Transcript
Introduction
Patrick
My guest today is Brad Jacobs. Brad's resume is remarkable. He's founded seven companies, all of which are billion-dollar or multibillion-dollar businesses. He's done 500 M&A transactions and raised $30 billion of debt and equity capital. Currently, he's the Executive Chairman of XPO, a commercial trucking company that he started in 2011 and has grown into one of the largest logistics businesses in the world.
He's also written a book that will be out in January, titled How to Make a Few Billion Dollars, what a title. Brad's energy is infectious, and our conversation unpacks his strategies for M&A, his propensity for speed and methods for earning team buy-in. Please enjoy my great conversation with Brad Jacobs.
The Basics of Deal Making and Business Building
Patrick
So Brad, it's hard to know where to begin this conversation because you have built so many interesting businesses across so many different industries. So maybe the uniting thread is what are you looking for when searching for the next opportunity? Because there's definitely through lines to what you've done, but there's also -- you've made pretty big jumps. I think maybe you'll make another jump, and maybe you'll never stop. What is it that you're looking for in an industry or a market or an area as you're assessing out what to do next.