Curated playlist
Companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
- MicrosoftBill Gates claimed he had a working BASIC program before he had written any of it.
- McDonald'sIn 1948, the McDonald brothers fired all 20 of their carhops and cut the menu to nine items.
- Nike, Inc.A waffle iron inspired the sole of an early Nike running shoe. Coach Bill Bowerman wanted grip without metal spikes.
- The Walt Disney CompanyMickey Mouse was almost named Mortimer Mouse. Walt Disney's wife persuaded him to change it.
- JPMorgan ChaseJPMorgan Chase began in 1799 as a water company that never laid pipe. Aaron Burr hid a bank clause in its charter.
- WalmartWalmart began as one discount store in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. By 2026 it was valued at over $1 trillion.
- VerizonVerizon began in 1984 as a piece of a broken-up phone monopoly. It was one of seven Baby Bells.
- Goldman SachsGoldman Sachs began in 1869 in a one-room basement office next to a coal chute.
- Apple Inc.Steve Jobs sold his Volkswagen Bus to help start Apple. Steve Wozniak sold his HP-65 calculator to fund a circuit board.
- Amazon (company)Amazon started in a converted garage under the name Cadabra. Jeff Bezos began the online bookstore there in 1994.
- AmgenThe name AMGen is shorthand for Applied Molecular Genetics, the label the company carried when it was founded in Thousand Oaks, California, in April 1980. The shortened name stuck, even though the original one described a science project…
- IBMIBM began in 1911 as a merger of four companies, including a meat slicer maker.
- NvidiaNvidia began in a Denny's diner booth in East San Jose. Three engineers met there in late 1992 to plan it.
- Home DepotHome Depot closed every big-box store in China by September 2012. Chinese shoppers preferred finished rooms to lumber.
- The Coca-Cola CompanyCoca-Cola began as a pharmacist's attempt to escape morphine addiction.
- Visa Inc.Visa does not issue credit cards, extend credit, or set your interest rate. Banks build on its payment network.