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20 years in the past, I realized an vital lesson: in the event you can’t beat them, be part of them. And in the event you can’t discover a job with the monopolies, you then may as nicely spend money on them!
Take what occurred on September 1, 2025. I acquired an e mail from Apple saying my Apple TV+ month-to-month subscription was going up from $9.99 to $12.99. My first response was annoyance. Who desires to pay an additional $3 a month for a similar reveals? The whole lot must be free, like my weekly e-newsletter serving to readers obtain monetary freedom sooner!
However as a shareholder, I used to be pumped. A 30% value hike is huge for profitability given Apple’s tens of millions of subscribers. Then there’s the value hikes of its newest laptops. That is the kind of pricing energy you solely get if you’ve constructed a monopoly-like ecosystem.
The one logical factor I may consider after that e mail? Purchase extra Apple inventory.
For reference, a monopoly is a market construction the place a single firm or entity dominates the provision of a selected services or products, giving it important energy to set costs, management distribution, and restrict competitors. As a result of limitations to entry are excessive—similar to patents, unique assets, authorities regulation, or sheer economies of scale—the monopolist can keep outsized earnings and pricing flexibility over time.
Money Hoards And Massive Ecosystems
Historically, Apple’s inventory sells off after its annual occasion the place it unveils new merchandise. The hype by no means fairly matches Wall Road’s lofty expectations, and 2025’s showcase was no totally different. However I’ve come to understand one thing: Apple doesn’t must innovate in the way in which we expect—by launching world-changing devices yearly. Simply transferring the digicam lens 1 millimeter is nice sufficient.
The actual “innovation” is Apple’s capability to lock in clients and cost a toll. The App Retailer’s 30% fee is the proper instance. For those who’re a developer and also you need your app to succeed, you don’t have any alternative however to be inside Apple’s ecosystem. And Apple is aware of this. The iPhone, Mac, iPad, AirPods, Watch—all of those {hardware} merchandise feed into one sticky universe of recurring income. When you’re in, you don’t go away.
That’s why Apple is just going to proceed dominating. As an investor, betting in opposition to Apple is betting in opposition to super-normal earnings.
Google’s Monopoly Appears Good Too
Then there’s Google, one other monopoly-like juggernaut. Google pays Apple $20+ billion a 12 months simply to be the default search engine in Safari. Think about that. How can some other search engine compete when Google buys the pole place on the world’s most respected and common units?
Google nonetheless instructions roughly 90% of the worldwide search market, and that dominance stays unshaken regardless of the rise of AI LLMs. To my dismay, Google now lifts writer content material and shows it in its AI Overviews, making it even tougher for publishers to seize beneficial search site visitors.
In September 2025, Google was spared the worst potential judgment in its landmark antitrust case. Decide Amit Mehta dominated that whereas Google can not enter into unique agreements with firms, it’s nonetheless allowed to pay companions like Apple to distribute its providers. Translation: Google can maintain sending tens of billions to Apple, and Apple can maintain cashing the checks.
That could be a win-win for each firms—and their shareholders. It’d even be a win for Decide Mehta and his household.
How Many Corporations Can Compete at This Stage?
Solely a tiny handful of companies on the earth have the monetary firepower to play at this degree.
The one firm that would theoretically compete is Microsoft, with Bing, which no one cares about. If Microsoft ever decides to go bananas and bid in opposition to Google, we would see Apple’s annual payout rise into the $30–$40 billion vary. That’s greater than the annual GDP of some small nations.
From an investor’s standpoint, you root for these bidding wars. So long as Apple stays the gatekeeper of the world’s most coveted consumer base, it’s going to receives a commission.
And as historical past has proven, regulators and courts hardly ever break aside such entrenched dominance. When you’ve sufficient scale, cash, and affect, you possibly can bend politics and coverage in your favor.
Strategically, Google ought to spend extra on politicians, as an alternative of the $20 – $30 million a 12 months on lobbying, to guard its monopoly and acquire even additional floor.
The Winners Hold On Successful
This dynamic isn’t restricted to companies. It’s the identical in private finance.
Take into consideration the rich particular person in 2010 who had $10 million in investable belongings. If that individual merely plowed all of it into the S&P 500 and reinvested dividends, they’d have round $57 million at the moment, assuming the S&P 500 closes up 10% in 2025. They’ve develop into a semi-human monopoly—in a position to purchase affect, present multi-generational wealth, and safe benefits most individuals can solely dream of.
Now distinction that with somebody who purchased an excessive amount of dwelling in 2006, acquired foreclosed on in 2010, and declared chapter. As an alternative of compounding tens of millions, they ended up with unfavourable web value and a credit standing in tatters for seven years. They’re just like the small competitor attempting to claw market share from Apple or Google. The hole solely widens with time. The primary technique is to sooner or later promote to Apple or Google, not compete with it.
Similar to firms, people who have already got the assets are inclined to maintain pulling additional forward. The snowball impact is actual.
Human Monopolies and Duopolies
For this reason I imagine traders ought to focus extra of their consideration on monopoly-like and oligopoly-like firms. If the federal government isn’t going to cease them—and historical past suggests it hardly ever does—you may as nicely profit.
OpenAI and Anthropic, for instance, are the 2 rising giants in AI massive language fashions. Whereas each are personal for now, their oligopoly construction is already forming, together with Llama and Gemini.
In shopper merchandise, Coca-Cola and Pepsi dominate world delicate drinks in a basic duopoly. For those who imagine the world will maintain guzzling sugary drinks regardless of the well being dangers, these shares make sense.
In funds, Visa and Mastercard kind one other entrenched oligopoly. For those who suppose shoppers will maintain spending past their means and paying double-digit rates of interest on revolving credit score, proudly owning these firms is a rational alternative.
The sample is evident: these entrenched gamers are allowed to develop larger and extra worthwhile whereas regulators look the opposite approach. Politicians typically personal shares within the very monopolies they’re supposed to manage.
So why shouldn’t you?
Adapt or Perish
After all, disruption is all the time potential. OpenAI and Anthropic have already taken bites out of Google’s search enterprise as extra individuals depend on AI-generated solutions. That is one more reason why I’ve determined to spend money on each OpenAI and Anthropic as a hedge.
However disruption doesn’t remove the monopoly dynamic—it simply shifts it. Immediately’s upstart is tomorrow’s entrenched winner. For now, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Visa, and Mastercard are nonetheless firmly in management.
Corporations adapt. Traders should as nicely. The choice is irrelevance.
My Investing Philosophy Going Ahead
For the common individual, investing in a low-cost S&P 500 ETF stays the best and only wealth-building technique. However in the event you’re studying Monetary Samurai, you probably care about cash greater than most. Because of this, you’re prepared to suppose strategically about the best way to tilt the chances in your favor.
That’s why I like constructing concentrated publicity to pick monopolies and oligopolies inside your portfolio. These are the businesses that can probably generate essentially the most constant earnings, wield essentially the most pricing energy, and ship the strongest returns over time. When these firms inevitably appropriate, I’ll purchase extra.
Sure, complain about injustice if you need. Sure, fear about inequality. However on the finish of the day, if it’s authorized and worthwhile, the rational investor joins the profitable facet. As a result of in the event you can’t beat them, you may as nicely spend money on them.
That’s not cynicism. That’s survival.
Readers, are you investing in monopolies and oligopolies as a part of your technique? Or possibly backing startups that would sooner or later get acquired by them? I’d love to listen to your perspective—why do you suppose the federal government and courts aren’t extra proactive in breaking apart these giants for the sake of shoppers?
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