I learned a vital lesson twenty years ago: If you’ll be able to’t beat you, join them. And if you happen to cannot discover a job with the monopolies, you’ll be able to just as well put money into you!
Let’s take what happened on September 1, 2025. I received an E -Mail from Apple during which I said that my monthly subscription from Apple TV+ rose from USD $ 9.99. My first response was annoying. Who would really like to pay an extra $ 3 a month for a similar shows? Everything needs to be free, like my weekly newsletter helps readers to succeed in financial freedom earlier!
But I used to be pumped as a shareholder. A price increase of 30% is huge for profitability given the tens of millions of Apple subscribers. I won’t deregister myself resulting from an extra $ 3 per thirty days. Then there are the worth increases of its latest laptops and phones. This is the sort of price performance you simply receive if you could have built a monopoly -like ecosystem.
The only logical thing I could consider after this e -mail? Buy more apple stock.
As a reference, a monopoly is a market structure during which a single company or company dominates the offer of a particular product or a particular service and provides it significant power to find out prices, the control distribution and to limit the competition. Since the entry barriers are high – comparable to patents, exclusive resources, state regulation or narrow scale effects – the monopolist can maintain oversized profits and the worth flexibility over time.
Cash shorts and huge ecosystems
The Apple share traditionally sells after its annual event, where latest products unveiled. The hype never fully corresponds to the high expectations of Wall Street, and 2025s showcase was no different. But Apple doesn’t need to innovate in the best way we expect by launching changing devices worldwide yearly. Only positioning the camera lens 1 millimeter is sweet enough!
The true “innovation” is the power of Apple to accomplish that Customers lock and request a tribute. The 30% commission of the App Store is the right example. If you’re a developer and need your app to achieve success, you could have no selection but to be in Apple’s ecosystem. And Apple knows that. The iPhone, Mac, iPad, Airpods, Watch – All of those hardware products result in a sticky universe recurring income. As soon as you’re there, don’t go.
Therefore, Apple will only dominate. As an investor, betting against Apple is against above -average profits.
Google’s monopoly also looks good
Then there’s Google, one other monopoly -like juggernach. Google pays Apple $ 20+ billions a 12 months Just to be the usual search engine in Safari. Imagine that. How can one other search engine compete if Google buys the pole position on the most beneficial and popular devices on this planet?
Google still houses about 90% of the worldwide search market, and this dominance stays steadfast despite the rise in AI -LLMS. To my dismay, Google now raises the publisher and indicates it within the AI ​​overviews, in order that publisher is even tougher to understand invaluable search traffic.
In September 2025, Google was spared the worst judgment in its pioneering antitrust case. Judge Amit Mehta decided that Google can conclude exclusive agreements with firms, but still be allowed to pay partners like Apple as a way to distribute his services. Translation: Google can all the time send tens of billions to Apple and Apple can further redeem the checks.
This is a win-win situation for each firms and their shareholders. It could even be a victory for judge Mehta and his clan Wink Wink. If so, judge Mehta Stealth has to practice wealth as a substitute of suddenly driving around in a lambo and throwing parties right into a latest villa.
How many firms can compete at this level?
Only a small handful of firms on this planet have the financial firepower to play at this level.
The only company that would theoretically compete is Microsoft with Bing, which no one is desirous about. If Microsoft has ever decided to go Bananas and offer Google, the annual payment of Apple could increase throughout the range of $ 30 to 40 billion. This is greater than the annual GDP of some small countries.
From the perspective of an investor, they delete for these bidding wars. As long because the gatekeeper stays essentially the most coveted user base on this planet, it’s paid.
And because the story has shown, the supervisory authorities and courts rarely break such a firmly anchored dominance. If you could have enough scale, money and influence, you’ll be able to.
Strategically, Google should spend more for politicians as a substitute of the 20 to 30 million dollars a 12 months for lobbying to guard its monopoly and to take it even further.
The winners proceed to win
This dynamic shouldn’t be limited to firms. It is identical in personal financing.
Think of the tycoon in 2010 10 million US dollars in investable assets. If this person simply plowed all the pieces within the S&P 500 and invested dividends, they’d have around Today 57 million US dollarsAssuming that the S&P 500 closes 10% in 2025. They have grow to be a semi-human monopoly-as possible to purchase influence, offer a cross-generational prosperity and to secure benefits that almost all people can only dream of.
Now compare this to someone who bought an excessive amount of at home in 2006, wasolated in 2010 and explained bankruptcy. Instead of tightening tens of millions, they ended with negative net assets and a credit standing in Tatters for seven years. They are just like the little competitor who tries to connect market shares from Apple or Google. The gap only expands over time. The most important strategy is to sell in the future to Apple or Google and never to compete with it.
Just like firms that have already got resources, proceed to maneuver further. The snowball effect is real.
Human monopolies and duopoles
For this reason, investors should concentrate more attention on monopoly -like and oligopol -like firms. If the federal government shouldn’t be stopped – and the story indicates that it rarely occurs – you’ll be able to just as well profit from it.
Openai And AnthropicFor example, the 2 aspiring giants are in AI major language models. While each of them are private in the intervening time, their oligopolitan structure along with Lama and Gemini is already forming.
In consumer goods, Coca-Cola and Pepsi Dominate global soft drinks in a classic duopol. If you suspect that the world will remain despite the health risks of sugar -containing drinks, these shares make sense.
In payments, Visa and Mastercard Form one other firmly rooted oligopoly. If you suspect that buyers proceed to spend their means and pay double -digit rates of interest for revolving credit, it’s a rational selection to have these firms.
The pattern is obvious: these firmly rooted players can grow to be larger and more profitable, while the regulatory authorities look in the opposite direction. Politicians often have shares within the monopolies that they need to regulate.
Why shouldn’t you?
Adjust or change
Of course, disturbance is all the time possible. Openai and Anthropic have already taken bite from Google’s search business because more people depend on answers to AI-generated. This is one more reason why I made a decision Invest each in Openai and Anthropic as a hedge.
But disorders don’t eliminate the monopolynamics – it only shifts them. Today’s climb is the firmly rooted winner of tomorrow. At the moment Apple, Google, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Visa and Mastercard are still on top of things.
Companies adapt. Investors must also. The alternative is irrelevant.
My investing philosophy in the long run
For the common person, the investment in a cheap S&P 500 ETF stays the best and only strategy for wealth formation. However, if you happen to read Financial Samurai, you’ll likely handle money than most others. As a result, you’re able to think strategically about how you’ll be able to are inclined to the probabilities in your favor.
That’s why I prefer to construct concentrated exposure Select monopolies and oligopolises in your portfolio. These are the businesses that probably make essentially the most consistent profits, do essentially the most price -performance and achieve the strongest returns over time. If these firms are inevitably correct, I’ll buy the DIP.
Yes, you complain about injustice if you happen to want. Yes, worry about inequality. But at the top of the day, when it’s legal and profitable, the rational investor joins the winning side. Because if you happen to cannot beat you, you might just as well put money into you.
This shouldn’t be a cynicism. That is the survival.
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