Nobody’s perfect — including Porsche. Despite that phrase appearing in their famous 1983 magazine advertisement, they managed to get damn-close to the perfect luxury business (even Bernard Arnault would be jealous!). Porsche is both quality AND quantity, owning the most prestigious brand in its market, while at the same time churning out almost half a million mass-market soccer mom/dad SUVs per year. And like any good luxury brand, it’s packed with enough juicy family drama and creeping takeovers to fill a Netflix series.

Yet, behind it all lies perhaps the darkest origin story we’ve ever told on Acquired. Not only was Porsche was started by Nazis, Adolf Hitler himself was deeply involved in its early fortunes. And, following WWII, the Allies simply looked past these facts and essentially bestowed a license to generate wealth on Porsche and its owners — setting the stage for them to become one of the top ~15 wealthiest families in the world today.

Joining us to explore it all is perhaps the very most-qualified person in the person in the world: the one & only Doug DeMuro. Not only is Doug the largest independent car reviewer on YouTube with millions of subscribers (we’re HUGE fans), he previously worked at Porsche corporate and owns a legendary Porsche Carrera GT — which served as the recording backdrop for this episode. Make sure you tune in to watch the video version! :)

ACQ2 Show + LP Program:

Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2!
https://pod.link/acquiredlp

Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more.
https://acquired.fm/lp

Sponsors:

Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get:

…in touch with Tiny! (just tell them Ben & David sent you)
https://bit.ly/acquiredtiny

Vanta: a free trial + $1,000 off any compliance audit product
https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta

Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service
https://bit.ly/acquiredpilot23

Links:

Doug’s YouTube channel (which we HIGHLY recommend)
   / @dougdemuro  

Cars & Bids
https://carsandbids.com

Episode sources
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w...

Carve Outs:

ResortPass
https://www.resortpass.com

Seinfeld Cast Charlie Rose Interview Compilation
   • Seinfeld Cast Interview Compilation (...  

WhistlinDiesel
   / @whistlindiesel  

Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.