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In 1993, thousands of investors around the world opened letters from Lloyd’s of London demanding sums that didn’t seem real. £300,000. £1 million. £3 million. Not money they invested — money they owed.

Doctors, farmers, aristocrats, retirees… entire families financially erased overnight.

In this episode of The Timeless Investor Show, I break down one of the greatest financial catastrophes in modern history — the Lloyd’s Disaster — where 34,000 individuals were ruined by a perfect storm of hidden liabilities, insider knowledge, and a 300-year-old system that finally buckled under its own complexity.

You’ll learn:

• How the Lloyd’s underwriting system really worked
• Why insiders saw the asbestos time bomb coming decades in advance
• The LMX Spiral: the financial snake eating its own tail
• How social proof and exclusivity trapped thousands of wealthy investors
• Why this same pattern is unfolding again today in real estate, private credit, and alternative investments
• How to protect yourself from hidden tail risk and complexity traps

This isn’t just a historical breakdown.
It’s a blueprint for avoiding the next great financial wipeout.

If you invest in real estate, private credit, insurance, syndications, funds, or any alternative assets — this story is essential.

Think well. Act wisely. Build something timeless.

- Arie van Gemeren, CFA

Subscribe to the Timeless Investor Newsletter for our long-form content.

Follow the Timeless Investor Show if you want to hear more of our podcast content.

Get your own copy of Timeless Wealth: Real Estate Through the Ages.

If you want to learn about new investment opportunities through Lombard Equities Group (accredited investors only), please reach out here.

Think Well. Act Wisely. Build Something Timeless.

Send us a text

In 2005, Sean Dempsey tried to buy a tiny video startup on behalf of Google.
The founders laughed him off.

Eighteen months later, Google paid $1.65 billion for that same company… and the entire industry mocked the decision. Analysts called it reckless. Wall Street rolled its eyes.

Today, that acquisition is worth over $300 billion.

In this episode, Sean — now co-founder of Merus Capital and an investor in multiple unicorns — breaks down the real story behind the YouTube deal and the deeper lessons it reveals for founders and investors:

We get into:

• Why the best investors change their minds faster than everyone else
• How to update your beliefs when the data shifts
• Pattern recognition vs. prediction
• Why humility compounds longer than “genius”
• The mental models that separate long-term winners from one-cycle blowups
• Lessons Sean carried into building Merus Capital and delivering 4.2x+ fund multiples

If you care about decision-making, inflection points, and developing an investor’s mindset, this conversation is a masterclass.

👉 Watch the full interview on YouTube here
👉 Follow for more conversations on real estate, investing, and building enduring wealth

Subscribe to the Timeless Investor Newsletter for our long-form content.

Follow the Timeless Investor Show if you want to hear more of our podcast content.

Get your own copy of Timeless Wealth: Real Estate Through the Ages.

If you want to learn about new investment opportunities through Lombard Equities Group (accredited investors only), please reach out here.

Think Well. Act Wisely. Build Something Timeless.

Send us a text

In 1790, revolutionary France thought it had solved its financial crisis by printing a new kind of paper money — the Assignat — backed by confiscated church land.

Within five years, it destroyed the French economy, vaporized the middle class, and set the stage for dictatorship.

In this episode, Arie Van Gemeren breaks down the world’s first great fiat collapse — how the Assignat began as “secured money” and ended as worthless paper — and what it teaches investors about modern inflation, asset bubbles, and political denial.

You’ll learn:
• How the Assignat was backed by land — and why that didn’t save it
• The psychology of inflation and why every regime thinks “this time is different”
• Why all fiat systems eventually converge toward debasement
• How to position yourself in real assets before the next currency reset

History doesn’t repeat — it just changes costume. The Assignat collapse is the blueprint for every modern inflation crisis.

🔔 Subscribe to The Timeless Investor Show for weekly deep dives into history, money, and the timeless principles of wealth.

#TheTimelessInvestor #Assignat #FrenchRevolution #Inflation #FiatMoney #HistoryOfMoney #ArieVanGemeren #RealAssets #WealthPreservation #Investing

Subscribe to the Timeless Investor Newsletter for our long-form content.

Follow the Timeless Investor Show if you want to hear more of our podcast content.

Get your own copy of Timeless Wealth: Real Estate Through the Ages.

If you want to learn about new investment opportunities through Lombard Equities Group (accredited investors only), please reach out here.

Think Well. Act Wisely. Build Something Timeless.