality.
and influence.
When you own strategicproperties, you get into the
flow of information thatgenerates value just beyond just
(23:53):
having rental income.
Simple example, you own aproperty in a city.
Your name is now on the map.
You are taken seriously.
You are part of the community.
Brokers will view you as anactual buyer.
So many times we look at marketsand we have an informational
asymmetry because we own thekind of asset that they're
selling.
We buy vintage buildings.
(24:14):
We're big on vintage buildingsright now.
I think they're mispriced.
I've talked about it many times.
We've been buying them.
Who do you think gets the callstoday when a new, interesting
vintage opportunity comes up?
We do.
And the brokers know that.
And they push that story to theseller.
We can offer good pricing onassets.
We create strategic value forourselves by being in the
(24:39):
market, understanding themarket, and And our existing
assets create new investmentopportunities for us because now
the brokers go to their client.
They say, listen, these guys,they buy this kind of building.
I know they do.
They bought three or four in thelast year.
You have to take them seriously.
These are real buyers.
(24:59):
Next, cultural amenities andinfrastructure improvements can
and do drive property values.
The Medici understood this.
It's one of the reasons they'reknown today as one of the
biggest historic patrons of thearts.
Today, this might meansupporting your local schools,
advocating for transitimprovements, or investing in
businesses that might make yourneighborhoods more desirable.
(25:20):
Being a good citizen of yourneighborhood, improving the area
where your property is, right?
Being involved in local politicsis a big one.
Local politics is where all thereal power lies.
We all talk about the president,the Senate, and Congress.
Forget it.
Forget it.
Local politics is where it ishappening.
(25:41):
Why?
Nobody votes.
Nobody votes.
So if you're involved and youparticipate and you give money
and you're participating inlocal politics, you have a huge
influence.
Do you think you have anyinfluence on what happens and
who's elected president of theUnited States?
No.
But you have a big influence onwho gets on city council, a big
influence on local legislation.
Get involved.
Understand it.
Make your city better.
(26:02):
Fifth, leverage is a tool, not astrategy.
Lorenzo's mistake is and it'snot just his mistake, we've all
made the mistake and everyonemakes this mistake eventually,
was to confuse leverage ofwealth and chasing higher and
higher returns rather thanremembering to protect the core
assets.
Modern real estate investorsoften make this same mistake
when they refinance profitableproperties to buy more
(26:26):
properties or when they beteverything on appreciation
rather than focusing on cashflowand asset protection.
There's a really difficult andsad story happening in our local
market here.
in Portland, not Oakland.
And I won't say names, but alocal person that has built a
great generational wealth fortheir family, sold everything
(26:47):
and invested everything in onebig project in downtown
Portland.
And that project is hundreds ofmillions underwater today.
So they bet everything and theylost it.
I don't know the veracity ofthat story, right?
That's the speculation and therumor and what I'm hearing.
So this is complete hearsay.
I'm not saying this is actuallywhat the situation is, but this
is what I've heard from many,many people I trust.
(27:08):
That happens all the time.
Some guys and gals just can'tstop.
You have to know when to stop.
Here's what I find mostfascinating about the Medici
story.
They weren't just successfulinvestors.
They were successful investorswho understood that building
wealth is ultimately aboutbuilding systems that survive.
(27:31):
They were not optimizing forquarterly returns or annual
performance.
They were building somethingtimeless.
And that, to me, is whatseparates the great investors
from the merely temporarilysuccessful ones.
The great ones think in decades,in centuries, not months and
years.
They build assets that getstronger with age, not weaker.
(27:52):
And they create systems thatbenefit their grandchildren's
grandchildren, not just theirnext tax return.
So the Medici method, is notreally about real estate.
It's about understanding thattrue wealth comes from owning
pieces of the infrastructure andthe properties that civilization
needs to function.
And that infrastructure, thebuildings where people live and
(28:13):
work, the land where commercehappens, the physical spaces
where communities gather, thatinfrastructure is always going
to be valuable because humannature doesn't change.
People will always need shelter.
Commerce will always needlocations to operate.
We thought that we would getaway from that, right?
The whole Amazon thing happenedand retail got really crushed
and it was like a decade longcrushing on retail.
(28:35):
Guess what's back, guys?
Retail is back.
It's back, right?
We thought everything would go,like all retail got hammered.
It's not the case.
It's back, right?
And like people will alwaysneed, and power also will always
need a place to operate.
The families who own thoseplaces will always have
influence, options, andsecurity.
(28:56):
So think about your ownportfolio.
Think about your own investmentstrategy.
Are you building paper wealth orreal wealth?
Are you optimizing for thisyear's tax returns or this
century's legacies?
And are you chasing yields orare you accumulating assets?
Because here's the thing abouttimeless investment principles.
They don't care about currentmarket conditions.
(29:17):
They don't care about interestrates or inflation or political
cycles.
They worked in RenaissanceFlorence and they work in modern
day America.
They work when times are good.
And they still work when timesare bad.
The Medici figured this out 600years ago, and their methods are
just as relevant today as theywere when Lorenzo was dodging
assassins in the FlorenceCathedral.
(29:38):
Real assets, geographicdiversification with local
knowledge, strategicpositioning, long-term thinking.
These are not complicatedconcepts, but they're powerful
concepts.
And when you combine them withdiscipline and patience, They
then create something that noamount of financial engineering
(29:59):
can hope to replicate, truegenerational wealth.
Think well, act wisely, buildsomething timeless.
Thanks for listening to theTimeless Investor Show.
If you enjoyed this episode,please subscribe to our podcast
show and share it with othersand join me next week as we
(30:20):
continue exploring timelesslessons for modern wealth
builders.
If you haven't already, alsocheck out the Timeless Investor
newsletter on Substack, where wedo deep dives on incredible
concepts throughout history thatare profound, challenging,
contrarian, and I think fairlyfun to write.
(30:40):
So thank you again.
This is Ari Ben-Gameron, yourhost.
I look forward to seeing younext time.
Have a wonderful week.
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