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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" to Dutch middle-class investors who trusted the reputation of shadow banks operating outside any regulation.

In 2025, history is rhyming.

BlackRock, Apollo, State Street, and KKR are packaging private credit for Main Street investors using identical structures, promises, and marketing language. The SEC just loosened restrictions. Your 401(k) provider will likely offer it soon. And credit rating agencies are already sounding alarms.

This episode breaks down:

• How Amsterdam's shadow banks created negotiaties—pooled plantation loans with zero transparency
• Why maturity mismatches (short-term liquidity promises on long-term illiquid assets) always end the same way
• The information asymmetry that benefits insiders and destroys retail investors
• What Alexander Fordyce's £300,000 loss triggered across three continents
• The 6 structural flaws of 1772 that exist in modern private credit
• What Moody's warned about in June 2025 (spoiler: systemic consequences)

Critical Modern Parallels: The same reputation-based investing. The same opacity. The same carry trade dynamics. The same maturity mismatches. The same "this time is different" mentality.

Except now it's being sold to your retirement account.

Key Takeaways:

• If something promises high returns + low risk + low volatility, at least one of those is false
• Ask these questions before investing: What are the actual companies? How leveraged? What happens in a redemption freeze? How are assets valued?
• The investors who survive crises aren't the ones maximizing returns during booms—they're the ones who survive busts
• When Wall Street packages something for retail, it's often because institutional money is getting cautious

Episode Resources:

• Full show notes with sources at thetimelessinvestor.com
• Subscribe to The Timeless Investor newsletter for deep dives into financial history
• Previous episode: Overend, Gurney & The Panic of 1866

About The Timeless Investor Show: Real estate fund manager and financial historian Arie van Gemeren explores the wreckage of financial catastrophes past and present, extracting timeless lessons for modern builders and investors. Because the best way to navigate the future is to understand the patterns of the past.

Think well. Act wisely. Build something timeless.

Episode Length: ~34 minutes

Topics: Financial History, Private Credit, Shadow Banking, Investment Strategy, Retirement Planning, Financial Crisis, Wealth Preservation, Amsterdam 1772, M

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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 because trust in their currency collapsed.

But this isn't just ancient history. The patterns are repeating today with massive government debt, currency concerns, and recent financial scandals like Tricolor Holdings.

Key Topics Covered:

• The Potosí silver mines and Spanish imperial overreach
• How the fraud was committed and eventually detected
• Spain's addiction to borrowing against future silver shipments
• Why trust is the foundation of all financial systems
• Modern parallels to current monetary policy
• Why hard assets matter in uncertain times

Resources Mentioned:

• The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous
• The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin
• The Crisis of 33 AD (previous episode)

Connect with Arie:

• Newsletter: The Timeless Investor on Substack
• Website: www.lombardequities.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTimelessInvestor
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arievangemeren/
• Investment Opportunities: https://timelessinvestor.short.gy/9ppnK5

For more historical lessons on building timeless wealth, subscribe to The Timeless Investor Show.

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.

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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 standard, and the entire global financial system nearly imploded.

In this episode, real estate fund manager and financial historian Ari Van Gemeren reveals:

• How a conservative Quaker bank became a reckless shadow bank in just 5 years
• The IPO scam that let partners cash out before the collapse (perfectly legal in 1866!)
• Why the Bank of England's decision to let them fail changed capitalism forever
• The eerie parallels to Silicon Valley Bank, Lehman Brothers, and today's shadow banking system
• Critical lessons for real estate investors using bridge debt and short-term financing
• How "reputation lag" hides failing institutions until it's too late

From Victorian London to modern private credit funds, discover why this forgotten crisis holds the key to understanding financial collapses - and how to protect yourself from the next one.

Topics: Financial history, banking crisis, Black Friday 1866, Overend Gurney, Bank of England, shadow banking, financial collapse, Victorian era finance, bank runs, leverage crisis, real estate investing, private credit, bridge debt, financial panic, British Empire, discount houses, railway bubble, limited liability, systemic risk, too big to fail

Perfect for: Real estate investors, finance professionals, history enthusiasts, anyone interested in understanding financial crises and protecting their wealth

🎧 The Timeless Investor Show: Where history's greatest financial lessons meet modern investing strategy.

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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.

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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, proprietary DaVinci locks, and just 0.6 employees per store (compared to 2+ at major REITs). Their funds have consistently outperformed, with their 2019 fund finishing #1 among all commercial real estate funds that year.

In this episode, we cover:

• How Brad survived the 2008 crisis when banks called $500M in development loans
• Why the combination of high leverage + balloon payments is a death sentence
• The hidden danger of material adverse change clauses in loan documents
• How Ten Federal pioneered unmanned self-storage operations
• The vertical integration strategy that creates unfair competitive advantages
• Why most real estate operators actually harm performance
• Data science and machine learning in self-storage investing
• Building proprietary technology that now operates in 1 of every 7 storage facilities nationwide

Key Takeaways:

• You can survive high leverage OR balloon payments, but not both
• Deep operational knowledge prevents exploitation by contractors and vendors
• Automation + enterprise software creates massive competitive moats
• The best opportunities exist where sophisticated operators can outcompete mom-and-pop owners

This conversation reveals how crisis-tested experience, combined with technological innovation and operational discipline, creates sustainable competitive advantages in real estate.

Connect with Brad Minsley:

Email: brad@10federal.com

Website: www.10federal.com

Company: Ten Federal (self-storage development, automation, and fund management)

Resources mentioned:

• Poor Richard's Almanac by Benjamin Franklin
• Poor Charlie's Almanac by Charlie Munger
• The New Personality Self-Portrait by John Oldham
• Death of Money by James Rickards
• Big Debt Crises by Ray Dalio

The Timeless Investor Show explores enduring principles of wealth creation through history, philosophy, and practical experience. Subscribe for weekly conversations with battle-tested investors and timeless market insights.

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.

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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 explore:

• How a stateless refugee became the unofficial bank of Bombay
• Why owning warehouses beats owning goods (the original REIT model)
• The concept of "cultural arbitrage" and why immigrants have a superpower
• How the Sassoons timed every market perfectly across 130 years
• Why infrastructure always wins, regardless of who's in power

From the opium trade to Shanghai jazz clubs, from Bombay swampland to prime real estate - the Sassoons proved that disruption creates opportunity, displacement creates advantage, and infrastructure creates dynasties.

Whether you're a real estate investor, a student of history, or someone interested in how fortunes are really built, this episode reveals timeless principles that work in any era.

Think Well. Act Wisely. Build Something Timeless.

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

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

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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 hyperinflation crisis, crashed international trade, and taught the world lessons about currency debasement that we're still ignoring today.

From medieval mint operations to modern quantitative easing, this 400-year-old German monetary experiment reveals uncomfortable truths about every government's favorite financial magic trick: creating money out of thin air.

You'll discover:

• How German princes turned silver coins into copper while keeping the same face value
• Why sophisticated merchants took years to catch on to obvious fraud
• The psychology of monetary delusion that repeats in every currency crisis
• Why this obscure crisis predicted every hyperinflation from Revolutionary France to Weimar Germany
• What medieval coin clipping teaches us about Fed policy and modern "money printing"
• Why real assets become king when paper promises fail

This is a blueprint for understanding monetary chaos. And if you think "this time is different," this episode will change your mind.

The German princes of 1621 thought they had discovered unlimited wealth. Instead, they discovered the eternal truth: there is no substitute for real value creation, honest money, and the patience to build wealth the hard way.

Those lessons remain as relevant today as they were 400 years ago.

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

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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.

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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 nothing, and when challenged, its president deliberately crashed the economy to prove his power.

This isn't just history - it's prophecy. Jackson's war against paper money, central banking, and financial manipulation mirrors today's debates about the Fed, Bitcoin, and currency debasement.

In this episode, we explore:

• How Nicholas Biddle weaponized a recession to fight Jackson
• Why Jackson carried gold coins and refused paper money
• The "pet banks" disaster that followed victory
• How destroying the Bank led to 80 years without central banking
• The secret Jekyll Island meeting that created something worse
• Why real estate is the ultimate hedge against monetary manipulation

Since 1971, the dollar has lost 87% of its value. The Fed can print trillions with a keystroke. But they can't print land. They can't print apartment buildings. Understanding Jackson's war helps us see why owning real assets - not paper promises - is the only timeless strategy.

The pattern always repeats: centralize power, corruption follows, revolution destroys it, chaos ensues, then even more centralization. Know where we are in the cycle.

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

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 simple hamburger stand into a real estate empire worth hundreds of billions of dollars. From near-bankruptcy to global domination, Kroc's story reveals timeless principles about persistence, systems thinking, and the power of owning great real estate.

Key lessons covered:

• Why Kroc nearly failed for two years before discovering the real business model
• How Harry Sonneborn's insight about land ownership saved McDonald's
• The genius of aligned incentives between McDonald's and franchisees
• Location strategy and long-term real estate appreciation
• The ruthless pursuit of control that enabled empire building
• Systems thinking that made global scale possible

Whether you're a real estate investor, entrepreneur, or builder, Kroc's playbook offers profound insights about creating something that lasts generations.

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.