Kennon-Green & Co. Fiduciary Financial Advisor, Wealth Management, Global Value Investing

Oct232010
RJ Reynolds Tobacco Shares Stock

Reynolds Tobacco Company and Its Legendary Employee Stock Ownership Plan

Case Studies & Profiles5 Comments

Following up on the article I wrote about cigarette market share in the United States, I thought this was a great story about the legendary employee stock ownership culture at Reynolds Tobacco back in the first half of the 20th century. It comes from Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, which you should buy.  It explains how R.J. Reynolds almost forced his employees to buy stock in the company and even created a special class of dividend shares for them!

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Oct222010
Cigarette Industry Market Share

Four Companies Control 94.8% Market Share of the Domestic Cigarette Industry in the United States

Case Studies & Profiles, Dividends6 Comments

Four Companies Control 94.8% Market Share of the Domestic Cigarette Industry in the United States On this blog, in my articles, and even in my books, I have often used the example of how capital allocation determines the wealth one ultimately has.  Many times, I used the illustration of a married couple, both of whom…

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Oct162010
How Much Would the Real Life Monopoly Game Board Cost or Be Worth

If Monopoly Were Real Life, How Rich Would You Be If You Owned the Entire Board?

Real Estate2 Comments

If you wanted to be as rich as Mr. Monopoly, how much would it take?  How high would your annual income be?  Your net worth? Those are the question that I pondered sitting at my desk this morning.  Out of pure curiosity, I began to adjust the values of the Monopoly property rents for inflation, using the last full-year CPI figures (2009), knowing that the game was originally released in 1935. 

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