Ep. 22: Private Credit and Sweat Equity with William Cohan

November 5th, 2026  |  Season 4  |  48 mins 31 secs

Business, Journalism, capital markets, investment, ownership

As financial markets evolve and power players rise and fall, there's a premium on the inside scoop. How do the journalists who illuminate this space get their own equity? We get into it with William Cohan: Wall Street journalist, best-selling author, and founding partner at Puck.

Tactic's from the Owner's Box: Sustaining a Mission-Driven Media Company

February 19th, 2026  |  Season 3  |  8 mins 13 secs

Business, Media, family business, jeff bezos, mission, morgan stanley, news, the new york times, the washington post, thomas jefferson

The Washington Post just announced it was laying off 30% of its workforce. 300 newsroom journalists told to put down their pens, entire sections gutted. How did we get here? What does it take to sustain a mission-driven media company? At the Owner's Box, we are interested in how ownership shapes a company's behavior and nowhere is that more interesting than in an industry with a mission to provide a public good.

S3: E4: New Growth from Deep Roots with Tad & Ben Edwards

December 23rd, 2025  |  Season 3  |  43 mins

Business, a.g. edwards, brokerage firm, family business, father, financial services, private, public, son, st. louis

Today’s guests are a father-son duo who have been on a fascinating journey of growing up with the family business, exiting that chapter, and deciding to start a new one. Tad Edwards was part of a multi-generational family business in the financial services industry, A.G. Edwards, that was ultimately acquired by Wachovia and then Wells Fargo. Tad took the pen on the next chapter of the family legacy by starting the firm Benjamin F. Edwards, and is now joined in the business by his son, Ben. On today’s episode, New Growth from Deep Roots with Tad and Ben Edwards of Benjamin F. Edwards.

S3: E2: Business as a Mechanism of Change with Hatch Africa's Dave Ellis.

October 24th, 2025  |  Season 3  |  37 mins 49 secs

Africa, Business, eggs, impact investment, ngo, nonprofit, purpose, social impact

Straight out of college, today's guest wanted to make an impact on the African continent. For him, the best way to do this was through policy or the work of a nonprofit. But early into that work, it was the pull of business and its potential to drive social value that pulled him in. Today's guest, David Ellis, is the founder and CEO of Hatch Africa, a company seeking to bring a new business model to sub-Saharan Africa to, in their words, bring eggs and chickens to every household.

Tactics from the Owner's Box: A Cabin in the Woods

December 3rd, 2024  |  Season 2  |  7 mins 17 secs

Business, Family, cottage, real estate, wall street journal

A few weeks back, Peter Grant from the Wall Street Journal reached out with a question. How do families with real estate approach this investment differently than a fund? For Grant, the Wall Street Journal commercial real estate writer, his focus was on commercial real estate in New York. He had started to note something unusual in this space -- those families who had long committed to never sell were doing... just in fact that.

S2:E1: Main Street's Tidal Wave of Ownership Transition

November 19th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  37 mins 59 secs

Business, Economics, esop, family-owned, ownership, policy, private equity, small business

In the first episode of our second season of The Owner's Box -- we look at transitions of business ownership. What shifts as ownership changes hands, and how should policymakers navigate the so-called silver tsunami of baby boomers transitioning their businesses in one way or another.

Tactics from the Owner's Box: The Discipline of Long-Run Ownership

August 9th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  6 mins 34 secs

Business, discipline, long-run, marathon, owner-operator, patience; brent beshore

In the space of ownership, the vision of building, scaling, and selling has become a shared mantra of success in the world of business schools formed in the shadow of Silicon Valley. But to suggest all businesses must follow this path is like assuming all runners need to be marathoners. Let’s put this in context by focusing our attention on the owner-operator. How does one approach an attempt to own something for the long run? How does one prepare to steward a legacy throughout the inevitable and yet unexpected changes coming down the pipe?

Episode 4: Creativity and Continuity with Stuart Weitzman

June 27th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  28 mins 55 secs

Business, Creativity, designer shoes, fashion

The brand is a celebrity favorite no matter the occasion. Lorde. Gigi Hadid, Jessica Alba, Blake Lively, Selena Gomez, the list goes on. Today's episode looks at how Stuart Weitzman built his company and what we can learn about owner strategy from the various twists and turns of his brand's evolution over time. This is ultimately Stuart Weitzman's gift to us. There is hard won wisdom gained by an entrepreneur who has gone through all these different shifts in and around the owner's box.

Tactics from the Owner’s Box: Social Discount

May 9th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  9 mins 22 secs

Business, cliff asness, performance, purpose, social good, st. louis, virtue, washu

In today’s tactics from “The Owner’s Box,” we explore whether one can and should put a number…. to what it means to balance social purpose and business performance.

Ultimately, how much overlap you see between the financial maximization of returns and the non-financial drivers of business likely shapes what you see as possible

Episode 2: Creative Control with Jeremy King

April 25th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  36 mins 39 secs

Business, Creativity, London, bluey, food

Ownership dynamics in a creative industry with special guest Jeremy London.